Vocabulary Update

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.

The Chinese Weekly

國語週刋 = ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩˇ ㄓㄡ ㄎㄢ = Guo Yu Zhou Kan

My girlfriend's uncle is the more intellectual type, but also obsessive in some ways, too. He hails from Kinmen--the little island off the coast of China, about 10 km from Xian. He's a collector. His house is chuck full of teapots, thousands of teapots, big and small. He's also a journalist and teaches the same at a university in Taipei. (Now that I've written the obligatory segue, it's time to get to the real point of this entry.)

Last week I came home from church to find a stack of large books--the size of those atlas' that your elementary school had in their tiny but fairly well-stocked library--on the table. The books are actually a collections of magazines bound together. I didn't count but perhaps a year's worth of issues per book for a total of 12 issues in each collection.

Yes, these are actually intended for Taiwanese children to learn Mandarin Chinese. Furthermore, just as in the other children's books that I am reading, the ubiquitous bopomofo in use render's every last word pronounceable. There's enough material there for three years of reading if I were to follow the schedule  of the issues as outlined in the table of contents.

Brilliantly, the editors have also included games and other thought inducing activities to keep the learner's mind sharp and focused. I believe I will have to take a break from the fairy tales for now and switch to the more varied activities offered in these magazines.

(Pictures pending)

Reading Chinese

Here is a sample of what I read.