It has been basically a year in Taiwan now. I have put some effort into learning off and on, but have never pledged myself to daily, diligent study of Chinese. There have been some weeks where I do study four or five days in a row however. Those weeks are noticeably different whenever I speak Chinese, in a good way. Some new words are inevitably stuck in my memory as a result of consistent study and therefore find myself using this new vocabulary without having to recall it with a lot of effort. The other positive effect of regular study is the ability to understand more in conversation. It's interesting to note that my study involves reading and writing, but no conversation. The brain is really amazing in this regard.
In terms of pure vocabulary usage and recognition I now would say that I can read close to half of what I see. There are those exceptions when I see words that are similar and have found out later that it was actually a different word because of an extra dot or a slanted stroke. Maybe to be a little more accurate (sounds a little oxymoronic, but....) perhaps recognition is between 40% and 50%.
When I'm out and about I find myself understanding more of what people are saying, whether in normal conversation or talking with a bus driver, for example. In fact, I have picked up some new ways to express desire to get off the bus. At first, I used the vocabulary I had and used a rather round about and long way of asking to get out: Dui bu qi, wo ke yi zai "Xin Yi Lu" xia che ma? Translation: Sorry, can I get off the bus at Xin Yi Road?. The bus driver looked at me rather incredulously and asked something to the effect: Na li ah? Zai Xin Yi Dun Hua lu de lu kou ma? Translation: Where? At Xin Yi and Dun Hua Road intersection? To which I usually responded: "Dui. Ke yi." Translation: Yes, I can do that.
Later I heard others barking out or stating what they desired to do. (It sounds like an imperative to the uninitiated.) Most passengers simply state: Wo yao xia. This is translated as, I want to get off. The bus, I noticed, never seemed offended or impatient with this sort of expression, whereas with my method many of them seemed somewhat bothered or at least confused. I began my own verbal journey without really knowing what I sounded like to the bus drivers, and am currently gravitating to the native way. So far, I have found the drivers to be treating me like a normal Taiwanese passenger and without confused expressions on their faces.
At least for the public transportation, short and direct is best. There is no need for learning a lot of vocabulary for these things but in my adventures on the buses I have certainly been thankful for the expanding vocabulary to find out more of what I want to know. However, once off the bus, a wider knowledge speaking and vocabulary usage is obviously more useful, as with any broader range of activities one had to know more to participate effectively.
