DrZero Posted January 5, 2007 at 06:20 PM Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 06:20 PM Maybe this is the wrong forum for this thread, but just curious if we could do a little poll ... how old is everyone, and what do you plan to use Chinese for (business, personal reasons, challenge your mind, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZero Posted January 5, 2007 at 06:23 PM Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 06:23 PM By the way, I'm 30 and married to a Chinese person so I need it for when we visit China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSmith1980 Posted January 5, 2007 at 07:31 PM Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 07:31 PM 21..take over the world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaojiang216 Posted January 5, 2007 at 08:08 PM Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 08:08 PM 16 - to be able to work in China, and hopefully live there, and also to study diligently for the rest of my years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laowai1980 Posted January 5, 2007 at 09:12 PM Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 09:12 PM 26, I learn it both as a personal growth challenge and hope to add it to the skills set for practical reasons, developing some interest in the Chinese culture now as well, so mixed reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo Posted January 5, 2007 at 11:45 PM Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 at 11:45 PM I'm 27, I have been studying Mandarin for 8 years, found out it's the love of my life, and now I'm using it mainly for work - I'm basically a translator/interpreter/night school language teacher - along with the other languages I know. After a bad experience I had some time ago, I have given up the idea of working in China... at least as a businessman. Hopefully I'll get my PhD soon and enter the academic world soon, I think that'd fit me more. But still I wish I could live in Hong Kong one day... hope my Cantonese will be decent by then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke Posted January 6, 2007 at 01:12 AM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 01:12 AM I'm 23, and started learning Chinese just for fun. Now I work as an ESL teacher in Michigan, which gives me plenty of opportunities to meet new conversation partners in the area (free English for them, free Mandarin for me ). For goals, I plan to use the language in friendships, work, and anywhere else I get the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianlondon Posted January 6, 2007 at 04:25 AM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 04:25 AM I'm 37. I started self-studying in London during a boring few weeks in the office, but stopped after around a year (just doinga couple of hours a week) as I realised I wasn't getting anywhere just reading the 1960's "Practical Chinese Reader" on my own. 四个现代化 anyone? I picked Mandarin as I wanted to write the characters, thought it would be suitably hard, and also suitably trendy. Realising that I was in a "use it or lose it" situation, I decided to take a 6 month break from IT consultancy to come to Beijing and study for a semester. It's almost over and I've loved it. I may come back (to China at least; might pick another city) and continue on a one-to-one basis with a private teacher. Who knows the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted January 6, 2007 at 04:44 AM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 04:44 AM Maybe this is the wrong forum for this thread, Hmmm, where can I possibly move this general study issue discussion to . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrZero Posted January 6, 2007 at 05:16 PM Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 05:16 PM To Sarcasm City, maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintiaghimel Posted January 6, 2007 at 06:53 PM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 06:53 PM I'm 22 and started learning mandarin about 4 weeks ago... I started learning it because I wanted to learn something new and challenging...maybe I'll have a good response for my effort on studying it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberries513 Posted January 6, 2007 at 08:28 PM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 08:28 PM I am 16 and I want to have a conversation with my BF in his native language, and I want to be a polyglot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toffeeliz Posted January 6, 2007 at 10:52 PM Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 at 10:52 PM 15. I just spent a year in China and after picking up a little bit of the language decided to carry it on to full fluency but that seems a long way off right now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianlondon Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:16 AM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:16 AM Wow, there are a lot of young people posting here. It's cool that learning a foreign language is so high up your list of priorities. Make the most of your enthusiasm as the opportunities to travel and study decrease after a while, making the decision to continue harder and harder. Plus, I reckon it's easier to learn a language when you're still in the "learning" stage of your life. You're mentally prepared more for absorbing new information. Having said that, I'm in my 30s and in a class full of 18-25 year olds, and I hold my own They tend to be more exam focussed and I'm more talk-to-random-chinese-people-in-the-baozi-hut focussed. We all end up with similar results (did in the mid-semester tests, anyway) but I get baozi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:25 AM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:25 AM 23. Started learning because of the Chinese being the most fascinating people at my university. Kept on going because it is rumored the economy is doing not too badly, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrbt Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:37 AM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:37 AM 38 here Started a couple years ago as activity wife and I could do together at local college. Took 4 semesters so we're done with what they offer in the evenings so now zi ji xue xi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novemberfog Posted January 7, 2007 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 02:57 PM 25. I first started learning because I was drawn to the characters. I was really drawn into the traditional cultural aspects, and that is what makes me continue to study to this day. The problem is that I'm interested in two other languages as well so I'm not making the progress that I'd wished for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babygodzilla Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:24 PM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:24 PM i envy the young ones... i remember when i moved to america when i was 14 it was easier for me to learn english, probably because i attended high school so i 不得不 had to use english all frickin day. i didnt know "what's up" on my first day LOL that's a funny experience... now im 23 and i wish i had the memory i had when i was 14. after 1 year and a couple months living in Beijing my chinese is nowhere close to where i want it to be im actually a little disappointed and mad at myself. i dont really have any chinese friends save for a few online, but that doesnt count of course cause i cant really speak to them using my voice. i think if i had chinese friends that would help my chinese very very much. having a girlfriend of the same nationality doesn't help me much either... i especially hate my listening. my god my Tingli sucks so much monkey ballz... i actually kinda still wanna stay here. but because im a permanent resident of america i am by law obligated to go back to the states. i dont even know what the hell im gonna do back in the states i really wanna be fluent in this language, but that seems impossible right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianlondon Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:36 PM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 03:36 PM I've found it easy to make Chinese friends here. Ok, some have been a bit strange, but I've also made some that I will keep in touch with long after I've returned to the UK. The trouble is that they tend to speak much better English than I do Mandarin, and although I can force a "let's speak just Mandarin for a while" period, I run out of things to say rather quickly and get bored ;) As for having to go back to the US ... surely you can go back just for a few months (live in a china town or something lol) and then return to China? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babygodzilla Posted January 7, 2007 at 04:20 PM Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 at 04:20 PM well i did that language exchange thing once, but that just kinda didnt work out. probably because i just started learning chinese so my chinese really really sucked back then and we ended up speaking in english all the time, which is not what i wanted. anyways, i dunno i didnt really know where to start to make chinese friends. i didnt really wanna do another language exchange. it seemed pointless. so yea... i suppose i could go back to america then come back here. but u noe, money and all that... i wish i could get a job with an american company then be stationed in china for a year or two. thatd be the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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