老外的龙年春节愿望_BEC初级作文_BEC初级-查字典英语网

老外的龙年春节愿望

High on the wish list of practically every expat here is a determination to improve their Chinese language skills. Whether it is a case of doing as I do – switching on my MP3 player whenever I travel on the bus or subway, and listening to a Chinese language lesson - or signing up to a proper language course; determining to go down to the local vegetable market and learning the name of a new vegetable on every visit; or trying to make conversation with a taxi driver, it is all too easy to make excuses and not make the required progress.

I used to face this problem when I lived in the Middle East, since most people I tried to practice my Arabic on insisted on replying in English. In the event I taught myself to learn to read the Arabic alphabet instead – a particularly useful skill, it turned out, as in my work I used to lay out magazines and put together web sites. So now I am slowly starting to learn some of the Chinese ideograms, not only with the help of a book I downloaded off the Internet, but also by going through the names of the various Beijing subway stations , noting commonly used "syllables" and getting to recognize the way they are written.

Another "essential" resolution we all share is to get to know Beijing better. The majority of expats I know do this by going out with other like-minded expats and going to the well known tourist spots and then slowly widening their experience. While this may be fine for some people, I prefer to leave all my Western friends behind and just take off for the day, armed only with a good map and having thoroughly researched some of the more esoteric things in the vicinity to which I am going. Having a Chinese friend accompany me adds an extra level of interest as they can explain things that foreigners simply wouldn't know.