Character Building

Posted on by

Amid everything else going on in our lives, I’ve added a new hobby. I briefly mentioned it in my Portland post, but now I’m officially fascinated with the Chinese language.  Brian and I would both really like to become more familiar with the Chinese language, both written and spoken– this is an incredibly overwhelming task considering neither of us knows a lick of Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese). Because we don’t know what provinces we’ll be traveling to until we accept a referral, I’m hedging my bets and starting with Mandarin.

I found a great free app for my phone which allows me to practice correct character writing; every morning I review flashcards on my phone and continue to add more and more characters to my vocabulary. Additionally, one of my colleagues and friends at the museum is Chinese and speaks/writes both Mandarin and Cantonese (not to mention what she considers “Beijingese.”)  She’s been incredibly helpful with my stroke order and pronunciation, and I am feeling less and less awkward with all the different inflections needed for this beautiful language.

I can’t quite explain it, but I’m finding my comprehension growing quite naturally. So far, I find the characters quite logical graphically, and I’m starting to put the pronunciation with the character. Another friend at the museum suggested I check our our library’s language software, and I found out excitedly that our library offers Mango Languages for free for all patrons. Woohoo!

I’m sure I’ll be sharing more quips as I learn more, but I had a great moment this week. As you might guess, Brian and I are settling in on our top name choices for our child (most welfare institute names are given en masse– all children in one institution are given the same last name, and first names are given as a matter of practicality. As we’ve mentioned earlier, all children in the Waiting Child Program have been abandoned, with 99.9% having no identifying information, so no medical record, no birthday listed, no name). After practicing some of the characters at lunch one day, my friend at work stopped by and looked at my paper and was able to read what I had written, including our finalists for names.  It’s difficult to articulate, but to have a native speaker be able to read my very amatueur attempt at such a complex language really made my day.

I know learning a new language from scratch is no short-term goal, but I think we and our child will have a lifetime of learning together.

 

 

 

3,476 thoughts on “Character Building”

  3. Your style is really unique in comparison to other people I have read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this site.

    Reply ↓

  5. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a co-worker who was conducting a little research on this. And he actually ordered me dinner because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss this subject here on your blog.

    Reply ↓

  14. An interesting discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you ought to write more on this subject matter, it might not be a taboo matter but typically people do not discuss these topics. To the next! Best wishes.

    Reply ↓

  15. You are so interesting! I do not suppose I’ve read through a single thing like that before. So nice to find somebody with some genuine thoughts on this subject matter. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This website is one thing that’s needed on the web, someone with some originality.

    Reply ↓

  17. An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who was conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me dinner simply because I found it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to talk about this topic here on your internet site.

    Reply ↓

  18. I really love your blog.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you create this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning to create my very own website and want to learn where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Thank you.

    Reply ↓

  21. I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and engaging, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something that too few men and women are speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy that I found this during my search for something regarding this.

    Reply ↓

  23. I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and amusing, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something which not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I came across this during my search for something regarding this.

    Reply ↓

  31. The next time I read a blog, Hopefully it does not fail me just as much as this one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read through, nonetheless I really believed you’d have something useful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of crying about something that you can fix if you weren’t too busy seeking attention.

    Reply ↓

  36. Good day! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before but after looking at a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely pleased I stumbled upon it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently.

    Reply ↓

  39. May I simply say what a relief to find somebody that genuinely knows what they’re talking about on the web. You certainly know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More and more people have to look at this and understand this side of your story. I can’t believe you’re not more popular since you certainly possess the gift.

    Reply ↓

  40. When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the same comment. Is there a way you can remove me from that service? Thank you.

    Reply ↓

  46. You are so awesome! I don’t suppose I have read anything like this before. So wonderful to find another person with some original thoughts on this subject matter. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the web, someone with a little originality.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply to ladies wear Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *