This is the start to an amazing 6 week experience!
For my Genius Blog, I decided to learn how to speak Mandarin, and what a perfect time to start this project- it's CHINESE NEW YEAR THIS WEEKEND! If you don't know what this means, it means that I will be getting a lot of exposure to my boyfriend's family, which ALSO means, i'll be getting a lot of exposure to Mandarin!
For this week's goal, I wanted to get to know the basics, like Hello, How are you?, but also, learn things like numbers and colours.
I feel like I pushed myself really hard this week,
as I knew I would be around David's family this
weekend and I really wanted to get the opportunity to show them what I have learned and what words I already know!
I used a variety of resources to get started. My boyfriend- David, helped me, by teaching me many words and phrases- Happy New Year, etc.,
but I also used some websites online and an app to help practice my words and have my knowledge grow!
This has been such an amazing experience so far. It is so exciting learning a new language, although it is not easy!
I learned that with my Genius Hour Project- learning Mandarin, Mandarin is a very difficult language because of it's pronunciation of words. How you say words is very specific and you need to be able to say it properly for it to make sense. I think this was definitely the trickiest part of my first week, but, it hasn't discouraged me! It has definitely motivated me and pushed me to work harder!
Before next week's Genius Hour, I need to keep practicing my words and maybe even try learning an additional word or two as a bonus. I need to make sure I am not forgetting what I am learning.
Learning Mandarin so far has been such an interesting and intriguing experience. I feel really proud of what I know, but I do have some questions that I would love to know the answers to. My questions are mostly about how to pronounce certain words, and if there are slang phrases or words people use instead of the formal translations that are put on apps/online.
I have included a few clips of me learning/speaking Mandarin for this week's goals!
HAVE A LISTEN!!!
👂👂👂👂😀
Although I have a couple questions, I think this means I'm really making progress and it shows how dedicated and committed I am to this project. I can definitely find out these answers this weekend from my boyfriend, his mum and his family!
From this, I will record my answers and knowing my boyfriend, his family and his mum, they will all definitely try to teach me more, which will obviously benefit me for next week and the weeks to come after that. I will make sure I am practicing and learning as much as I can within my Genius Hours for the next weeks to come!
As they say in Mandarin... "Xiè Xiè. Tzai' Jien'"
(Thank you. Goodbye!)
