new friends

[ablysstic]

I have been hanging out with some Korean folks recently and oddly I feel this is going to be a huge boost to my Chinese. They are at the university to study Chinese and their English is pretty much for crap, so we pretty much only talk in Chinese, cause I have NO IDEA how to speak Korean. It works out well because we all really want to improve our

Comments

[venaja]

I've always felt the most comfortable practicing my foreign languages with other foreign language students. They're in the same boat as you and you don't feel so self-conscious when you make mistakes around them.

[ablysstic]

Hey, i dig your icon...neato :)

Yeah it's fun and makes sooo much sense, because we can either speak Chinese or revert to gestures with bad English and that can get old REAL quick. I wonder why I did not think of this before. There is a problem though, my new Korean buddies all have the same pronunciation problem and I am afraid that if I hang out with them for a long time I will start pronouncing sounds they same way they do. For example, they pronounce chi as shi and xian as zhen.

[venaja]

It is a shot my dad took of the first restaurant we ate at when we moved to Iowa!

[tropical_hermit]

i got that result for the quiz too. i wonder what the others are...

artichoke dip sounds awesome! what's your recipe? spinach too?

you know, when i was in germany i hung out with foreigners and we communicated in german, all in our unique messed up grammar and strange accents... i think it's a great part of the process because it reinforces things you knew and signals things you didn't in the language. i'm glad you're branching out to experience this, kudos to you! :)

[ablysstic]

The dip is something my family makes and is super easy AND yummy...
1 can artichoke hearts
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
mix well and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until bubbly with a few brown spots, serve with fresh baguette or crackers...sooooo good :)

Funny that you never told of that German experience of yours before, I just remember you telling me that you kept a lot of pastry in your pocket to keep your moth moving so that you could feel part of the conversations being had. Interesting, which foreigners did you find were the best to practice your German? Was it hard for you not to slip back into English?

[tropical_hermit]

they didn't speak english so we had to use german. at the time, my best foreigner friends were a married couple from yugoslavia... but we also hung out with an Xrussian spy! and a bunch of romanian and turkish people. i met them all at a 'german for foreigners' class at the local 'community college' kinda place. does china offer something similar? maybe you can meet other expatriates from all over like i did and HAVE to use chinese to communicate. it's a great tactic! :)

great tactic...

[ablysstic]

I concur, most def. The ex-spy must have had some interesting conversations, WOW KGB? We don't have something like that, but my Chinese class at the university is a little similar, just because it is full of foreigners, ed and I are the only Americans, there is also a German girl, 3 Japanese people and the rest are Korean.

I remember at the tavern you used to speak German with what's his name un...you know the blond haired German guy that drank Fosters...anyway did you find it hard to keep up, a yes, MARTIN, anyway how did you keep up with your German once you were not in Germany anymore? Did you just simply remember it from when you were, or did you study outside of class and country when you returned? Sorry lots of questions kel, I just am wondering how long it will be before I forget everything I have learned over here. It is so weird for me to think that I am trying so hard to learn a language that I may never need again. AND still I really want to keep it...