My last Chinese class!!
Two weeks after we first arrived in Taiwan some people told me that there was a free Chinese class at the Foreigners assistance building! We looked into and decided to sign me up for classes. It was an 8 weeks class meeting for 1 1/2 hours. The first two weeks I brought my little boys....the people that worked in the building and my teacher loved them....however it was slightly distracting so John volunteered to watch the kids on Tuesday while I went to Chinese class. I kept on getting questions of where the kids were so I figured on my last class I would bring the boys with me.
I told my teacher that I'd be bringing them but then SHE surprised me telling me that we were gonna go out to eat because she wanted me to order a meal. Now the thing about learning a language is that there is SO much to learn so I just wanted to learn how to speak. I figured later on I can learn how to read and write. However what she wanted me to do was very difficult because she wanted me to read a menu....so many choices and so many different characters to figure out. So we walked to a restaurant and I ordered food that I thought Little N, Little M and myself would eat.
However sadly we got hit with the foreigners tax. A foreigner's tax is what one of our friends says is when something sounds good but when you get it turns out that it's not that good. I was told that it was beef noodle stir fry. However when we got it Little N and Little M ate some of it and then had to stop because it was SO spicy!! I had a hard time with it also because it was so spicy!! I was slightly annoyed because I spent money and just couldn't finish the meal!! My teacher was annoyed because I didn't do anything -- no speaking, no reading or writing. So I told her that we would go to another restaurant and I would order a mango ice.....which was great however she had to teach me how to say two seconds before I placed my order.....so really not helpful and very stressful because I had to keep track of my kids plus try to remember how to order what I wanted it just wasn't a helpful lesson.
8 weeks of lesson doesn't make a person fluent especially when you have so much to learn -- tones, new sounds, & not being able to read easily......makes for an overwhelming time!! I'm glad that I spent 8 weeks learning Chinese and I look forward to learning more Chinese later on. For now I'm learning Chinese with Little N & Little M through Dora, Diego and Super Why! I'll start again with formal language learning in the fall!!
I told my teacher that I'd be bringing them but then SHE surprised me telling me that we were gonna go out to eat because she wanted me to order a meal. Now the thing about learning a language is that there is SO much to learn so I just wanted to learn how to speak. I figured later on I can learn how to read and write. However what she wanted me to do was very difficult because she wanted me to read a menu....so many choices and so many different characters to figure out. So we walked to a restaurant and I ordered food that I thought Little N, Little M and myself would eat.
However sadly we got hit with the foreigners tax. A foreigner's tax is what one of our friends says is when something sounds good but when you get it turns out that it's not that good. I was told that it was beef noodle stir fry. However when we got it Little N and Little M ate some of it and then had to stop because it was SO spicy!! I had a hard time with it also because it was so spicy!! I was slightly annoyed because I spent money and just couldn't finish the meal!! My teacher was annoyed because I didn't do anything -- no speaking, no reading or writing. So I told her that we would go to another restaurant and I would order a mango ice.....which was great however she had to teach me how to say two seconds before I placed my order.....so really not helpful and very stressful because I had to keep track of my kids plus try to remember how to order what I wanted it just wasn't a helpful lesson.
8 weeks of lesson doesn't make a person fluent especially when you have so much to learn -- tones, new sounds, & not being able to read easily......makes for an overwhelming time!! I'm glad that I spent 8 weeks learning Chinese and I look forward to learning more Chinese later on. For now I'm learning Chinese with Little N & Little M through Dora, Diego and Super Why! I'll start again with formal language learning in the fall!!
My Chinese Teacher with Little N!!
Mango Ice (with pineapple & I think coconut milk) HUGE portion and no one to share it with -- both Little N & M were gun shy from the spicy noodles!!
My cuties!! It was a stressful day but I love these guys!!
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