I have just returned from a brief weekend vacation, and what better way to unwind than to blog about it? Any excuse to postpone unpacking works for me, but blogging doubles as a kind of psycho-therapy to untangle the knotted memories of frustrations and pleasures that all vacations bring... well, Dr. Freud, get ready to listen because I have a lot to say. Indeed I have separated my vacation into distinct entries. And this is entry # 1...
(this entry is dedicated to Professor Ryder and all of her current FLCH students at NIU!)
(-: Zhang Laoshi, xie xie! :-)
In China, all I have to say is "ni hao," and then the praising begins. They smile. They laugh. They bellow "HAO!" Or they lavish you with praises... "Oh! You speak Chinese! That is wonderful!" Chinese people are thrilled enough if you can just say hello to them in their language.
But they want to know if you can really speak Chinese. So then they begin to ask you simple questions in Chinese. "What country are you from?" "How old are you?" If you can comprehend these questions and give a correct response, they take their excitement to the next level. They make you feel like you've won 9 gold medals to Michael Phelps' 8.
But they want to know if you can really speak Chinese. So then they begin to talk to you like they would any of their friends. The speech accelerates. Out comes the regional dialects. Random questions and advanced vocabulary. "Aha," they realize, "he cannot speak Chinese at all." But to you they say, "oh your Chinese is so great!"
How good is my Chinese? I have no idea. They tell me it's great. I think it is functional but overall terrible... I must work harder.
This has been an immersion weekend... immersion into a Chinese-only world, but also immersion into autumn! Oh my, I finally encounter some genuine fall scenery and it is breathtaking! The vivid fall colors, the mountains, the quaint villages... a Thanksgiving feast for the eyes!
Mandarin Problem-Solving
With this murky understanding of my own proficiency, I departed for a "silk road vacation" this weekend. I knew that a signficant part of the vacation would be by myself... that I would be relying mostly on my Chinese to carry me. This "Mandarin immersion" experience was half the motivation for embarking on this vacation. As fate decided, however, the ENTIRE vacation was in fact by myself... and I encountered not a word of English (minus "hello"s and "baibai"s) for 48 hours. Immersion indeed!
Problem #1: A bus to Xi'an
On Friday, my last class dismissed at 4:30. I needed to head out to catch a bus immediately. But what did I do? I chatted with students and teachers. I handed out Halloween candy. I scoured the apartment four or five times to confirm again (and then four more times again) that I hadn't forgotten anything. Finally I got on a bus around 5:30. The trip from my small town to the Meixian bus transfer station is about 20 minutes. But we spent about 30-40 minutes just waiting for other passengers to hop on. My watch ticked to the rhythm of dusk marching across the autumn skyline... my eyes paced from the wrist to the window in tense observation of this race against time. In fact, however, the race was long over by the time we arrived at the bus station. The lights were out. The doors were closed. There was a small convoy of long-distance busses waiting behind the bus station to pick up any last passengers.... but there was no bus to Xi'an.... (and no busses back to HuaiYa)... just a bunch of bus drivers beckoning me in Chinese... Oh Shit, what now?!
Ready or not, it was time to bust out the Chinese. I managed to understand that there were in fact no more busses to Xi'an until the next morning. I also managed to understand what my one and only option was: a bus to Baoji. On the one hand, Baoji was a smart move. Baoji does have a railway station and is actually closer than Xi'an to my final destination. And Baoji was a city that I had never seen before, so going there would give me new places to visit. Yet I was not happy about it. I had planned to go to Xi'an to visit with friends from Sha'anxi. Also, whereas I knew Xi'an intimately; I knew nothing about Baoji. Where will the bus drop me off? Where is the train station? Where are and will there even be hotels and vacant rooms in Baoji? I knew NOTHING about Baoji and how I would survive the night. And now in the complete darkness of , I was on a bus to the Baoji unknown...
Problem #2: Finding hotels.
I am convinced that the Fates truly love me. Sure, they like to toy with me a little only every so often. But they end all their little pranks with great fortune that more than makes up for the small miseries they put me through. As it turned out, the Baoji bus dropped me off at an oasis of convenience... where I got off the bus there was a 30 second walk to the train station. And I was surrounded by hotels... expensive hotels... but hotels nevertheless.
Now before committing to this vacation, I had assumed that booking a hotel would be the easy part. Theoretically, you should be able to book a hotel without knowing a word of Chinese. Think about it... 1) just by walking through the door, they already know what you want... 2) you can use your fingers to show how many people will be staying there 3) the prices are posted, and 4) you just have to hand them your ID/passport & visa. Easy! Right?
Wrong. On this vacation I detected a pattern developing. In each case, an initial attempt to book a hotel fails; success follows. (You see, the Fates toy with me, then they deliver).
In Baoji, my first attempt to book a hotel was met with fast-talking rudeness. There were three accomplices... two hotel clerks and the token girl who stands opening the door all night. Despite the international appearance of the hotel (an English sign advertising the hotel to the city, a panel of clocks displaying times from cities around the world in the lobby, etc.), none of the three made any attempt to speak any English. It's okay, let me try Chinese! Hotel Clerk A had a permanent pattern of knitted and knotted wrinkles on her forehead as though a plastic surgeon had designed an expression of confusion on her face. She appeared confused even by my saying "ni hao." "Ni hao? What does 'ni hao' mean?" She spoke quickly and continued to look confused. Yet miraculously our dialogue was progressing... one person, I am booking one person... 100 Yuan per night... okay... but there were too many other long, quickly spoken sentences from her and too many "tingbudongs" (= I don't understand what you are talking about!) from me for the liking of Hotel Clerk B. Hotel Clerk B was going to save the day, but unlike Superman or Batman, she wasn't at all happy about having to make the rescue. And unlike Superman or Batman, she had no superpowers to speak of... at all. She spoke even faster... and her speech was slurred as it tried to escape the tiny spaces of her tight frown. My "tingbudongs" were on the rise. The door-opener--although irritated like the other two--was the most competent of all of them. She tried to insert simplified, clearly spoken translations of what the two hotel clerks were hissing about. Through her, I might have eventually booked a room. But Hotel Clerk B had reached her boiling point; I had interrupted her from staring at the walls and she was anxious to return to this leisure. She bluntly told me I had better find someone to translate before I return. Aha! Fate had presented a golden opportunity to practice my "angry Chinese." "Na SUAN le!" (just FORGET IT!), I snared. I had learned this golden phrase in Chinese 101 or 102 and had been itching to use it in a real-life situation ever since.... and there it was... "na SUAN le!" in Baoji, Oct31, 2008. :-)
A couple doors down I found another hotel and the conversation was simple and pleasant... it was as though they were waiting for me. See how easy it can be!
In Tianshui, I encounted a sequel to the hotel situation. The clerks at the first hotel I attempted were bothered by my request to stay there. They ultimately refused me because I did not have my actual passport (Buckland had wisely advised us never to bring the actual passport; photocopies of the paperwork are a safer and typically suitable alternative). I have booked all my hotels in all my travels this way, but this did not convince the clerk at Hotel #1 in Tianshui. So I went to a hotel across the street and was comfortably settled in my room in less time than it takes to boil a pot of water for green tea.
Conclusion? Booking a hotel is an incredibly easy task, but some places make it a chore. Give these places your best "Na SUAN le" on the way out ;-)
Problem #3: Ordering Food
I have never had a problem ordering food. I have committed to memory the names of all my favorite dishes. I know how to say them. I know how to recognize their characters. And I can even write many of them if it comes to that... but it never does. Ordering food is so easy!
The only problem is that I don't know how to order NEW food. I know well what I have already enjoyed, but the great unknown is all that is out there just waiting to be enjoyed! It's a pity, I am missing out on some classic dishes, I know it. I need to request that the places surprise me... "ni you shenme haochi de?" or "ni you shenme hao jianyi?"
Problem #4: Transportation
Ordering bus and train tickets seems to be pretty easy. You just need to be able to correctly pronounce the name of your destination (and be prepared to write it if necessary); then you are Charlie with the golden ticket! The transportation clerks may have the personality of a robot, but they tend to be pretty patient and effective at listening. Good robots!
My only problem is that the trains do not tell you what station at which they have arrived. So every stop you must whip out the Chinese again... "Are we here yet?" From all 360 degrees people look at you at once... a mixture of irritation and amusement at your frequent silly question and your awkward Chinese.
A weekend of golden opportunities!
Conversations
A foreigner with pale skin, reddish hair, and blue eyes is just conspicuous enough to stand out even from the crowds of 1.3 billion people. But although people notice and are interested in me, they rarely approach me to talk. Why? My first hypothesis was that they are hesistant to approach me because they believe their English is "too poor" and that I don't speak a word of Mandarin--that we couldn't possibly have a conversation. But this hypothesis has been challenged by the experiences I had this weekend.
In fact, there are brave people in China who occassionally speak with me, as there were this weekend. I talked with locals as well as Chinese tourists from as far away as Shanghai and Canada (even with the Canadian Chinese people I spoke Chinese!). I have observed three interesting phenomena in these many conversations:
Phenomena 1: The Chinese go-between
It happens again and again. I'll be waiting somewhere... people looking at me from all sides... some covertly glancing, others overtly staring. Then some brave person will come speak with me. When we finish our conversations, the other Chinese people rush to him or her for the answers to all their questions about me. "Where is he from?" "How old is he?" "How long has he been in China?" "What is he doing here?" "How much money does he make each month?" Why don't you just ask me like Mr. Bravery did?!
Phenomena 2: The Chinese speaker
In fact I have already begun to develop an answer to the question posed immediately above. The truth is that the person with whom I am speaking does matter rather significantly. If 10 people approached me and asked the same exact simple question (eg How old are you?), I would probably only understand 7 out of 10. There are some prerequisites for a successful Chinese speaker:
1) Must speak slowly and patiently
2) Must speak clearly
3) Must use putonghua (standard Mandarin... no dialects please!)
4) Must use high-frequency, simple words and expressions in their questions
5) Must be willing to repeat
6) Must be willing to re-word and simplify after 3 or 4 failed attempts
A careful observer of such things, I have noticed a trend. Females are measurably better than males at meeting these conditions. In addition, young people are significantly better than old people. I NEVER understand old men. The missing teeth, the smoke-stained lungs, and the stubborn insistence on using their local dialect conspire to form a special language that I call laonanrenhua (old man language). Elderly females do not usually have this problem; I often understand them clearly.
Phenomenon 3: The Chinese to Chinese to English translation
This weekend I met a very nice, very humorous, and very generous person on the train to Tianshui. What began with him helping me find my seat on the train turned into him becoming my personal tour guide to Tianshui for an afternoon and evening. But everything we said was in Chinese. He hadn't spoken any English since graduating from his university in 2005 and so had forgotten nearly everything. So we spoke Chinese.
The bizarre thing was when, on many occassions, other Chinese people joined the conversation; they might ask a few questions to me directly but, if not satisfied that I understood them, would turn to Wang Hao to translate what they said from their Chinese to his Chinese--from Chinese that I could not understand to Chinese that I could understand. Again and again and again, many people used him to translate their questions and expressions from Chinese to Chinese! He and I shared laughs about the strangeness of this phenomenon.
Illiteracy at what cost... and literacy at what cost?
"I just want to learn oral Chinese; I'm not interested in learning how to read or write the characters." I have heard this many times. I myself have also thought about the merits of this viewpoint. After this weekend, it's time to reconsider the arguments.
Reading and writing Chinese seems so daunting to foreigners that many understandably give up on it. They reason:
(A) I'm not interested in reading (muchless writing) Chinese books, newspapers, magazines, etc
(B) Everything I need or want I can communicate through speech
Conclusion: there are just too many characters to warrant studying them for these purposes; I'll just use the "widely-available" pinyin transliterations.
The PROS reconsidered:
Yet this weekend, being able to read even just a little Chinese helped me immensely (mind you, I am functionally illiterate, no doubt). First, in my experience, pinyin is NOT widely available. Frequently, there is nothing but hanzi (characters). Second, yes you CAN ask for things with spoken Chinese. But that becomes rather tiring and embarrassing. "Excuse me, is there a hotel nearby?" when there are a thousand neon signs advertising hotels right in front of you. "Excuse me, have I arrived at such-n-such street yet?"... no... next street... "Excuse me, have I arrived at such-n-such street yet?"... no... next street... "Excuse me..." And when you buy a train or bus ticket, it is so nice to be able to 1) confirm the correct destination and 2) read other useful information about departure and seating without having to bother other people.
And then there are situations when you are alone. I was indeed alone in the wilderness of rural China on one occasion and used my knowledge of Chinese (plus my knowledge of how to use a Chinese dictionary) to guide me correctly. In short, you cannot guarantee that there will always be a person available or willing to help you in every moment... security comes from learning to read Chinese.
The CONS reconsidered:
My vocabulary is minimal... it's sad really. And no matter how slowly, patiently, clearly, and correctly a person speaks--I cannot understand them if I don't have the vocabulary base to cover the conversation. I realized this weekend how my efforts to learn to read and write had limited my vocabulary and thus my oral Chinese.
You see, if you take the comprehensive approach to learning Chinese, with each new word you must slow down to learn not only how to say and listen for the word but also how to read and write the word. Time is a cost. If you take the "oral only" approach to learning Chinese, you could be using the time to learn even more words. Time is an expensive cost. The opportunity cost of learning how to speak, listen to, read, and write one new word is perhaps as many as 10 new "oral only" words. Expensive indeed! How do you want to spend your time?
Illiterate... to be or not to be?:
From this point, I argue a compromise. Skip learning how to write Chinese, but do learn how to read Chinese. Reading Chinese is useful and provides a sense of security. And the big little secret is that Chinese is not nearly as difficult to read as everyone assumes. Our memories are ripe for the challenge.
It is also worth noting an addendum to the above point about the opportunity cost of learning to read Chinese. Learning to read Chinese truthfully reinforces your ability to speak and listen to Chinese. Exposure and practice are two fundamental components of learning. If you learn to read Chinese, you enhance your exposure. If you learn to read Chinese, you multiply your opportunities to practice. In short, learning to read Chinese WILL improve your oral Chinese.
Why do I advocate against learning to write Chinese? Although learning to write does reinforce your ability to read, it is 1) minimally functional 2) the most time-consuming and 3) very easy to forget without constant and consistent practice. I used to be quite good at remembering how to write the characters; now it seems I have forgotten how to write even the simplest characters after only a semester without practice.
And finally--returning to the merits of learning how to read--modern technology makes it possible to write Chinese without actually being able to write it... IF ONLY YOU KNOW HOW TO READ IT. Modern technology in computers and cell phones uses a pinyin-based, sight-recognition system of writing. Because I know how to read just a little Chinese, I can easily type messages in Chinese on my computer. With my cell phone I can text faster in Chinese than I can in English (seriously!... although it is worth noting that my texting abilities in both are notoriously slow). I can use my cell phone to write quickly, clearly, and easily what I could otherwise painstakingly handwrite with paper and pencil (which I never carry anyways). It's very convenient!
Truly, "'Hooked on Phonics' worked for me!" (remember this ad from the 90s?!)
Conclusion:
This has been a "Chinese-only corner" of a weekend. My last English words were "Happy Halloween" on Friday evening. When I returned to Xi'an to get a bus back to HuaiYa, I stayed the night at the Xiangzimen Hostel where we always stay. The staff there has famously great English, but I found myself talking to them in Chinese!... not because I wanted to, but because my brain was still thinking in Chinese. After a couple seconds, the situation dawned on me, and I switched to English... a shameful but welcome break from the intensity of "Chinese only!"
I want to address all of my American friends here. In America, we have an attitude that people who come to America should learn to speak English. I agree with this attitude. But after this weekend, I must point out where we Americans fall short. Generally speaking, we have NO IDEA how stressful and humiliating it often is to learn and speak a new language in an immersion environment. It is physically exhausting! As caring human beings, we Americans should be willing to help newcomers learn English in their moments of difficulty. Like the kind person from Tianshui who spent half his day with me answering questions and making me feel comfortable in the city and confident in just trying to speak... NOT like the Americans who sneer, snicker, and snarl at people's whose English isn't quite yet perfect. Day after day, I am consistently humbled by the generous and merciful toleration that the Chinese people display toward my truly poor and pathetic Chinese in their country.. and I am with each day more and more disgusted about how intolerant Americans tend to be with "broken English" that is certainly much more solid than my ramshackle Chinese. Americans are friendly and wonderful people, but when it comes to our attitudes about foreign languages and English, we are in serious need of a conscience check.
Now, the weekend is over. I survived. I even had fun! Lots of it! There will be more to come about all the adventures in future entries...
Silk Road Part 2: Baoji layover
Silk Road Part 3: TianShui city
Silk Road Part 4: Maiji Shan retreat
(and if the internet allows, there will even be some pictures)
2 comments:
Aaron! great Blog! I love it. You're so involved with the places you have been. It's gives a great sense of what you have experienced. Superb! I wish I had the time and patience to do a blog..My friends are lucky I get my pics added to facebook every once and a while! Great job!!
The silk road of China was one of the most interesting trips I've even undertaken. The vast expanses, the crumbling ancient cities and the vibrant people all made it unforgettable. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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