During lockdown i wished to learn a new language, considering the nature of my fathers business, there is a lot of potential for flexible packaging in china. so i decided to learn mandarin i had help of books and apps, and it was pretty fun and engrossing maybe because its a whole new area to conquer.
LO 1- I have been told by many people that i have a good grasping power, and i believe i could use it to sharpen my brain, learning a new language sure does strengthens a person’s mind, and throughout the process i found that i may be having a good grasping power but i don’t have concentration manier times i used to find myself lost in my own thoughts while learning, i used to close to book, flex a little bit and then start over where i left, as i started getting a hang of it, i started being less and less distracted, i used to keep aside all the things i could fidget with and because of that i worked on my concentration power. It is very important for us to know our weakness and strengths so that we overcome our weakness and hone my strengths furthermore.
LO 2 – learning a new language that too with the help of apps and books is a bit tough, learning a language through a tutor is also a challenge so books and apps were not enough to learn fluent mandarin, the last time i had done something similar to this was, probably learning english when i was 4, maybe this was also a factor making the process challenging , i feel great that i undertook this challenge, because it allows me to converse in mandarin whenever i visit china, conversing in the countries native language, as i mentioned earlier the nature of the business i want to pursue has a lot of potential market situated in china, with china being and economical giant, learning their language will sure be very beneficial and hence the skill i learned ( conversing in mandarin) will come in handy.
LO 3 – to learn a language is not a joke, especially it being mandarin, it is considered one of the toughest language, hence i was clear that i will require a plan, and so i planned the timings everyday, my goal was to at least have 1 hour of practice everyday, in which the first 15 mins would be recap of last class, so this helped me to remember my earlier sessions as well as helped me to learn new information as well.
LO 4 – I am not going to lie, there were times when i would want nothing more than to just quit learning this language, i mean mandarin have 5 pronunciations of the same word, each one with a different meaning, i used to mix up the pronunciations and in turn it changed the whole sentence, on the online app quizzes i would score very less, but then with the help of the books and sheer hard work i started understanding the language and when to use what words, the only thing i was unable to understand to this day is the pronunciations and hence i think i would require a personal tutor for the same. this all was possible because i was committed and persistent, i am not very committed in my daily life, but this was something different, everyday i wanted to quit yet i continued to learn it.
to conclude learning mandarin surely was tough but worth it, and because of this i also look forward to learning many other new languages.
