Hello everyone,
Well, I must say that essentially, no Chinese studies happened while I was in Spain. It was just too much. I was struggling to recall the little bit of Spanish that I learned years ago, and the Chinese was frustrating that effort. Well, it was for the first few days anyway. I resumed my Chinese studies in full swing upon my return to Massachusetts on Saturday. The 10 new characters per day totally fell flat, so I am back to the 5 per day.
I feel mixed right now about my progress. For the positive, I scored at elementary (low) on the listening test on the Chinesepod website. I feel that testing at elementary is an important milestone, and performing as such indicates that I am making progress. For the negative, I just struggle with the feeling that this Chinese studying is pointless, and that I will never master the language. I feel this way despite the overwhelming evidence to the fact that I am learning the language. I have been studying since November, but I am where I should be if I were studying since January. It's cool though, I am just going to continue to work at it everyday and trust that I will improve.
I hope to be able to speak enough Chinese to be able to express my most basic needs when I arrive in August. My trip to Barcelona, and the frustration resulting from the language barrier has demonstrated to me the types of things I will need to learn in order to communicate in a foreign language. Perhaps I should have traveled to China for the break, but I cannot take back the past, and I have to live with decisions that I have made.
My studying routine is the same routine that I have outlined in the update in week 16. If you are reading these blogs, I would really be interested in knowing about your presence. Please feel free to become a follower or comment.
thanks
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