It's hard to believe that we're only about two months away from leaving for our GSE trip to Taiwan! Time is going by so fast..but don't think we've been slacking. Quite the opposite, really!
So, what have we been doing? Well, learning Mandarin Chinese, of course! One of the main languages spoken in Taiwan is Mandarin. We want to learn as much of the language as we can before we leave to help bridge the communication gap and show just how excited we are to be immersed in the Taiwanese culture.
We tossed around several ideas on ways to learn Mandarin. We thought about Rosetta Stone software. We also considered using YouTube videos and books for self-study. However, no book or computer software can take the place of using a real, live tutor to help us understand and learn the language!
Our wonderful tutor, Jeremy Jewell, is an expert in all things that have to do with Taiwan and the Chinese language. We've had three lessons with him so far and will continue working with him until we leave for Taiwan. He's been an invaluable resource for us - giving us lessons on not only the language, but culture and ettiquette as well.
Of course, we already have some favorite phrases that we're learning, including:
Nǐ hǎo - Hello
Wǒ tīng bú dǒng 我聽不懂 - I don't understand
Duì bù qǐ kě shì, wǒ bù xí guàn zhè ge cài 對不起 可是 不 习 慣 这 个 菜 - Pardon me, but I am not accustomed to this
**This is our favorite! There's no doubt that we'll encounter some foods in Taiwan that we're not used to eating, so this phrase will come in handy!**
The most important thing is that we're having fun learning Mandarin. Be sure to quiz us on our Mandarin skills the next time you see one of us!
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