As I was just browsing facebook, and, more specifically, replying to a friend request from another China 15 member. I won't mention her name, to protect the innocence of FB users but I'll transcribe her recent status update: "Do you guys actually speak / understand Mandarin? Like, seriously? ohhhhh".
I'm a little nervous about heading to staging and PST, and I think that nervousness stems mostly from the looming, Berlin-esque language barrier staring me in the face. Reading that status update felt like a refreshing wave of community and commonality. My concern is pretty specific (How many people are really scared of not knowing Chinese?), so the relief of knowing someone else shares it, or at least possess the same lack of ability, is comforting.
A running account of my application, and hopefully my service, in the Peace Corps. BTW, I am in no way a representative of the Peace Corps or the U.S. government.
3 comments:
Don't worry Christian, I am right there with you. Maybe I am being too hopeful here, but I really believe that we will pick up the language quicker than we think we will. Not only are we going to be learning in a classroom, but everything/everyone around is going to be exclusively Mandarin. However, understanding Mandarin and being able to respond so that people can actually understand you are two completely different things... Needless to say, I am just as nervous as you are!
Don't worry, I'm sure Peace Corps will give us more than enough preparation in Mandarin. I had thought about studying a lot but realized that I would probably cover everything I study in the first week of training. 10 more days!
I wouldn't worry about the language, guys. You're not going to be on your own for the first several days, so you don't need to know any. The language trainers are really great, and they start right away. It's all practical stuff, too (which I can't say for Rosetta Stone). So they'll teach you about ordering food and using tones during the first few days. Seriously, language is the last thing you should worry about before you come. PST prepares you really well. I haven't really studied any in the year I've been at site, and I can get around just fine.
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