A journey to the discovery of the chinese language

Last time, I was talking about why we should not be scared of the Chinese expansion and to the contrary, we should consider it as an opportunity. I was proposing we should start learning Chinese in order to know better the culture, and that is what I have done.

It took me a while before finding a place where to learn Chinese. That was not obvious as there are no official schools or institutions teaching this rich language. And Friday morning, I came across this advert in the newspapers; I didn’t have to think twice, I decided to call right away the contact given. We agreed to meet the very same day and discuss further on how it would work.

The place is near the newly built small round about at Antananinandro on your way to the bridge of Behoririka. It is a place that you can actually find easily, it is on the first floor of the house colored in green and with the PMU gambling office on the ground floor. The teacher is Mr. Hao speaking Malagasy like all the other Chinese in Tana, i.e. with an accent.

The fee is not too high compared to the opportunity you will have once you master this language, it is not more than 30,000 Ar per person and per month; and what I found very interesting, since I am someone who is working full time, is that the schedule is very flexible (let’s be honest, flexibility is something you can hardly get when you are looking for that kind of institution)

The course started on Saturday, 3rd of November. It is really interesting even though I find the phonetics and pronunciation quite tough; however, do not listen to people who are saying it is very difficult, what life would be if everything was easy? That is my challenge for the whole year of 2008, to master this language and to be S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound), at least to be able to speak it properly.

China, here I am!