#update: mand

[pai-seh]

life/language update

The year is almost over and I honestly cannot wait for it to end.

The first part of 2020 went pretty well for me: found a good job, moved to a nice appartment in a nice city, started making new friends, and all of this during a fucking pandemic.

The last couple of months were awful. My mom was in and out of hospitals. I went through weeks and months of anxiety and fear to, finally, anticipatory grief, and I’m glad my work place allowed me to work from my mom’s home. I got to spend so much time with her and was able to take care of her and I am so thankful for that. She passed away two weeks ago and I am still processing everything. My mom and I had a beautiful relationship, she was my best friend. It’s a lot, and I am either crying my eyes out or feeling completely numb.

I am not okay, but I will be. I will be.

Language-wise, I didn’t study at all since my last update. I still get to use Chinese on the job, but most of it is written communication, so there isn’t a whole lot of talking involved. Did spend some time with my colleagues outside of work though, so I did at least have some days with extensive speaking practise in there.

As for Japanese, I guess I’ll have to start over again. I did not study at all and already forgot the little I knew.

Maybe I will try to come up with a study plan for the new year, but first let’s bring 2020 to a much needed close.

I hope you’re all doing okay. Sending out virtual hugs!

[pai-seh]

《活着》- 余华

I finished reading 活着 (To Live) by Yu Hua. It tells the story of one family in rural China through the years, covering historical events like the Land Reform, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

I’ve had that book for ages, but my Chinese was still in its baby stages when I bought it so I never actually read it. Glad I finally did!

I learned a bunch of new words and expressions, here are some of the more interesting ones (translations taken from Pleco):

上梁不正下梁歪 - When those above behave unworthily, those below will do the same.

大难不死，必有后福 - After surviving a great disaster one is bound to have good fortune in later years.

天无绝人之路 - Heaven never seals off all the exits. / There is always a way out.

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 - As long as the green hills last, there will always be wood to burn. / Where there is life, there is hope.

[pai-seh]

mandarin/japanese/life update

Soooo... the last update I posted was in July. I came back to Germany in late September and things didn’t work out the way I had expected them to. Long story short: my mental health took a nose dive and I didn’t feel like studying at all.

I’m feeling better now and at least for Mandarin I’m back on track! Japanese... not so much.

Mandarin Update #4: Starting from January, I started reading a lot again. Then I listened to podcasts more. Now I’m more into watching youtube videos. What I did/do: - use the New York Times’ Mandarin app to read articles - started listening to the 故事FM podcast - read 活着 by 余华 - watched some episodes of Yanxi Palace - watched 你的孩子不是你的孩子 (highly recommended!) - watch a LOT of youtube videos I’m also still texting and calling my Chinese-speaking friends, but all in all I don’t use the language enough, most of it is passive consumption. I think I’ll try the Diary Challenge to force myself to write more.  Japanese Update #7: My motivation to study Japanese has been pretty much non-existent since coming back to Germany. I don’t see or hear the language anywhere here, at least in Taiwan I could eavesdrop on tourists! What I did: - started watching Midnight Diner: Toyko Stories - played through NieR: Automata Impressive, eh? I hope my motivation will come back once I move. I got a job in a city that has a lot of expats, maybe I’ll look for a tandem partner there. In the meantime, I’ll try the 1 Month Kanji Challenge. I’m gonna focus on Kanji that don’t exist in Chinese or are written very differently or have a different meaning in Chinese/Japanese. And that’s it! Everybody stay safe and healthy in these trying times!

[pai-seh]

Languages/Life Update

Life has been busy these past couple of weeks and so much is changing and I’m constantly tired, but I can see the end of the tunnel.

I didn’t study at all, I didn’t continue the news or diary challenges, but I will try to get back to it once everything settles down.

I have been using Mandarin a lot though, because all but one of my coworkers are Chinese. A lot of internal documents and systems are in Mandarin, and so are most of the meetings. I’m having a blast!

As for Japanese, I have been obsessed with Persona 5 lately. It’s super convenient for language learning because there is a log of everything that’s been said in a scene and you can replay the audio of a sentence over and over! Learned some handy, often used phrases that way. (also, the game is just so much fun and feels like a Tokyo vacation... damn I miss traveling.)

And that’s it. I’m still lurking around and reblogging, just don’t expect any content from me for a while. Stay safe, everyone!

[pai-seh]

英國若「硬脫歐」 值得嗎？

Here’s an essay I wrote a couple of months ago. We had to base it on a newspaper article. I chose this one: 英國若「硬脫歐」 值得嗎？ Maybe some upper intermediate/advanced learners can use this as practise.

Some relevant vocab:

脫歐 - leave the EU; Brexit 硬脫歐 - hard Brexit 梅伊 - (Theresa) May 歐盟成員國 - EU member state

經濟日報在2019年4月6日發表的文章『英國若硬脫歐值得嗎？』說明目前的脫歐狀態及未來的影響。 首先，上個禮拜英國國會在會議期間毫無共識而再度否決脫歐方案 。若一直無法達成共識，英國就必須面臨所謂『硬脫歐』的可能性 。目前沒有跡象會達成協議，因此英國首相梅伊向歐盟請求 ，將脫歐延後至6月30日 。 其次 ，脫歐的選項有四個 ，但經國會否決後 ，歐盟似乎已無希望了 。從雙方之前的關係來看，英國對歐盟的態度呈現明顯的態勢：英國想得到參加歐盟的效益，但不願意付出代價。按照紐約時報，因英國金融服務產業占經濟產值12%而銀行為了因應可能的危機已將38.000億英鎊轉移到歐陸，使工作機會較公投脫歐之前為少 。 此外 ，不只是各種商品的價格會上漲 ，更大的損失是英國的聲譽已遭損害。還有，若真發生無協議脫歐，歐盟對英國的規範會與非歐盟成員國一樣，包括進口關稅，進行通關檢驗等規定。為了避免負面的影響，許多大企業開始從英國移至歐陸或其他國家，而且成員國也已大量增加海關人員及入關查驗工作。 總而言之，目前唯一效益可能是英國可省下80億英鎊的歐盟年費，但這會抵消所有的損失嗎？作者不太確定。

Note for essay writing: use words like 首先， 其次 ，此外 ，and 總而言之 to make your teacher happy. PS: I’ve stopped reading Brexit news ever since Johnson showed up. This is just going from bad to worse...

[pai-seh]

Mandarin update #3

TOCFL is over and I didn’t pass the level I wanted (Level 5).

It’s fine though. I’m a bit disappointed but I did kind of expect it to go that way. I did study every day, but I still think I didn’t really prepare enough. I almost made Level 5 in the Reading part, but I missed it by two points, that does annoy me a bit. As for Listening, I honestly never expected to reach Level 5, haha. So Level 4 it is then. Also, we got a cute washi tape as a gift afterwards, that was sweet.

Oh well. My friend said to do the HSK instead because it’s easier. I will consider that if I need to impress future employers, but for now I don’t feel like doing more tests any time soon.

That being said, I did learn some things:

First of all, I’m proud of myself that I even signed up for it. I don’t really need the test result for anything, I just wanted to do the test before leaving Taiwan. Usually I bail out of uncomfortable or scary situations if they’re not mandatory, but this time I did it anyway, so yay me!

Before important tests, I usually stay up very late studying and study more in the morning and then rush to the test without eating, and usually I’m super stressed and on edge. This time my friend reminded me to stop studying, go to bed early, have breakfast, drink water. I did that and I arrived at the test rested and relaxed, a really good feeling! It really helped my concentration as well.

I used Quizlet for reviewing vocabulary and I think it’s awesome? I’ve never been a fan of flashcards, but this time they worked remarkably well for me. I think I’ll make more sets there now and use it for Japanese vocab as well.

I realized that if I just reviewed all the stuff I learned before but forgot again, my level would be much higher. I did focus more on certain topics and completely ignored others (I guess most people do), and that really bit me in the ass today.

I still don’t know how to improve my concentration during listening tests though. I drift off soooo easily and miss half the recording by spontaneously daydreaming.

Anyway! I’m happy it’s over and I have some free time again! I enjoy studying so much more without the pressure of a test looming over me. On to new (and old) vocab!

[pai-seh]

mandarin update #2

So, I signed up for the TOCFL.

Most people are probably familiar with HSK. The TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language) is the standardized Chinese proficiency test used in Taiwan. It’s pretty much the Taiwanese equivalent to the HSK, but apparently it’s harder. For example, for the highest HSK level you need to know over 5000 words whereas for the highest TOCFL level you need to know at least 8000.

The test I signed up for is only listening and reading, no writing or speaking. I’m super scared and I hate listening tests with a passion, but since it’s the last chance to do the test this year, I signed up.

I only have a little over three weeks left to study for it, so I’ll try to come up with a study schedule. My main problem will definitely be the listening part. Even in my native language I take longer to process information if I only hear it but can’t see it, so once it’s in a foreign language - yes, including English - it’s 10 times worse. Also, I tend to panic during tests and then my brain just shuts down entirely. My listening comprehension is good in daily life, but that’s also because there is always, you know, context. In the test there will be dialogues about random topics, could be anything, so by the time I’ve figured out what the general topic is, the recording is already over.

One of my friends is a Chinese language teacher and she keeps stressing, because she knows me very well, that no, I can not wing this. Without preparing hard for this, I will definitely fail, no matter how good my Chinese is otherwise.

Long story short, as you can probably tell, I’m not very optimistic. Nevertheless, I’ll try to stick to a schedule and do listening exercises every day. Also, I will force myself to watch the news more, because I still have lots of trouble following them.

I’ll try to do my best!

[pai-seh]

Chinese Update #1

OK, so I know Taiwanese always praise foreigners for their Chinese skills even if their Chinese is bad, but these two instances still made me insanely happy:

1.) I went to Taitung with a friend and when we arrived at the hotel rather late, nobody was there, but there was a note in Chinese at the door with a phone number. My friend said we could just wait a while, because I know she doesn’t feel confident in her Chinese skills and is terrified of phone calls. To be honest, so am I, but because I wanted to impress her, I dialed the number, told them we were there, and it was no problem. The lady said someone would be there within 2 minutes.

So 2 minutes later a man arrives and naturally gravitates towards my friend. She tells him she booked the room, tells him her (Japanese) last name, and he starts looking a bit confused. He shows us the room, wants to see our IDs, still looks confused. Eventually he asks us who just called. I tell him I did. He starts laughing, tells us his wife told him that some 大陸人 (mainland Chinese) have arrived, so he was very confused to find a Japanese woman and a white girl instead. So apparently his wife couldn’t place my accent, but assumed I was a native speaker. To be fair, I only said like two sentences over the phone, but STILL. Me and my ego were very happy.

2.) I was talking to my Taiwanese colleague while waiting for the elevator when suddenly an older lady approached me and went like “妹妹, did you grow up in Taiwan?” And I was like “No, I didn’t.” And she said: “Without seeing your face, I thought you were Taiwanese!” And umm yeah I think I was tearing up a little, haha. I know she was exaggerating, but her comment still made me really happy.

So yeah, I felt like writing this down for days when I don’t feel confident in my Chinese at all. I still have a long way to go, but I’ve achieved a lot already and I need to remind myself of that every once in a while.