Opportunity to speak Chinese

peterjez
July 27, 2008, 03:29 AM posted in General Discussion

I just moved to Austin from the San Francisco Bay Area. I have studied Chinese for four and a half years and lived in China for about a year in various places. While there are people who do speak Chinese here, I think it would be great to increase the number of opportunities to speak and learn the language. After all, listening to Cpod and Cpop only gets you so far. Let's hit up some hip cafes, study, speak and have fun.

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georgebkeith
August 30, 2008, 02:33 AM

I live in Elgin. My wife and I have been dabbling in Chinese for several years. This semester we will taking a class at the Austin Great Wall Chinese School.

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jill348
August 30, 2008, 03:28 AM

Hi, Peter, I'm the wife George referred to, so I also live in Elgin :). You might enjoy a little coffee shop called "Kick Butt Coffee" in Austin, run by an enthusiast who is also learning Chinese, and who teaches Kung Fu. The classes George mentioned are on Sundays, and they will be starting September 7th.

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peterjez
September 04, 2008, 03:25 AM

Cool! We should get together and speak Chinese. Sadly, I haven't spoken since I arrived here in Austin :(

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jill348
October 01, 2008, 12:56 AM

hey, Peter. We started our class at the Great Wall, and met a few others who are also wanting to get together somewhere in Austin. Evidently there are some informal get-togethers on Monday nights at Mozart's. http://www.mozartscoffee.com/slowindex.html

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timlb
August 28, 2009, 03:48 AM

Hey folks, just joined the group. I'd love to get together to speak Chinese with someone (getting tired of walking around with my iPod talking to myself!). I'm Upper Intermediate right now, kicking the rust off of what I learned 20 years ago.

Speaking of Kick Butt, I play music there from time to time; the owner's cool, didn't know he was learning Chinese.

Hope to hear from y'all soon. How're the classes going?

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asphodel
March 09, 2010, 01:15 AM

Hey there!

I was just wondering if this group is still alive and well.  If anyone is interested in meeting somewhere to practice, tell me!  Anybody interested?

 

 

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jozarb
June 28, 2010, 06:03 PM

Hello,

Most of these messages are pretty old. Hope we can stir up some new interest, though most of you are probably far ahead of me in your Chinese. I've been studying--mostly on my own, using websites, books, and CDs--for about 6 months.

I'm also a member of the Austin Chinese Language and Culture Meetup. Members include native Chinese who enjoy helping others learn their language, and people on all levels of Chinese language acquisition. We have a variety of events, including a weekly lunch get-together near the U.T. campus. You can check out the group and sign up for membership at http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Chinese-Language-and-Culture/

Hope to see some of you there.

Jo