Entry 3
Today I learned some Turkish numbers, and now I’m able to tell people my phone number in Turkish. To be honest, I think it’s amazing that now I can say numbers in five different languages! In addition, I watched a youtube video of a girl traveling in Istanbul city where she went to visit the mosques, the museum and the traditional market which sells many beautiful ceramics and house ornaments. Besides, she showed us some Turkish cuisine and the street food. I wish I could be there and taste the pide and rice pudding. Anyway, although I don’t understand almost all the Turkish in the video, I found that I could pronounce the name of the tourist place correctly. Cool!

 

An update of last blog: In the previous blog, I mentioned that I want to find someone whose native language is Spanish and is now learning Chinese to do some language exchange. I also said that I regret a lot because I always hesitated to talk to foreigners, hence I barely have the chance to practice my English and Spanish.

Last Friday, I finally plucked up the courage to talk to one of my classmates in the PE class. I really wanted to know if she speaks Spanish because she looks like she’s from Latin American. Guess what! She’s Nicaraguan and she’s been here for three years so that her Chinese is actually good. I told her that I’ve learned Spanish for a year, but I’m still not confident in speaking it. She comforted me that when she learned Chinese the first year, she had the same problem before. The only key to improve is through practice. She said next time when she sees me in class, she’s going to greet me in Spanish so that I could speak more; and one day, I will not fear for speaking it anymore. She’s really nice and patient to wait for me to finish the sentences very slowly in Spanish, and I think I’m really lucky to meet her. And then when we chatted in English, I feel much free and confident compared to the oral training class I have in our department. Our interaction goes very smoothly and enjoyable. I’ve always heard that Latin American are really friendly, and from her, I could totally feel that. I’m so lucky to meet her, Helena. If I had hesitated again, I would have missed such a great opportunity to practice different languages and most importantly, meet a new friend. In my opinion, language is not a skill to show off, but the bridge for us to connect to a whole new world. With this experience, I will definitely encourage myself to step out of the comfort zone more because there is so much unexpectedness that can add color to our life and make us more flexible in presence of different people and culture.