Mencius, Confucius and Dumplings
Wednesday December 16, 2009
For over a year now I’ve been diligently – nay, obsessively – practicing my written Chinese over at the marvellous Skritter.com. So far, Skritter has been an immensely effective learning tool, and the guys who run it are a fantastically dedicated bunch. “To Skritter” has become an everyday verb in my house. Anyway, a few days ago George over at Skritter asked if I’d do a quick interview for the Skritter newsletter, and I thought I’d post a copy over here on my blog.
“Why am I learning Chinese? The official reason I give is that I’m a writer, and I’m writing two books that require that I know some Chinese. The first is a collection of short stories, and the second is a philosophy book. But if I’m being absolutely honest, I’d say that it is probably the other way round and the books are a pretext for learning the language.
I’ve been interested in China for years, but it’s one of those interests (like playing the accordion) that I’ve taken a long while getting round to. I’ve been to China only once. Twenty years ago, at the age of eighteen, I took a jeep up the Khunjerab Pass in Pakistan, Chinese visa in hand, and walked across the border. There was political unrest in China at the time, and they turned me back. In all, I probably spent ten minutes on Chinese soil. I came back home and vowed, one day, to go to China again, and to learn Chinese. But somehow I got involved in other stuff. Writing books. Studying. Getting into philosophy.
Just over a year ago, I decided to finally make good on my intention to learn Chinese. Skritter came along just at the right time, and it has astonished me how quickly I’ve managed to get a grip on the written language. I try to practice an hour a day, when work permits.
Next year, all being well, I’m heading to China for six weeks. By the time I fly to Beijing, I’d love to be able to read 孟子 and 孔子 in the original. But I’ll settle for being able to read the menu well enough to order 饺子.
Incidentally, you may want to know what a Skritter actually is. Well, according to my sources, it’s one of these (see picture below) – a furry critter in Viking garb…
#1 · Nick
Thursday December 17, 2009
Thanks for the story behind the legend, Will! The Skritter users have been telling us how cool it was. Top notch, yes.
I think you’ll be doing better than just the menu, no problem.