June Language Challenge Andreys First italki lesson for the June 2015 Language Challenge

June Language Challenge Andrey’s First italki lesson for the June 2015 Language Challenge Andrey is one of the newest italki employees, a Russian designer who has spent the last three years in Beijing. Here is the story of his very first italki AND very first Chinese language lesson.   I had my first Chinese class with my italki teacher Sebastian  (I picked him because his introduction video looked interesting, and hes traveled a lot). Even though I’ve already spent several years living in China, it was my first Chinese class ever! A big welcome to Andrey! Hes our new #designer who came to #Shanghai all the way from #Siberia! #morerussians #morediversity #bettersite #seriousdesign #monitorenvy #lookingforanapartment A photo posted by Italki (@italki) on May 6, 2015 at 1:48am PDT When I lived in Beijing, I hardly ever used Chinese. I mostly used Russian, and later English. I have also picked up some Chinese by being around people (mostly colleagues, friends, locals, and other Russians). Still, despite having a bit of basic vocabulary, I’m very much a beginner. My first italki Chinese class Sebastian showed me cards with Chinese characters and pinyin*, which I have not studied before. Maybe it’s because I’ve already lived in China, but I understood the pinyin portion quickly. I found it pretty fun to suddenly be able to name characters that before the lesson seemed just like mute squiggles. * Pinyin is the “romanization”; the system of “spelling out” the pronunciation of Chinese words using letters of the alphabet. I have homework. I will need to learn Chinese characters. I think it will be fun, because characters haven’t really meant anything to me up till now; so far I have thought of them as just drawings. Now, I’d like to take steps to actually understand them, and I already recognize a few: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ? (because these are quite basic). Since I already “passed” pinyin in my first class, Sebastian gave me some homework for learning characters. Beginning with  the 2nd lesson, we’re going to start reading in Chinese. It’s kind of a challenge for us both, for him as well as for me! Tones I have problems with the tones, as many of those learning Chinese, which I’d like to focus on for my next lessons. Though the tones do seem a bit complicated, and I’ve always had trouble with them, I am hopeful I will be able to finally figure them out. It seems kind of weird to speak this way, using tones, you know? I’m not the kind of person who finds it easy to laugh at themselves, and I don’t want to sound weird. But, at the same time, I want this; it’s part of the challenge. I think overall I’m quite nervous: I think that to learn all of the characters would take forever! It seems like a lifetime-long project! I’m kind of scared that I don’t have that much time. I don’t mean that I’m going to die anytime soon, but I’m just too busy with work or other stuff. Again, I see this as part of the challenge: forcing myself to start learning something new and making time to do it well. Overall Impression I’ve never done anything like this before, it’s very cool! The feeling is the same as when you’re on a roller coaster: it feels amazing, but you’re still nervous, maybe even scared. I’m looking forward to the ride. June Language Challenge Andrey’s First italki lesson for the June 2015 Language Challenge Andrey is one of the newest italki employees, a Russian designer who has spent the last three years in Beijing. Here is the story of his very first italki AND very first Chinese language lesson.   I had my first Chinese class with my italki teacher Sebastian  (I picked him because his introduction video looked interesting, and hes traveled a lot). Even though I’ve already spent several years living in China, it was my first Chinese class ever! A big welcome to Andrey! Hes our new #designer who came to #Shanghai all the way from #Siberia! #morerussians #morediversity #bettersite #seriousdesign #monitorenvy #lookingforanapartment A photo posted by Italki (@italki) on May 6, 2015 at 1:48am PDT When I lived in Beijing, I hardly ever used Chinese. I mostly used Russian, and later English. I have also picked up some Chinese by being around people (mostly colleagues, friends, locals, and other Russians). Still, despite having a bit of basic vocabulary, I’m very much a beginner. My first italki Chinese class Sebastian showed me cards with Chinese characters and pinyin*, which I have not studied before. Maybe it’s because I’ve already lived in China, but I understood the pinyin portion quickly. I found it pretty fun to suddenly be able to name characters that before the lesson seemed just like mute squiggles. * Pinyin is the “romanization”; the system of “spelling out” the pronunciation of Chinese words using letters of the alphabet. I have homework. I will need to learn Chinese characters. I think it will be fun, because characters haven’t really meant anything to me up till now; so far I have thought of them as just drawings. Now, I’d like to take steps to actually understand them, and I already recognize a few: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ? (because these are quite basic). Since I already “passed” pinyin in my first class, Sebastian gave me some homework for learning characters. Beginning with  the 2nd lesson, we’re going to start reading in Chinese. It’s kind of a challenge for us both, for him as well as for me! Tones I have problems with the tones, as many of those learning Chinese, which I’d like to focus on for my next lessons. Though the tones do seem a bit complicated, and I’ve always had trouble with them, I am hopeful I will be able to finally figure them out. It seems kind of weird to speak this way, using tones, you know? I’m not the kind of person who finds it easy to laugh at themselves, and I don’t want to sound weird. But, at the same time, I want this; it’s part of the challenge. I think overall I’m quite nervous: I think that to learn all of the characters would take forever! It seems like a lifetime-long project! I’m kind of scared that I don’t have that much time. I don’t mean that I’m going to die anytime soon, but I’m just too busy with work or other stuff. Again, I see this as part of the challenge: forcing myself to start learning something new and making time to do it well. Overall Impression I’ve never done anything like this before, it’s very cool! The feeling is the same as when you’re on a roller coaster: it feels amazing, but you’re still nervous, maybe even scared. I’m looking forward to the ride. June Language Challenge Andrey’s First italki lesson for the June 2015 Language Challenge Andrey is one of the newest italki employees, a Russian designer who has spent the last three years in Beijing. Here is the story of his very first italki AND very first Chinese language lesson.   I had my first Chinese class with my italki teacher Sebastian  (I picked him because his introduction video looked interesting, and hes traveled a lot). Even though I’ve already spent several years living in China, it was my first Chinese class ever! A big welcome to Andrey! Hes our new #designer who came to #Shanghai all the way from #Siberia! #morerussians #morediversity #bettersite #seriousdesign #monitorenvy #lookingforanapartment A photo posted by Italki (@italki) on May 6, 2015 at 1:48am PDT When I lived in Beijing, I hardly ever used Chinese. I mostly used Russian, and later English. I have also picked up some Chinese by being around people (mostly colleagues, friends, locals, and other Russians). Still, despite having a bit of basic vocabulary, I’m very much a beginner. My first italki Chinese class Sebastian showed me cards with Chinese characters and pinyin*, which I have not studied before. Maybe it’s because I’ve already lived in China, but I understood the pinyin portion quickly. I found it pretty fun to suddenly be able to name characters that before the lesson seemed just like mute squiggles. * Pinyin is the “romanization”; the system of “spelling out” the pronunciation of Chinese words using letters of the alphabet. I have homework. I will need to learn Chinese characters. I think it will be fun, because characters haven’t really meant anything to me up till now; so far I have thought of them as just drawings. Now, I’d like to take steps to actually understand them, and I already recognize a few: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ? (because these are quite basic). Since I already “passed” pinyin in my first class, Sebastian gave me some homework for learning characters. Beginning with  the 2nd lesson, we’re going to start reading in Chinese. It’s kind of a challenge for us both, for him as well as for me! Tones I have problems with the tones, as many of those learning Chinese, which I’d like to focus on for my next lessons. Though the tones do seem a bit complicated, and I’ve always had trouble with them, I am hopeful I will be able to finally figure them out. It seems kind of weird to speak this way, using tones, you know? I’m not the kind of person who finds it easy to laugh at themselves, and I don’t want to sound weird. But, at the same time, I want this; it’s part of the challenge. I think overall I’m quite nervous: I think that to learn all of the characters would take forever! It seems like a lifetime-long project! I’m kind of scared that I don’t have that much time. I don’t mean that I’m going to die anytime soon, but I’m just too busy with work or other stuff. Again, I see this as part of the challenge: forcing myself to start learning something new and making time to do it well. Overall Impression I’ve never done anything like this before, it’s very cool! The feeling is the same as when you’re on a roller coaster: it feels amazing, but you’re still nervous, maybe even scared. I’m looking forward to the ride.