Breaking the bubble (advice needed)
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:12 am
I’m now into the second part of my year abroad (China).
The classes here are pretty easy (especially from the reading/writing side) but, as usual, it’s my awful speaking and listening skills that are holding me back. I know that I need more exposure if I’m ever going to have any hope of improving but I’m just not getting it at the moment. I’ve heard of the English speaking bubble but I didn’t realise that it would be this easy to fall into and so hard to find chances to speak/hear Chinese while in China! In my short time here I've gotten good at ordering a coffee but not much else.
Because of the number of people in my class I hardly have any chance to speak Chinese there. The others are also a lot more confident than me, so the little that I do attempt to say generally gets drowned out.
I’m in a dorm of international students which means;
1. default = English outside of classes and
2. zero interaction with Chinese students.
There are no clubs that we can join…at least not that we’ve been told about. I’ve asked at the office and they have no idea if anything even exists. The few people I know here seem to hang out with other international students and go clubbing.
My Chinese isn’t good enough to find somewhere on my own and so far I’ve been too nervous to explore much by myself.
I haven’t even been able to continue my italki lessons because my internet is so unstable here, which also makes watching online videos/podcasts extremely difficult. I’m tempted to look into buying a TV. Seems a bit silly for my short time here, but at least I’d be able to hear some Chinese while I’m cooped up in my room.
In Germany they gave advice on how/where to find things. There were sports clubs and other groups to join which were held in German. They paired everyone up with a German student from the uni (admittedly I didn’t spend much time talking to them but it was reassuring to know that there was someone I could ask for help if/when I needed it). But there's been nothing like that here.
I know the solution is probably just to go for it and get out on my own, but I’ve been sat here thinking about doing that and so far the only result has been a knot in the pit of my stomach and a sinking feeling that, after a semester, I’ll be in pretty much the same situation that I’m in now with nothing to show for my time here.
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Another dilemma I have is that my teacher here has told me to move up to the higher class, but I don’t think I’ll be able to cope with the speaking/listening there. Adding to the confusion is the fact that my Chinese tutor back in the UK has suggested that I stay in the lower class. I’m genuinely not sure what to do for the best. Do I listen to them and stay in the lower class and hope that it will be good for my speaking and listening, even though I won’t learn a lot of the language? Or do I trust my teacher here, move up to the higher class and hope that, after some (probably a lot) of stress, the listening and speaking will eventually fall into place?
The classes here are pretty easy (especially from the reading/writing side) but, as usual, it’s my awful speaking and listening skills that are holding me back. I know that I need more exposure if I’m ever going to have any hope of improving but I’m just not getting it at the moment. I’ve heard of the English speaking bubble but I didn’t realise that it would be this easy to fall into and so hard to find chances to speak/hear Chinese while in China! In my short time here I've gotten good at ordering a coffee but not much else.
Because of the number of people in my class I hardly have any chance to speak Chinese there. The others are also a lot more confident than me, so the little that I do attempt to say generally gets drowned out.
I’m in a dorm of international students which means;
1. default = English outside of classes and
2. zero interaction with Chinese students.
There are no clubs that we can join…at least not that we’ve been told about. I’ve asked at the office and they have no idea if anything even exists. The few people I know here seem to hang out with other international students and go clubbing.
My Chinese isn’t good enough to find somewhere on my own and so far I’ve been too nervous to explore much by myself.
I haven’t even been able to continue my italki lessons because my internet is so unstable here, which also makes watching online videos/podcasts extremely difficult. I’m tempted to look into buying a TV. Seems a bit silly for my short time here, but at least I’d be able to hear some Chinese while I’m cooped up in my room.
In Germany they gave advice on how/where to find things. There were sports clubs and other groups to join which were held in German. They paired everyone up with a German student from the uni (admittedly I didn’t spend much time talking to them but it was reassuring to know that there was someone I could ask for help if/when I needed it). But there's been nothing like that here.
I know the solution is probably just to go for it and get out on my own, but I’ve been sat here thinking about doing that and so far the only result has been a knot in the pit of my stomach and a sinking feeling that, after a semester, I’ll be in pretty much the same situation that I’m in now with nothing to show for my time here.
________________________________
Another dilemma I have is that my teacher here has told me to move up to the higher class, but I don’t think I’ll be able to cope with the speaking/listening there. Adding to the confusion is the fact that my Chinese tutor back in the UK has suggested that I stay in the lower class. I’m genuinely not sure what to do for the best. Do I listen to them and stay in the lower class and hope that it will be good for my speaking and listening, even though I won’t learn a lot of the language? Or do I trust my teacher here, move up to the higher class and hope that, after some (probably a lot) of stress, the listening and speaking will eventually fall into place?