Thinking Chinese

I had a breakthrough last night in my attempts to learn to speak Chinese, which even after four months here is still complete shit.  (Seriously, it’s as hard as learning Chinese.)

To get home from my apartment I take a taxi along the 3rd Ring Road (freeway) until I get to the San Yuan Bridge.  There you have to do one of those loop-dee-loop things to do a U-turn and get to my apartment complex, which is on the other side.  The guy asked me something, and I knew from experience he was asking how he wanted me to get to the other side.  Without even thinking about it I said:

xiān yīzhízǒu, ránhòu yòuguǎi

This means “First drive straight, then turn right.” I have to admit I was pretty damned happy with myself.  I answered a question without having to first translate it into English in my head.

Thank heaven I’m able to amaze myself with such ease.

That’s a cool feeling...I remember when I was studying Spanish that I knew I had really internalized the language when I started dreaming in Spanish!

Same thing with ASL. When I started thinking in ASL and not freezing up in absolute fear whenever I met a new deaf person I knew I was comfortable with the language. I’ve been signing for 17 years and I don’t think I’ll ever “master” the language. To me it will always be a second language just as Chinese will be to you. But I’ve become skilled enough in the language to converse fluently with deaf friends and to become a state certified interpreter (and Texas has the hardest state test for certification in the country!).