… and speaking of China:
Spring - our lovely China Projects Administrator (yes, we have a China Projects Administrator; what are bandwagons for if not for jumping on?) - emails me this morning to discuss lunchtime Mandarin lessons.
As Sassy pointed out to me, our ability to learn languages decreases exponentially with age.
I'm about to collide awkwardly with my forty-eighth birthday and am currently learning Japanese. The prospect of simultaneously learning Mandarin at this stage of my life conjures up the delightful image of a slow motion collision between two custard pie delivery trucks.
The Dada-ist part of me likes nothing more than to creep up on my life while it's having a nice snooze and poke it hard with a stick. And as my life has a girlfriend shaped hole in it at the moment, I feel the need to cram my brain with every distraction I can find.
The possibilities for spectacular failure are legion, but hey, spectacular failure is something I've spent my life perfecting, so Mandarin lessons, here I come.
10 comments:
Oh oh. You might wind up with some delightfully butchered Japanese-Mandarin phrases.
I have a couple of friends who have learned Mandarin. They used to love to rub it in that the rest of us didn't know it. My favorite factoid is that depending on the tone, "ma" can mean "mother," "marijuana," or "riding a horse." Better watch that one!
If I can learn the horn at 44 and if Winn Dozer, an old guy in town, can perfect clarinet at 70 something, then you can successfully learn Mandarin at yikes-almost-48. What is it they say? 60 is the new 40, so don't slow down now! (I'm kind of talking to myself here as well).
Yup. Nine different tones to learn for each word.
The words "embarrassment" and international incident" are being polished up ready for use.
Winn Dozer is a fabulous name! You've given me a future project, Robyn. If I make seventy, I shall take up the clarinet.
My friend and I have plans to dye our hair punk rock purple (instead of old-lady purple) and wap young whipper snappers with our canes.
If you can play the guitar you can play the mandarin.
Did I go and miss the point again?
Very, very funny.
You two just made me spray red wine all over my nice white Apple keyboard (the rest of it went up my nose) …
Oh, the visual. Have fun. I wish I was drinking wine.
That will be later (or maybe I'll be swilling beer---who knows).
Enjoy.
I'll drink the rest of the wine for you if you have a beer for me this evening.
my co-poster sister who has not yet really posted, Kasplotte, is fluent in mandarin, and just spent a year in shanghai. For the skinny on that whole experience, check out her blog, sleepless in shanghai, which is in my links. its all gold.
I'm on my way …
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