Last week we were introduced to Chinese Caligraphy (毛笔字). You can the results of my efforts above. Whilst my characters may be a long way off artistic excelence, we had great fun. There are so many sides to learning Chinese that I had never appreciated.

I think the artistic gene, at least the one that involves using a paintbrush, passed me by. My brother and sisters seem to be able to pick up a paintbrush and just produce magnificent work. Clearly more practice is required on my part.

As part of our homework for last weeks Mandarin lesson we were asked to prepare a brief introduction to ourselves using key words and phrases that we have covered so far. I thought I’d share mine with a wider audience.

晚上好。我叫Bill Glover。我在埃森哲工作。对不起我没有名片。但是我的手机的号码是：零七八一三八?八八?八。我出生在伦敦。我有一个弟弟和两个妹妹。我的弟弟和妹妹是双胞胎。我妈妈是爱尔兰人，我爸爸是英国人。我去过中国两次。我会说一点儿中文。

Translation follows: [Read more →]

你们好。

我的名字是比尔。我的职业是高科技顾问。我网上自学中文。昨晚一直在上网。我从网上查了很多资料。我的女朋友喜欢在网上买书。上个星期是圣帕特里克节。很多人喝建力士了。今天是复活节。我没有巧克力兔子。昨天我一直在家。今天我的弟弟和妹妹从中大学到家了。明天是星期日。我们去我的父母的家吃午饭。

保持联系！
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Early this morning I had my first “Needs Analysis” session with Aggie from ChinesePod. I wasn’t too sure what to expect and will admit that as I sat there, headphones on, my heart did start to beat a little faster. Would I be asked to speak Chinese? Would there be a test? Would she be appalled by my incredibly slow progress? The session lasted just over half an hour but we managed to cover some of the biggest challenges I have faced with self study. Read on to find out more.

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