😹😹😹 That’s my language-learning method, too. In theory, I can speak Mandarin; In practice, I have no idea why my Chinese neighbors are screaming at each other.
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Oh, I don’t really think my neighbors (except, to be honest, one very tyrannical old lady) are unusually emotional. They’re a nice family. It’s just that to my ignorant ears, the varied tones of Chinese speech sound like argument. English speakers don’t raise the pitch of their voices unless upset.
This is refreshing for me. I've never thought about it from this perspective. My mother tongue is Chinese, maybe I am used to it. I basically only listen to English songs, because Chinese has a lot of vowels, which makes it sound incoherent.
I read an autobiography by a Chinese woman, later American, whose family spoke Cantonese. She said she used to be embarrassed by her older Chinese relatives, who (even when in proximity) always spoke to each other as if they were calling across several fields.
The very hardest, even impossible, challenge for English speakers learning Chinese is to understand that the meaning and the sound and pitch of a character go together. A change in tone is a change in meaning. I doubt if any foreigner ever gets it right.
I don't think you should "learn" a language. I think language is a tool and should be used. The more you use it, the better you get at it. You can use the Feynman method to translate an idea into your thoughts. But I don't think it works for language learning.
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