My Brain Hurts

School is out.

No lesson plans.

No professional development.

No staff or team meetings.

No students to supervise.

So, why in the world is this blog entitled My Brain Hurts.

The answer is simple.

In 

just 

one 

word....

Chinese.

Yep, that's right. After living in Taiwan for five years, Carl and I have bitten the proverbial bullet.

Or have we bitten off more than we can chew?

I guess only time will reveal that answer.

You would think that just by living in a foreign country, the language would naturally sink into our brains. That's what I would have thought six years ago. But, I was wrong.

While I do know some phrases and words, I wouldn't even begin to claim fluency of any sort.

Allow me to explain.

I live and work in an American bubble. Morrison Christian Academy is an American school. Our business parents spend a lot of money for their children to study and learn in an English environment. In addition, our apartment is located on the same campus. All my neighbors are my coworkers- English speaking coworkers. My daily life is centered around speaking English.

Carl does all the shopping. His Chinese is way more advanced than mine. He can read signs at the market and know if a fruit or vegetable is sold by piece or by its weight. He can ask how much something costs and figure out the answer. His immersion factor is much higher than mine.

Learning Chinese takes time; time that has not been readily available the last five years. For every hour spent in class, three hours of studying is the norm. By the time evening rolls around, I am exhausted. I have nothing left to give. As a result, I simply have not made learning Chinese a priority.

It's so easy to let someone else do the talking. It's more convenient to let Carl order my favorite tea. It's quicker to let my Taiwanese friend order our food.

But, the time has come. 

 It is summer. I am here. I have time. I have the energy.

No excuses.

I can do this!

But, it makes my brain hurts.

Learning Chinese is not an easy task; learning any new language is not easy. But, Chinese adds a few extra hurdles. First of all, reading Chinese is completely different than speaking Chinese. You can't just look at a character and be able to figure out how its sounds.

Even harder, are the tones. I think this is the part I struggle with the most.

If I pronounce the words correctly, but use the incorrect tones, at best I may be misunderstood. However, I may accidentally call someones mother a horse. Each "word" can have up to four different meaning according to the tone that is used. 

By the end of our 90 minute lesson, my tongue and lips are worn out. My neck is sore from bobbing my head up and down trying to get the right tone. And basically, my brain just hurts!  

I have such a great respect for my friends who are fluent. I can only begin to imagine the time and effort that must have went into that fete. I also have a new respect for my kids. Ben studied three years of Chinese. Abbi had four. Jacob wins the reward for enduring five years so far.

So, I will buckle down and force this old brain to keep on working, to not give up, to overcome.

Just like that little engine, I will say...

 

And, so I will!