Just Another Millenial Travel Blog

I quote here directly from my favorite Chinese lawyer. But due to the different interpretations of intellectual property rights between our hemispheres I hope this is okay anyways. Honestly, I perceived myself as tough cookie when it comes to learning (it is not fun studying with me, trust me). And besides that I thought after finishing my hunting licence in three month (and three degrees in nine semesters) nothing regarding learning can really shock me anymore.

As I arrived back then in shining Groningen days as 22 year old baby Hanna with a very cute school girl English in September and was able to speak fluently and read papers non stop in October I assumed to some extend that learning languages could work for me (okay, please ignore my French).

Now I am frankly asking myself whether all the above mentioned points have been misconceptions. As I am good into finding difficult things, that I want to master asap with notorious ambition, I started to learn Mandarin. Now I am a bit desperate. How do Chinese pupils learn how to write and read? It seems absolutely miraculous to me as I am already failing at recognizing more than three signs, not to mention pronouncation here.

At the latest since reading „The battle hymn of the tiger mother“ it should have been clear to us, and I do not deny the negative aspects here, that we in the West eventually have a collective problem when it comes to a lack of discipline regarding studying. And sure creativity and ingenuity are important as well but the foundation for success is eating bitterness and keep going when it is not fun (nothing is fun when you are not good at it). In my opinion, and eventually I am very old school here, it is inevitable that you learn some things by heart (and learning sometimes also means dull repetition). You cannot speak elaborated English without having learnt vocabulary for years. You will never understand history without some basic year numbers. You cannot study business administration without accounting. Is anything of these basic skills fun to learn? Not in my option. Am I glad I did anyway? Hell yes. So in theses term success, to me, only means you stood up one time more than you failed and kept going in discomfort.

From an economy perspective the East Asian approach to learning, which is to the extent of my knowledge also highly intertwined with Confucianism, has already its massive rewards: there is an Australian study regarding leadership of countries in future technologies.Within the study 44 technologies are examined. In 37 of those technologies China is leading. In the rest of the technologies the US is leading. Europe isn’t leading in not one.

What do you think: are we doomed in the West when it comes to learning? And the more important question: any recommendations on how to learn Mandarin?