My Language Convergence

So, I decided to learn Mandarin.  In general I have a strong personal interest in learning languages.  I enjoy words.  I like finding/using the right word.  I enjoy grammar.  I like seeing the patterns in how ideas are expressed through word combinations.  And I understand the value of learning the language of another people and culture.  From my time in Senegal, learning Wolof, I have seen how learning a foreign language can open the door to genuine friendships and cross-cultural respect.

I also have a professional interest in learning Mandarin.  I hope to someday soon work in China.  And we all know now that this 21st century ‘belongs’ to China.

So I moved to Hangzhou, China for three months.  I came prepared with a solid foundation in Chinese vocabulary and pronunciation, as well as a solid “feel” for the language.  My goal here now is to take intensive classes to get accelerated instruction, and also to speak as much as possible.

In the three weeks that I have been here so far, I have been really delighted to see rapid progress in my Chinese.  But most interesting has been a sort of ‘convergence of understanding’ from all my sources of learning.  Back in Singapore, I studied Chinese using Rosetta Stone software – seven months with this is what gave me the solid foundation.  I also have a few good Chinese friends in Singapore who helped me to practice and learn Chinese.  In Hangzhou, I have my three-hours per day of one-on-one classroom instruction – intense grammar and dialogues, all taught in Chinese.  And in Hangzhou I have been luck to quickly meet a number of local friends who help me to speak and learn Chinese in the evenings and weekends.

These are all my sources of learning.  I have been amazed though at how quickly and tightly all of these sources ‘converged’ in the past few weeks.  I would receive a Text Message from a friend in Singapore, or a local friend in Hangzhou. The message would have some new word in it, which I would have to look up.  I would remember the word.  But then the next day, that same word would come up in class, or in the text book.  Or the reverse, I would learn a word or phrase from my text book, only to find myself ‘needing’ it the next day in conversation.  The same happens with my Rosetta Stone (which I am still working on here in China).  Some new word or concept will come up, and within a day or two it is used in class or the textbook.

I find this very cool.  I don’t know what it means. Maybe it says something about my language level – that I am at the same level in the software as in the text book.  Maybe it says something about learning in general – before you know something, you do not see it; once you learn something, you see it everywhere.  I have experienced that in other contexts before.  Or maybe it says something about more general about language.  Language is about communication.  And generally, communication is as basic as it needs to be.  For normal conversations, we use certain phrases to convey specific ideas.  Now that I am in China, I am seeing those idea patters everywhere.  They are the essence of the communication.

Anyway, I don't know exactly how to explain the convergence.  But it really excites me and inspires me to continue.  I am putting together the very large puzzle of the Chinese language.  It is neat to begin seeing the larger pattern that is formed by the smaller individual pieces.

(note: photo is of the menu at the little restaurant I eat at a few times per week; each day a challenge to figure out what I am eating!)