Have been somewhat stagnant on Chinese recently just ticking over a little, needed something to kick me off and set me on the path to conquer that last big hump (huge) mountain before I will consider myself fluent. Really, really seriously out of practice but everything is still there.
Anger will do I think, yes definitely. Take some negative (and somewhat unfair emotions and feelings, because after-all humans are by nature self-decievers). I am fed up with students who want to language exchange but go cold on you when they realise that is not just going to be a case of them teaching you nihao and they get almost all the time practicing English.
I am fed up with students who have taken years to realise that just studying in England and hanging around with Chinese people all the time isn't going to give them native English. They don't tend to tell you that they are going to back to China for good in a month and that this practice is their last desperate attempt to get better. So just when you thought you have found a good exchange partner, they bugger off.
I am fed up with being blanked or answered in English, when I try to talk to Chinese people now (no problem earlier stages in the process but now I just make them uncomfortable). Even when helping them in shops, two occaisions now, I help them understand what the staff said, they are very grateful, tell me my Mandarin is good (in broken English) and refuse to speak Chinese with me (thanks a lot, you can bloody understand me when I speak to you in Mandarin, just try speaking some Mandarin back to me you may be surprised, I am not just a talking monkey who has learned like a parrot).
I am fed up with the introduce me to your English friends etc. , but no way am I going to dilute your usefulness by introducing you to any of my Chinese friends attitude.
DISLAIMER none of this of course in any-way applies to some of the wonderful Chinese people I have met, just the rest of them...
I am doubly super fed with everybody who assumes I have sexual motives, I don't want to steal your women, I am happily married to an English girl, I have no Chinese wife, no Chinese girlfriend and to be honest even if I re-wound back to when I was single, Chinese girls are good at cute, and pretty but for me mostly too small and cute/pretty/attractive does not neccessarlily equate to sexy. Its a big world out there and every race / culture has beautiful women, learning Chinese to get a date is rather extreme.
I am now fed up with Chinese learners who live out there (for years), did a few semesters at college, have Chinese wives and girlfriends, actually are part Chinese and picked up some at home as kids etc. Being treated like they are the only ones who will every really get it. Blogging about the difficulties etc. Try doing it my way you wimps!
Not fashionable these days, but sometimes I get things done by injecting some negativity (I just do), this is not a Care Bear movie I don't need to be all fuzzy, smiley and positive all the time, sickly sweet, surrounding myself with people telling me they "believe in me" or scaring away all the "hard", "difficult" aspects for me. This last bit I am declaring war on, I don't care how hard or tough this next bit is, if I declare war on something, it is going down!
Ohh yeah apart from that feeling pretty good, loving learning Afrikaans and about to start a new language learning blog.
