Last 电针 (“electric acupuncture”) treatment – yeah!

I finally had my last 电针 treatment! What's that? You may ask –
the photo above says it all. It's not for the faint hearted. The
needle is supposed to hurt if it goes into the right spot – a kind
of deep, aching pain. The electric part is supposed to relax the
muscles, I guess in a similar way to the TENS machines.

A friend introduced me to this Chinese Doctor after a couple of weeks
of not successful treatment at the school hospital. By that time,
I've already had the injury for about 4 weeks, and my knee was
getting worse. I could feel the difference straight away after the
first treatment, comprising of 电针，"cupping" and heat
treatment. It was probably 80% better already.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over! I guess the moral of the story is not
to leave things like this till later. If I did something about it
straight away, it wouldn't have taken me 2 months to recover!

Ghost in my room? The Conference Centre mystery.

A couple of nights last week, the TV in my room turned on by itself.
No, I did not sleep with the remote control on my bed, so I couldn't
have accidentally turned the TV on. I did turn off the TV before bed
and left the remote next to the TV. At first I thought I imagined it
(or dreamt it) until another friend told me the same thing happened
in her room!
So I told the fuwuyuans (housekeeping ladies) about it and jokingly
asked them if there was a ghost in my room. They a little seriously
told me not to worry, there are no ghosts, and I should switch off
the TV (ie don't leave it on stand by) at night. No more problems
after that, but still a little strange!

Intensive Class or Regular Class?

A few people have been asking me this question. Obviously, it all
depends on you and your circumstances, but here is my experience of
the two type of classes.

Last year (2007) I did the intensive (6 hours per day) 12 week class
at BLCU. It was challenging, but I had the best time! Having more
contact hours per day means more to revise at the end of the day.
Ideally, it would be good to preview the next day's lesson but I
found that I hardly have time to do this…but it could be because I
also had a private tutor once a week and meetings with language
partners 2-3 times a week, plus going to the gym, etc. By the end of
it all we were all really tired! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the
course and was very happy with it. The teachers and the classmates
were wonderful.

This year I came back and decided to do the 20 weeks regular course
(4 hours/day), so did a few people I know who did the intensive
course last time. Some also came back to do the Intensive class
again. Initially I didn't know what to do with myself, but I'm
finding I'm quite enjoying the afternoon off! I go to the shops (good
chance to practice mandarin), study, go to the gym, etc. There are
also extra course that can be taken eg. Pronunciation, writing
Chinese Characters, Calligraphy, learning Chinese songs, etc, that
can be taken. I'm also having a private tutor twice a week. Some of
the other students have 2 hours of private tuition everyday.

I think having private tutors are helpful in re-enforcing what was
learnt in the lessons. With my tutor, I would prepare a topic and
write it down, then during the lesson, the tutor would check and
correct what I have written. I would then talk to her about the
topic, thereby practicing my oral/speaking skills. What you do with
the tutor would depend on your circumstances and the problem you have
with learning mandarin. Some students want to study more or have
different needs (eg studying Business Chinese) so they also go
through other text books with their tutors.

If you have been to BLCU, please tell us your thoughts/experience via
the "comment" section below.

Trips - Xi'an 07

Tang Dynasty Show

Someone looked up my entry re Xi'an yesterday. So, I thought I might write a bit more about it:

 

It was 非常非常好! (really great!). Xi'an (previously called Chang'an) is an old capital city and so there are a lot of historical sites, the most famous being the terracotta warriors (quite amazing!). We were lucky enough to meet Mr Young, the 80 year old farmer who discovered this ancient tomb. He's quite a celebrity, but I can't help but feel sorry for him. It's his job to sign the books about the Terracotta Warriors. He's now a tourist attraction and I think sitting there all day signing books would be quite straining for him.

 

We also got to go to the factory making the terracotta warriors using the original method – it was really interesting & we got to take close up photos with the warriors. I couldn't take many good pictures of the "real" terracotta warriors themselves because the hall was way too dark.

 

Xi'an is also the only city with its ancient city walls still intact. During the trip, we can actually go up and walk on top of the wall. Great views of the old city. There's also a very nice (and expensive) souvenir shop on top of the wall near the gate. If you go up to the top floor, you can buy original calligraphies from a famous calligrapher. If he is there you can ask him to "write" something for you – it will make a great gift! We are also able to walk or rent bicycles (probably the best way) on top of the city wall.

 

Being a Buddhist, I would say my favourite place was the "Forest of Stone Steles Museum". This is where translations (engraved in stones) of Buddhist texts and various historical records, important writings, and poetry, are kept. It's quite awesome being amongst these stone steles, especially seeing that there were some that were engraved (if I remember correctly, in the year AD480 (something like that!). It was also fun to see how many characters (not many!) I could recognise on those stone steles! To enhance the experience, ask the guide to translate one of the poems.

 

I thought the food in Xi'an was quite good too (compared to Inner Mongolia!). The dumpling banquet was fantastic, and the Tang Dynasty Show (optional – have to pay extra) was fantastic.

 

All in all, I had a great time and made some new friends. The trip was well organised and the tour guide in Xi'an was great. He was quite knowledgeable and during the trip he spoke both English and Chinese. 

Tips - Getting the most out of your time in China (learning mandarin-wise)

Being in China is the best opportunity we have to learn or improve our Mandarin skills. We are surrounded by Chinese language and culture, however, I've found, especially at BLCU where there are so many foreigners and English speaking people (which are some of the attractions I have for this uni), it's easy to fall back and just speak mostly English. Of course, it's a lot of fun, but our mandarin won't improve a whole lot.

 

Here are some tips – not in any particular order, just what comes to mind first.

 

1. Practice, practice, practice – Try to speak as much as possible. Some people even have language pledges and will only speak mandarin during their time in China. This will be very hard for beginners, but try to speak as much as possible. Make some Chinese friends, get language partners, or get a tutor (they are not expensive – usually around RMB 30 per hour). Chat to vendors, fuwuyuans in restaurants and pubs, or even those annoying post card sellers at tourist sites – they love to chat to foreigners. Don't just hang around people who can speak your own language – the temptation is too high! You can also make Korean, Japanese, or people from any other country who doesn't speak your language. Last year I had an Italian friend who doesn't speak English, so I am forced to speak only Mandarin with her – my Chinese improved a lot. Just keep in mind though they are also learning and may not necessarily be saying things correctly themselves, and their tones, etc may also be wrong.

2. Ask Chinese people for help – I've found the Chinese really friendly (even if they sometimes initially look grumpy) and happy to help if you ask them how to call this thing or how to say something. They are sometimes not willing to correct you, so tell them to tell you if you say something incorrectly.

3. Master the basics – pinyin and tones! – Yes, I know it's very boring and difficult – our class spent a week or so on it when we first started - but it's really important to get the tones right. Even Chinese children learn pinyin at school. Once you master pinyin and tones, you'll be able to pronounce words (even the ones you don't know) correctly and people will know what you're talking about! Furthermore, you can SMS your Chinese friends in pinyin and they are likely to understand.

4. Listen a lot – My listening teacher told me that it's important to listen to Chinese as much as possible, and not to worry if you don't understand. She gave an example of young infants – they listen first then they learn to speak. I think by listening a lot you can also pick up sentence structures (if you hear it often enough, it will sink in!) and the tones, making it easier for you to pronounce words correctly. Good excuse to watch lots of movies…and, don't skip the listening classes!  : )

5. What was that word again? – Always carry a notebook with you and write down new words or phrases. I always think I can remember them when I repeat the words a couple of times, but I never do. If it's written down, at least we can refer to them later.

6. Bring your student cards when you visit tourist sites – you'll be able to get a discount – usually half price.

7. Get a phrasebook- It'll help when you need to get around or do something and you don't know how to say it in Chinese.

8. You get out what you put in – yes, unfortunately, the only way to get the most out of your time is to make the effort.

9. Keep at it and don't give up – It gets frustrating when you spend a long time studying certain characters only to forget them the next day. Keep going – it gets easier as you go along.

All this sounds quite serious, but the good thing is, you can do all this while having fun! In fact, I think "Having fun" is the most important point of all! 

 

 

 

 

Placement test, again.

The first thing, after enrollment, etc to put us in the right class
for our Chinese lessons is to have a placement test. This year's test
format is slightly different from last time. This might be because
I'm now doing the "normal" classes rather than the intensive class.

The placement test this time involves the teacher giving out a page
of Chinese words and we have to write pinyin for them - which made me
glad that I actually revised a bit yesterday before the test, and
also made me realise how much I have forgotten! We then have a chat
with the teacher who asks (in Chinese) how long we have been studying
mandarin, etc.

It's not the end of the world though, we can still change classes if
we find it too hard or easy.

Tomorrow is the Gong Fu Performance - no, I'm not performing! It's a
school excursion. I actually have been last year, but it's a good
chance to meet new people so will go again.

Cold weather in China

With all the reports of wild, unseasonal snowstorms  causing chaos in the south of China got me worried. What about Beijing? According to the BBC weather forecast, temperatures in Beijing this week ranges from around -8 degrees to 5 degrees - Brrr!  still very cold, a bit cooler than when I left in December last year. 

The buildings in Beijing are pretty much well heated, and as long as we don't have to spend too much time outdoors, it should be OK!