Thanks for the message

mala_counselor

August 16, 2010, 02:57 PM posted in General Discussion

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your message. Hope you enjoy the vocation.

It doesn't matter. Please let me know when you are back in China. Of course, we can make up the class.

Mala

To improve my speaking and listening I need to practice more and more while I'm in Chongqing. However, I lack the confidence to talk because I don't know how to talk about certain things that I feel I should be able to talk about. So to increase the chances of me speaking Chinese in my daily life I think it's a good idea to practice dialogue that I need and will face during my day. I'll give you a few examples of situations I may find myself in:

Taxi's! I take taxi's every day and this is the best opportunity for me to practice my Chinese. Therefore, anything to do with taxi's/directions/traffic etc would be very useful. Also, small talk is very helpful, especially the weather and reasons on why I'm in China.

Massage's. I often have massages in Chongqing, sometimes alone, so I have 2 hours to practice my Chinese! Any language to do with or related to massages would be extremely helpful as my Chinese is poor in this area.

Food. I know we have covered food a lot but I think every now and then it would be good to redo a lesson that we may have done previously as I'm quite forgetful and ordering food by myself is something I really need to become proficient in.

The bar. I sometimes go to the bar so studying some Chinese related to this would be useful. I often find that the situation becomes quite complicated in Chinese bars sometimes, like trying to find an empty table, being told they only sell bottles of whiskey rather than 1 glass etc, so anything going deeper and more detailed than the simple ordering of bottles/glasses would be good.

Gym. I am a member of a gym but my Chinese is very restricted there as I do not know how to talk about gym related things such as exercise/health etc.

Shopping. The more on shopping the better really as this is something I do quite often. Bargaining/shopping for clothes/souvernirs/in a supermarket...all this would be useful.

Travel. As you know, I travel a lot so I would like to be able to talk about my travels. Also, things like buying train/plane/bus tickets would be very useful.

Beside these topics there are also a few grammar points that I think I need help with. One of these is how to compare things. Although I have briefly been taught about the Chinese word 'bǐ' I am still very unsure about how to compare things.

Also, I have a strong dislike for American sports so if we can avoid topics like basketball, baseball etc. that would be great!

Well thank you for listening to me, I hope this information can be of some help. I look forward to our next lesson!

Yours kindly

David

Thanks for the message

mala_counselor

daveyrobbo84