Hi, my name is Niel, otherwise known as Confused Laowai. I blog about my exciting, yet often confusing adventure learning Chinese.
You know you’re progressing in Mandarin when…
Maybe this is just me, but I’ve noticed my Mandarin progress take form in some strange ways… You answer you friends with short Mandarin sentences such as “我不知道”, “没有” or anything that you’ve recently learned. They then turn at you thought you were mumbling and then you answer them in the appropriate language. You decide to watch Chinese series in Chinese with Chinese subtitles even though you don’t understand most of it. Every Asian person [...]
My Trip to Beijing June ’09
I was fortunate to be one lucky few who went to Renmin Daxue International Summer School in June/July 2009. We went as a group of 15 from our class to explore one the busiest cities in the world, and get to know this culture we’re learning about. It was the best trips I’ve had in my life, and I’ve made lifelong friends because of it. However, in terms of my Mandarin abilities, this was just [...]
