now your wife is here

[Guest jin979]

Robs trying

[Randy W]

No - it's very confusing for both of us to be learning each other's language, so English comes first.

 

When I try to tell her something, and she simply tries to teach me the Chinese, a point or 2 get lost

 

Except for her most recent job, all have been at Chinese speaking places - she needs a little English where she is now. So it's slow going

 

She does study a lot.

[griz326]

I'm concentrating on teaching Xiaoyuan English. The fine points of day-to-day living are showing how weak her English actually is, so English is most important. She studies hard and is getting better every day, but she's still another year from putting it all together. Some sounds she'll never learn how make; clearly why it is important to learn when you are young. Our daughter, on the other hand, is speaking and behaving like an American girl...almost.

 

...and when I try to speak Chinese...they both laugh at me.

[amanda1969]

My tongue just don't work right so I gave up.

[NewDay2006]

I'm not learning Chinese at all, haven't really tried. I'm busy trying to get both her and our son to get more acclimated with English. My wife's english is pretty good. My son's understanding is much better. He still doesn't talk much unless I engage him, but I know he understands. She now has a job where she must use her english much more.

 

I do hope to learn Chinese one day, but it does hurt my head when I try and I never remember anything 1 hour later.

[michaln]

I picked up a little but ling does not teach me to pronounce words perfectly

only good enough for her to understand then I try it on some of her friends

and they laugh

[C4Racer]

My wife is working on her massage license. This means the more English she learns the better for when she goes to the State Board to take her license test. So we are concentrating strictly on her English. Later after she gets her license, we'll see. I need to start learning because her family will be coming to live with us.

[Randy W]

I'm not learning Chinese at all, haven't really tried. I'm busy trying to get both her and our son to get more acclimated with English. My wife's english is pretty good. My son's understanding is much better. He still doesn't talk much unless I engage him, but I know he understands. She now has a job where she must use her english much more.

 

I do hope to learn Chinese one day, but it does hurt my head when I try and I never remember anything 1 hour later.

 

 

Exactly - the way my wife tends to learn (and teach me) goes in one ear and out the other

[NUWORLD]

Robs trying

 

 

My wife ( Zhenghong ) teaches me new Chinese everyday.

I'm getting pretty good at it.

Can even have a simple conversation with the in-Laws.

 

But far from being fluent.

[esun41]

I have a hard enough time speaking English...

 

especially in Texas!!!

[Guest jin979]

Robs trying

 

 

My wife ( Zhenghong ) teaches me new Chinese everyday.

I'm getting pretty good at it.

Can even have a simple conversation with the in-Laws.

 

But far from being fluent.

 

 

 

thats great

[chilton747]

I was learning soon after I met her and I have continued to learn while she is here. I can't put all the burden of our communication on her. Besides, I will be retiring in China and I ain't about to go live there and not speak and read the language.

Let's just say it's a 50/50 proposition, her learning English and I learning Chinese.

[warpedbored]

I have very little aptitude for foreign language. My ex and I were together for 21 years. It took me that long to learn enough Japanese to make a fool of myself. Chinese is even more difficult. I took two quarters at the community college and came to the conclusion that I'm too stupid to learn. Sadly enough my wife agreed with me.

[whome?]

I'm not learning Chinese at all, haven't really tried. I'm busy trying to get both her and our son to get more acclimated with English. My wife's english is pretty good. My son's understanding is much better. He still doesn't talk much unless I engage him, but I know he understands. She now has a job where she must use her english much more.

 

I do hope to learn Chinese one day, but it does hurt my head when I try and I never remember anything 1 hour later.

 

haha ... mine too but I try ... the biggest thing is that when chinese people talk to me I encourage them to talk and never laugh at their speaking ability ... however it seems most chinese (not my wife or in-laws) think it is perfectly normal to laugh at you for trying to speak chinese so I only try with my wife now ...

[credzba]

haha ... mine too but I try ... the biggest thing is that when chinese people talk to me I encourage them to talk and never laugh at their speaking ability ... however it seems most chinese (not my wife or in-laws) think it is perfectly normal to laugh at you for trying to speak chinese so I only try with my wife now ...

 

My wife and daughter trade english/mandarin words with me.

If they don't know an english word, I tell them, then I ask what the mandarin word is, and try to remember it.

 

Unless it is something I use, the mandarin is often forgotten.

Some things I learn, and use a lot though.

 

"put on your seat belt"

"please turn left/right, merge left/right"

"I am sleepy"

"lets go to bed" - both sleepy words, and more .. suggestive words

 

and my all time favorite is you can add "si la" to everything means "to death"..

Often I am "hungry to death" or "sleepy to death" or someone is a "headache to death". I like that I can add "si la" to everything for emphasis.

 

My wife gets a lot of "face" from her foreign devil husband being able to understand some mandarin. Even though they laugh at me when I talk, they all tell my wife how lucky she is that I try, because their husbands don't even try.