Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Time with Mr. Wu

"Ar-shu-ee-dian-liang-ba-fen."

"Ar-shu-ee-dian-liang-jio-fen."

"Ar-shu-ee-dian-shu-fen."

"Ar-shu-ee-dian-shu-ee-fen."

"Ar-she-ee-dian-shu-ar-fen."

"Ar-she-ee-dian-shu-san-fen."

And so it went... I was haltingly practicing telling time in Chinese in the car with Mr. Wu tonight, as he drove me home from a meeting at the boys' school. Every time the digital display on the dashboard changed, I said the time again, and Mr. Wu would prompt me, correct me, or nod his approval accordingly. Amazing how one must revert back to the most basic of tasks when learning a new language.

Note: The words in quotes are not necessarily spelled out in correct pinyin, just phonetically!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you!!! Are the kids also going to learn the language too? Will they have a chance to socialize with chinese children and learn the language that way?

Thank you for this blog! It is so exciting to read about your adventures!

Anonymous said...

Would Mr. Wu mind a picture taken? Would love to see what he looks like.

Rebecca said...

I love that his name is Mr. Wu. Is that a bad thing-- to love that? Because I do love it. I do.