Alterations in my Chinese verbal ability

Two more weeks left in the Duke program and I’m starting to miss this place already ;) In fact, last night’s dream quickly became a nightmare when I found myself crammed into an Air Canada heading to Boston. I’m not ready to go back yet!!!

I have made some great friends here at the Duke program. Dukies are really some of the coolest, brightest, and most fun loving people that you will ever meet. In fact, I usually find myself with the Duke crowd, not because I don’t like the Yale kids in the program, but because my room itself is deep in Duke territory and my Chinese class only has one other Yalie, Alex Liu. My roommate, John Chang, is extremely perceptive and a deep thinker; I’ve lost count of how many interesting conversations that we’ve had before sleeping. I blame him completely for my sleep deprivation!

Anyways, with time winding down, I’ve taking some time to assess my currently Chinese ability. Obviously, my grammar and vocabulary have increased dramatically. I have probably learned near 1000 hanzi so that I am able to read the characters on most street signs and buildings. On the other hand, while I recognize the characters, I do not always understand the meaning of those characters combinations. This represents a huge difference between me and local Chinese, who have gradually mastered the thousands of hanzi combinations.

My verbal ability has also noticeably increased, but I feel that recently I have taken a step back in that respect. At the hospital, I was forced to speak only Chinese, since the nurses and my military roommate had only a basic grasp of the English language. However, after I returned, my verbal capability reached a plateau and has stayed at that level ever since. In part, the third year heritage speakers in my class are jokers, and we often engage in ridiculous Chinese conversations using exaggerated tones and fabricated sayings. For example, one person starts off with“ting shuo,” which translates to “I’ve heard that…” and sets off a barrage of ridiculousness such as “ting shuo chang cheng hen chang.” I.e. “I’ve heard that the great long wall is great and long.” Haha!!!

Another reason that my verbal improvement has leveled off is related to the fact that I am friends with several of the second year students and third year non-heritage students. Because their Chinese understanding is still limited, they often employ incorrect tones and speak painfully slowly. In an attempt to understand and express myself, I often find myself imitating them, and as a result I temporarily adopt incorrect tones and a foreign accent.

In all, I am pleased with my progress even though there are certain areas that I wish I could improve on more. Actually, one of my teachers called me out for slacking this past week, so I plan on working harder next week to compensate. Wish me well and I’ll keep you updated on my progress!