Success stories
How an impossible learning task became possible: Learning Chinese
I always dreamt of learning Chinese, so one day I went into a shop to look at some course literature. I saw the Chinese calligraphy that had always fascinated me. There was page after page of these beautiful characters, each one increasingly complicated; lines and dots, hooks and twirls. It seemed to become more and more complex the farther along I got in the book. It looked absolutely impossible; everything was whirling around in my head and I told myself that I would NEVER be able to do it. I slammed the book shut, put it back on the shelf and left the shop.
However, hope dies hard. One year later and I was studying Chinese (when I had recovered from the shock) at the Adult Education Centre. It was, just as I had expected, difficult, confusing and hopelessly complicated - but just so exciting to imagine being able to say even one sentence in Chinese! One term later and I was continuing my studies at the university.
Now my studies became almost manic. I had previously learned about flash cards. These are small, square cards with the Chinese character on the front and its meaning and pronunciation written on the back, an extremely good way of learning the characters. Most Chinese words consist of two characters, sometimes even more, so the cards I made myself did not provide me with any vocabulary as such - they are the building blocks of the language. But if you know the building blocks, you can learn to construct the words.
The cards went with me everywhere I went. There was always a bundle in my pocket and as soon as I had a minute to myself I took them out. I practised when I was walking along the street, waiting for the bus, on the underground - even when I was in a ski lift!
After one term at Stockholm University I suddenly found myself in Beijing where I could work even harder at my studies. It was wonderful just being there - in the Middle Kingdom - and I could talk to Chinese people!
Well, to tell the truth "talk" was a slight exaggeration at this point. It was more about managing the most necessary tasks - but understanding a whole sentence was a cause for celebration for me! I now realised that it was actually possible to learn this language - but you need time, energy, patience and a real interest.
During this period I did, in principle, nothing else but study. I went to lessons, did my homework and then continued with a private teacher every afternoon. I put in a total of 11 hours a day from 6.30 in the morning till 7 in the evening (I took around an hour for lunch). Then I watched Chinese TV for two hours every evening. Then I was finished - in every sense of the word!
Learning Chinese has been a long, difficult project, but also extremely exciting and a lot of fun. Two years of study will give you a fairly good basis in the language; it will take much longer to become an advanced speaker. Without exaggeration I can say that it has cost me blood, sweat and tears, but that it has been worth every single second.
Catarina Lilliehöök
Hard work led to good results. Click for more tips to motivate yourself!
This learner was attracted to her target language because she loved Chinese calligraphy. This would suggest she is a visual learner. Would you like to analyse your preferred learning style?
This text has been specially written for Lingu@net Europa and is published with the permission of its author Catarina Lilliehöök. She has also written a book in Chinese on culture clashes and cultural differences as well as a book about China in Swedish.