Language is the most fascinating and interesting thing to study. Learning just a little bit can open lots of doors and get you lots of appreciation and respect, but still getting to an advanced level requires lots of time and effort and dedication (as you probably already know).

I am a language fanatic. I love learning and exploring languages, without necessarily reaching an advanced level. Knowing that, Chinese language must have been the next language at some point.

Before coming to China to study at LTL, few years ago, I heard a lot that Chinese is a very difficult language and is almost impossible to learn due to having “thousands of letters” (which is a misunderstanding of the language), so it was intriguing to read a bit about this scary language. Just reading a little bit about the logic behind character writing and formation made the language much less frightening and actually more logical than other languages; however I did not continue serious study because I did not need it or feel I want to pursue it at that time.

Deciding to later on pursue Chinese Mandarin, I started looking for schools to study for a short duration (limited time because of work), and LTL was the best choice as it is located in Beijing and because it offers homestay residence which helps a lot in advancing faster as I found from a previous experience. In addition to that, LTL offers a two-city combo which I would have tried had I had more time.

One month before arriving to Beijing, I started to study as much as possible. Working limited the amount of study, but still I was able to read and say basic expressions, with apparently a very weird accent J

I had a one month visa, and my ultimate goal from learning Chinese at this stage was to be able to travel to other cities during the last week on my own. So, I took 1on1 individual classes (4 hours daily) for three weeks since the progress had to be fast and tailored to my own interests, and still not too intensive and tiring (in the case of 6-hour daily intensive course).

The good thing about individual classes is that progress is much faster since you are forced to talk and focus most of the time (as compared to group classes where you have the chance to be relieved when other students are talking). In addition, it can be customized to what you want to focus on. For my case, lots of focus was on conversations and vocabulary required to survive during my intended travel. The downside (or the upside?) is that you have to be focused all the time, to show much dedication, and to prepare enough before class if possible. The teachers are excellent and friendly, and even though you will not get to know other students in the classes, you will be able to meet other students during breaks or after classes or during activities organized by LTL.

The 1on1 classes benefited me a lot in noticing the errors I used to have in pronunciation and in tones, and working more and more to correct them.

One important thing to know before taking 1on1 classes is to know what you are expecting in and from these classes, and also to have at least a basic background before entering the class. Outside the class, try as much as possible to use whatever you learned with native Chinese people, in this case, the homestay family will be very helpful.

In my case, after around one week, I was having basic conversations and at some points impressing native Chinese by saying not-so-easy phrases. After another week, I was able to check train tickets online on only-Chinese websites, and to buy these tickets from ticket-selling stands (with some struggling).

After three weeks of classes, I had a 6-day successful trip to two other cities and back to Beijing, climbed two of China’s five sacred mountains and camped and slept there, slept once on a train, missed a train and had to negotiate to refund and buy another ticket, met and befriended lots of Chinese, and took LOTs of pictures with locals as a foreigner (wài guó rén  –外国人-you will hear this a lot) J

Two weeks after returning to Lebanon, I had one conversation with Chinese people in front of my Lebanese friends. Even though the conversation was not very detailed, it sure left a huge impression…