Conversation

To converse in a language not my own mother tongue is quite the undertaking. The amount of effort and diligent study and commitment to improvement regardless of the mistakes that inevitably occur in the aquiring of a foreign language is monumental. It takes a decidely unwavering path toward enlarging the vocabulary and subsequent usage of it.

In respect to the last point, I find the application phase particularly forboding. Not only for the fact that retaining new words is a sizeable task but that actual speaking is often arduous in that the grammar and tones often become confused and unintelligable to the native speaker.

The native speaker is not one to mince words or shy away from immediately correcting any mis-pronounced/inflected word or the word. This is not a problem in and of itself really. In fact, it is nice to hear the correct issuance of the intended word, phrase, or sentence. The problematice part is the harried sense that I get from these well intentioned corrections. They are often, if not nearly always, fast and almost like an aside that is spoken so that the native can satisfy their own need to hear the correct rendering of the phrase. At times it is certainly aimed at me in an effort to improve my speech, making it sound more natural.

Now , if only they would be so kind as to slow down just a little for the learner so as to more effectively internalize and indeed realize what was being said. It is easy to catch only a few words while missing the rest simply because of translation issues, i. e. some words or not known to me.

Reading "bopopmofo"

Children's books using the phonetic bopomofo next to the Chinese characters:

In the past year, Children's books have been a help like none other in my pursuit of learning Chinese. The ubiquitous phonetic spelling of bopomofo next to every Chinese character renders the word instantly pronounceable. Or should I should, it gives the word a pronunciation that I would have not otherwise known. Of course, the translation for meaning is still needed until I have learned and stored an adequate vocabulary for contextual reading and subsequent understanding.

If I so choose, I can practice fluency by simply reading the bopomofo without sourcing the dictionary for definitions along the way. For me, it helps a great deal to practice this way several times in the same area of the story to aid in my speech fluency. In other words, spitting out the words in a clear voice alone gives me confidence to get the correct sounds and tones while in conversation with a native Chinese speaker.

Naturally, there is another layer of practice that should be undertaken when learning a language and adding words to the vocabulary. I will look up all words that are unknown to me and write out the translation next to the chinese word. I generally will choose three words to write again at the margins per page regardless of the number of words on a page. Adding just three words to my vocabulary already increases my skill and understanding during a real conversation that going for more only adds to confusion and frustration.

So far, I've read only translated stories from English. Those stories are: The Ugly Duckling, Aladin, The Little Fairy. I find it extremely useful to read stories that I know well in English or at least that are know of and have heard before. At least, in this way, I can build the story through context faster, which makes learning new words somewhat easier.

Myriads of Buses

U-Bus, Guo Guang, E-Go, Kamlan, city buses, regional buses, long haul buses, short trip buses, criss crossing routes, straight line routes (haha, not a chance), and of course the ubiquitous tour bus. There are so many lines and companies of buses in Taiwan that it will make your head spin looking for the line you need. They are nearly all 1/2 full to packed full all the time.

The Bus Station Map for E-Go

Figuring out where one can get off and alight is challenging with a native and just about impossible not having grown up in this bus culture. I'm currently taking the line E-Go to Taipei. It goes from Window on China to Songshan Airport straight up Dunhua Rd. It's a perfect route for me. I do everything on that stretch of road and can easily get on the MRT blue line at Zhongxiao Dunhua Station.

Alighting in Longtan, where I currently reside, is easy and straight forward. It's the main bus terminal for E-Go lines and has an announcer at the ready for departures and arrivals. One must understand Chinese decently to find the announcer useful of course since nothing is translated into any other language. That is, if it involves a real, live person. That's good for my Chinese practice though, and my skills have definitely improved since riding alone on the bus systems from Longtan to Taipei.

Upon arriving in Taipei it seems that I am still a little short on understanding where we can get off the bus and how to do that. This past week I was able to get off in an unmarked bus station (at least unmarked for the E-Go bus), and get on in the same area. So, it seems that there is a little leeway for those who must otherwise walk for 15 minutes or longer to the official bus stops of this particular bus company.

I'm glad to say that I'm now beginning to feel more comfortable and at times even fearless when asking to get off the bus. It was the realization that if I don't do anything I'd be headed to the airport where I'd face either a 45 minute walk back to my destination down Dunhua Rd. or a 15 minute MRT ride with a 10 minute walk.