非常感谢你们大家的帮助!

qiuyu
November 11, 2008, 12:46 PM posted in General Discussion

It might appear a little out of context, but I'd like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone at ChinesePod - the teachers and voice actors, the producers "behind the scenes", but also the truly amazing and helpful community.

When I stumbled upon your podcasts in a podcast directory of a major internet company little more than one year ago, I almost immediately resolved to start studying Mandarin. Prior to that, I had always wanted to learn a non-Romance language but I'd never been able to muster the courage to do so. In retrospect, your podcasts were an extraordinarily precious gift. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to subscribe for more than 4 months (being a secondary school student, the amount of money I can spend freely per month hardly ever exceeds 20€), but I kept using the free audio material for several months after that.

Remembering how I would sit on the tram listening to podcasts or spend hours trying to decipher texts in a writing system that seemed so incredibly obscure at that time... Those were hours well spent and I have to admit that the time I spent studying Chinese when I could have revised more for school exams instead doesn't feel like a sacrifice at all.

To cut a long story short, the learning process has been, albeit frustrating at times, extremely enjoyable (在自学汉语的过程中我发现其乐无穷; I keep my fingers crossed that it'll stay this way for many years to come, studying Chinese seems to be a lifelong endeavour, even for someone at my age).

Perhaps you're wondering why on earth I wrote this post? Well, (mainly) thanks to ChinesePod I was able to succeed (still feels like a miracle) in a national language competition, so I have been granted a scholarship to attend a language course in China. Thank you all so much for helping me to realize 我多年的愿望.

Bianca T., Germany

Profile picture
changye
November 11, 2008, 12:19 PM

Hi qiuyu,

Congratulations on your achievement in learning Chinese. I wish you every success for your time in China! 恭喜恭喜,你多年的愿望终于实现了!

Profile picture
henning
November 11, 2008, 12:37 PM

Wow! Congratulations, Bianca!
You should be equipped to have the time of your life in China. Don't forget to repeat all the eating & drinking related lessons before you go...

:)

Profile picture
cassielin
November 11, 2008, 04:00 PM

guess "qiuyu" is your chinese name,but not really sure about the chinese characters.

congratulations祝贺你!

Hope you can have a great time here in my country!

 Ps:

Chinesepod are proved to be our dear foreign friends' hero again and again!Keep on the good work please!^_^加油!

Profile picture
urbandweller
November 11, 2008, 04:16 PM

Bianca

In a world filled with negativity and chaos its so nice to hear a good story like yours. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your trip to China. Will you set up a travel blog? It would be great to see pics and hear more about your experiences in China. Come back soon and keep us posted on what happens.

Profile picture
qiuyu
November 11, 2008, 04:25 PM

Thanks guys!

@cassie qiuyu (秋雨) is not my Chinese name, it's actually due to my lack of creativity that I chose such an expression as my username ;) I read somewhere that it's the personal name of a Chinese author, but in fact, I simply liked the sound of it.

@henning Looks like I'll have to stop being a vegetarian, at least for the weeks in China... Not so much a fan of 羊肉串儿 or hairy crabs, but I wouldn't want to miss out on the 北京烤鸭。

@urbandweller I'll definitely start a blog. (By the way,it might sound naive, but perhaps you should adopt a more positive, more 乐观的态度 :) )

Profile picture
bababardwan
November 11, 2008, 10:46 PM

gong1xi3 ni3 qiuyu.It was wonderful to hear your story.Thanks for sharing and all the best.Have a ball in China.