No, but I'm pretty fluent in both, so I'm able to switch between the two pretty easily.Da jia hao.
My mother-in-law, who's from China, is visiting for the summer. She doesn't speak any English, so only Chinese is now being spoken in my household. I haven't really studied or spoken a lot of Chinese in over 20 years so I'm struggling with that.
Also, because I've been speaking a lot of Chinese at home, I'm really struggling to write in English, esp. some intense scenes. It's like, I don't feel as articulate as I used to be.
Anyone else have this problem?
Let me guess, he's in the 626? hahaMy daughter is mixed, Taiwanese on her dad's side (he came here from Taipei when he was 9), Caucasian on my side. I love languages, I was fluent in French and Spanish back when I was in high school. I'm rusty with the French now, though the Spanish is better because I've had to use it for translating with therapy clients.
I've wanted to learn Chinese for a while, I even invested in the 5 levels of Mandarin by Rosetta Stone, but for some reason I'm having a really hard time changing gears from my preset in the romance languages.
I know it would be easier if I had someone to talk with as I learned, but there is little to no Chinese-speaking population here in New Orleans (her dad who speaks Mandarin and Taiwanese still lives in L.A.). When I learned Spanish I had a hard time with the spoken language even when I was fantastic with the reading and writing. It wasn't until my family adopted a teenager from Spain (she spoke Castilian Spanish), and I helped her learn English, that I finally got over the hump and was able to speak it without tripping over my own tongue (albeit now with a Castilian accent).
Not much of a chance for that around here though. All I know are the two or three sentences my ex-husband taught me to say. For that matter, I would be thrilled to send my daughter Scarlett to Chinese school, as my best friend when I was a kid had to do every weekend. Mandarin is so much more nuanced than any romance language I've ever heard. And forget learning to write the language until I know how to speak it!!
Ah well. One day.
Let me guess, he's in the 626? haha
By the way, you might want to consider learning Chinese the Taiwanese way, since your husband is Taiwanese and not from China, since there is a difference (traditional vs. simplified).My daughter is mixed, Taiwanese on her dad's side (he came here from Taipei when he was 9), Caucasian on my side. I love languages, I was fluent in French and Spanish back when I was in high school. I'm rusty with the French now, though the Spanish is better because I've had to use it for translating with therapy clients.
I've wanted to learn Chinese for a while, I even invested in the 5 levels of Mandarin by Rosetta Stone, but for some reason I'm having a really hard time changing gears from my preset in the romance languages.
I know it would be easier if I had someone to talk with as I learned, but there is little to no Chinese-speaking population here in New Orleans (her dad who speaks Mandarin and Taiwanese still lives in L.A.). When I learned Spanish I had a hard time with the spoken language even when I was fantastic with the reading and writing. It wasn't until my family adopted a teenager from Spain (she spoke Castilian Spanish), and I helped her learn English, that I finally got over the hump and was able to speak it without tripping over my own tongue (albeit now with a Castilian accent).
Not much of a chance for that around here though. All I know are the two or three sentences my ex-husband taught me to say. For that matter, I would be thrilled to send my daughter Scarlett to Chinese school, as my best friend when I was a kid had to do every weekend. Mandarin is so much more nuanced than any romance language I've ever heard. And forget learning to write the language until I know how to speak it!!
Ah well. One day.
I've been to many areas of the Far East, and I love stories set is Asia, especially Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and elsewhere. One of my favorite books is by Emily Hahn, "Miss Ann of Shanghai." Anyone one living in Hong Kong? Visit my Blog sometime.