I don't know if it is possible, really, for me to learn Chinese. There are a number of sounds that my mouth simply just can not pronounce. I understand now how the "r" sound and the "l" sound can be mixed up in English, because I can not pronounce some of these Chinese language sounds. The X (sh) and Q (ch) sound very similar to tongue twisters to me. I have trouble with the C which sounds like "ts". Add in the tones (voice inflection) to totally change the meaning of the word. Take for example "zai" there are four different ways to pronounce this word, and I think more than a dozen ways to use the word, depending on context. An example of what comes up in the dictionary for "qing", with different characters....please, clear/distinct, feeling/emotion, nature's color, light/easy/gentle. Can you tell why this language is difficult?
My English only ears simply can not differentiate certain sounds from others. For the two months that we have been here, I have been taking language classes. I have been practicing with my driver for many hours, and I don't know if I will be able to keep this up! Some expats here have essentially given up, and decided not to learn Chinese. "You'll forget it after you move back home anyway".....but, I really do want to speak some, and learn more about the culture, and be a little independent here.
Being a person who graduated from high school and college without ever taking a single foreign language class (not sure exactly how I did that one) I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Luckily I have a friend who is taking classes with me and we can laugh about how bad we are. At least we are having fun (for the most part). I never thought I would say learning a language is fun, but in some ways it is. Too bad it is almost impossible since I can't hear or pronounce some of these sounds!
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For what its worth, I'm in the exact same boat. I've been taking classes 4 hours a week for two months and though I can recognize a lot of words, there are still a lot of words that just sound like sounds to me. And tones? No way. Before coming to China, I spent three years in Korea without learning to speak much Korean (though I could read which was enormously helpful). My biggest regret was not being able to connect on even the most superficial level with the "friends" I saw every day - the school bus driver, the shop keeper, etc., which is now my main motivation for learning Mandarin. Hang in there! -- Kiley Ariail
PLEASE do not give up! I don't know what I would do without you! Why do you think I didn't go to class while you were gone? We can "shuo" on or walks afterwards! :-)
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