Living Language Note: Over the next few months, our new friend Kathleen, aka Kat, will be taking a journey with us. She’ll be learning the challenging yet rewarding language of Chinese – and she’ll be blogging about it along the way! Check here every Monday for an update from Kat. When she’s not learning Chinese & blogging about it, Kat is a chef with Bon Appetit Management Company. She has her own blog and you can follow her on Twitter.
Hi again everyone! I have to admit, these Chinese lessons seem to be getting harder and harder! I suppose that was bound to happen. I really think I found this next lesson difficult because it had a lot of numbers in it and I still have not mastered Lesson 3: Numbers. I never thought I would be so foiled by counting in another language!
In this lesson I learned that when you count in Chinese, you have to include a unit of measure. You can’t just say “eight televisions” you have to include a measure word so it would be “bā tái diànshì”. You use “tái” to measure electronics, but “zhāng” for tables, desks, and chairs, “bĕn” for books, photo albums, and magazines, “gè” for people, cities, groups, and nations, and “liàng” for cars and bikes. See where my trouble with measure words comes from? I suspect that there are a lot more measure words coming at me!
I’m also starting to discover just how many words look and sound alike in Chinese. Unless you are listening closely, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. “Liàng” like I said is the measure word for cars and bikes, but “liăng” is the way to say “two” to describe something, like a pair, though the actual word for two is “èr”. See what I mean?
As I continue with my Chinese lessons I am starting to get nervous that it will difficult to understand native speakers as they will surely speaking faster I can translate in my head. I’m off to measure! See you again next week.
Living Language Note: Kat is experiencing challenges that many new language learners come across – frustration with new words, difficulty with pronunciation, anxiety about progress. Our program is much more than just giving you information to learn on your own…We’re here to help.
As with all Living Language Platinum users, Kat has access to a personal e-Tutor. She is scheduling a session now and will report back on her progress soon!
Leave Kat a few words of encouragement to keep her moving on this exciting journey!
