I went to buy train tickets the other day. Next to me in the line was a young Chinese couple who gave me tired looks. When I started ordering the tickets in Chinese their attention was caught and soon I heard the guy ask the girl (in Chinese)
-Do you understand a word of what she is saying?
-No, not one!
Aoooooch! Talk about getting your ego hurt. Stupid young couple. Why did I have to understand what they said?!
However, I did receive every single ticket I asked for (a total of 6 different ones) so at least the ticket seller must have understood me… Damn. This was a setback!
About Me
- Jonna Wibelius
- I’m originally from Sweden but for the last 11 years I’ve been living in England, Australia, Finland and China (since 2006). Moving around has become a minor addiction for me and travelling is a big part of my lifestyle. I’m passionate about writing and about learning new languages (except for Swedish and English I also speak Mandarin). My blog, SHE in China, is about what I see, hear, and experience in my every day life here in Shanghai. Enjoy!
1 comment:
Don't feel bad. As you know, Chinese is a funky language that's tonal and sometimes it's hard for native speakers to understand chinese that's spoken without the exact tone.
Frankly, you should be proud of yourself that you understood the young couple because the hardest part of learning a foreign language is acquiring an ear for it. That goes doubly true for chinese (because it's tonal).
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