Living in mainland China presents one major problem for most visitors. China, with its conveniences, perks, and pleasures, comes one seemingly ongoing and constantly evolving ‘beast’ of a challenge. That is, of course, the language barrier.
Learning any second language requires commitment and perseverance. However, as you go through the peaks and troughs of effort and advancement, you have your off-days, but you also have those fleeting, slightly deluded moments where you feel almost fluent. Different days, different moods, different sleep patterns, different situations: they all contribute towards your feelings of progress or conversely, non-advancement. Then, of course, there are the different types of people you speak with. They can make some of the deepest impacts on your relationship with your language learning and they tend to fall into one of the following three categories:
The Roadrunner
Although often with the best of intentions, your introduction to The Roadrunner using your basic Mandarin is all they need to embark on an Indy 500 barrage of natural (to them) Chinese. No matter how distressed you look, no matter how many times you ask them to speak slowly, it makes no impact. You need time to process the first sentence, but they’re off, spouting their second, third, fourth…
The Sporadic Switcher
Related to the Roadrunner, this speaker is like the aforementioned but bears similarity to a gremlin whose been fed after midnight. The second sentences are just for starters. This speaker’s going to mess you up. Mainly because they switch subject matter almost instantaneously. They demand information, then before you’ve fathomed the gist, they are demanding something else of you. Jeez! Your VPN only goes and disconnects at this point, so you can’t even use Google Translate. Oh, you feel like a loser alright? Well just wait until you leave the situation, genuinely believing that your Mandarin is poor and perhaps that normally you are experiencing the Kruger Dunning (Google it!) effect on most other days.
The Considerate Speaker
They do exist. Have faith. This speaker is basically a pleasant person with a sense of humanity. They empathize with you straight away, speaking in bite-sized chunks, using easy language, and leaving thoughtful pauses. Damn it, some of them mime for you. Love them. They’re quite widespread, but then, so are the other two. It’s the luck of the draw which you encounter though. Depending on which one the universe has matched you with that day, your outcomes may well be the feeling of an accomplished student of Mandarin who is progressing every day, or a loser. I know I prefer the former. How about you?