Invincible Determination

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”

– Langston Hughes

Hey all. I’m sorry for the inconsistency of my postings. I’ve been pretty busy with classes and everything else. In addition, sometimes I don’t have as much to report on. But I will try and return back to posting every Sunday like before. Because now I’m even more excited about my time spent in China. What I’m planning on doing is if I don’t have an exciting weekly update, I will write a separate post about travel tips, Chinese phrases, and more. Anyway, now for my post.

I’ve mentioned in my previous post that I have been practicing my Chinese. Well one reason why I am posting a delayed entry is because I have spent most of my free time studying and practicing writing Chinese vocabulary words. I’ve been adding a variety of words ranging from animals to popular pronouns and mythical creatures. Lately I have been really enthusiastic in my studies that I lose track of time like I do when I’m drawing.

All of the pages in this picture are written on the back and front. In addition to practicing new Chinese vocab on Pleco, I also have Emily help me with my Chinese by teaching me phrases and words that native Chinese speakers use. In order to practice my speaking and tone accuracy, I use these phrases when I’m speaking to my students and even to people on the street.

From practicing on my own to throwing myself out there to practice speaking and listening has really helped me in some obvious ways. Now I am not only able to pick up more on what people say but I can read some of the Chinese signs more clearly. Emily has told me that she is impressed not just with my speaking but my reading comprehension.

Something that has made studying Chinese a struggle for me is that I feel like I won’t reach a desired goal in my journey through the Chinese language. I’ve always asked myself “When will I be fluent? How will I know when I’ll be fluent? What happens after I’m fluent?” Well I have decided to give myself a really long-term goal in about 5-10 years. I want to take the HSK.

The HSK or the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi is an exam for non-native speakers to take in order to test the speaking, reading, writing and listening in the Chinese language. Many people take this exam because the scores increase your chances of obtaining a job in Mandarin-speaking countries and exempts you from Chinese courses if applying to schools. Personally, I want to take this because I don’t just want to tell people I’m fluent, I want to prove to people that with hard work and determination, that I was able to pass an exam that makes it official.

I haven’t told many people about this because at this point, they would probably think I’m crazy. Yes, I am pretty crazy but I am also determined to make the most of my time in China and my time with the language.