Adventures in Asia

对不起，我中文不好。什么意思？ Duìbùqǐ , w ǒ z hōngwén b ù hǎo . Sh é nme y ì si? Sorry, my Chinese is bad. What do you mean? I’ve been living in China for over 3.5 years and my husband is Chinese. It’s only natural that curious friends and strangers ask: “Do you speak Chinese?” 中国梦 The Chinese Dream This really isn’t a fair question, as grammatically I should answer yes or no, though the complex process of learning a language is not so clear-cut. What people usually mean is, “Can you speak Chinese fluently?” so I usually answer with, “No.” Many people believe immersion is the best method for learning a language, and I do agree that living in China provides motivation for me to acquire simple sentences. From buying food and clothes to traveling and getting around on public transportation, I need and am able to use some basic Chinese. However, I can easily maintain my career and social life completely in English, so immersion motivation is limited in my context. (Side...

“So, when are you moving back home?” I get this question fairly frequently, and people ask my parents a lot! I think the motivation behind it is mostly innocent curiosity, so I’d like to share a bit here about my life in China and how this particular inquiry comes across.   Shanghai Skyline with Slight Smog   “When are you moving back home?” reflects an American approval of the gap-year (living abroad for a year, usually between high school and college), but a strong, strange feeling towards long-term life abroad. When I (or my parents) answer with a brief comment about me living in China for a long time, it’s usually followed by, “I could never do it! That would be so hard!” Sure, long-term living abroad is hard. Especially the first year, though the experience is largely determined by the amount of local language you know going in and what kind of community you’re going into. For me, I’m approaching 4 years in China and I’ve built up the support systems ...