After completing a semester abroad in Hong Kong as an undergraduate, Thomas Dyson decided to go to Shanghai as an international student. He talks about his experience of learning Mandarin and integrating with others at his university.
If you are immersed in Mandarin, you will pick it up more quickly
After spending some time travelling in mainland China, I realised that, to improve my Mandarin, I really needed to live in a Chinese-speaking environment. That’s why I’m now doing a year-long Chinese language programme at East China Normal University in Shanghai. It’s the national centre for training teachers of Chinese as a second language, and all of my classes – bar an optional one on Chinese culture and society – are taught in Mandarin.
You can use Chinese to make friends with people from all over the world
There are more than 300 students on the language programme from all over the world, and last semester, there were only two other English speakers in my class. Most international students communicate with each other in Chinese, which means that I use the language all the time. I never thought I’d make friends with someone from France using Chinese, but I have, and sometimes I have to pinch myself when I go through a whole day only speaking Mandarin.
Learning a language is a gradual process
In the last five months, I've made a lot of progress with my Chinese. I have just passed HSK level 4 (lower intermediate) and though I’m still quite a way from getting over the ‘language wall’, I find it satisfying knowing that I am improving every day. Sometimes I struggle to come up with an eloquent reply when conversations get more complicated, but simple conversations now come easily. If I listen closely and follow the Chinese subtitles, I can even watch and understand slapstick entertainment shows on Chinese TV.
