In Part2, we talked with Emiさん about learning the language. Emiさん taught us how she became able to speak Chinese, her motivation for learning the language as well as the hard times as a bilingual speaker. Hope you find out the tips to learn a language and new perspectives through this page!
Part 2 “How did you learn Chinese?”
By the way, how did you learn Chinese?
In primary school, it was kind of impossible to speak Chinese. Actually, when I visited China, I kept quiet all the time.
I see…
I was afraid I couldn’t communicate with others and particularly I was asked to repeat myself when I talked to somebody.
I can’t imagine you are afraid of talking like that!
Can’t you?
Were you learning Chinese at that time?
There were kind of Chinese language schools for Japanese children living in China like me and I had learned Chinese for half a year in primary school.
You were completely learning Chinese there, right?
Yes. We were learning what Japanese people learn in universities like Pinyin.
Did you learn Chinese only for half a year?
I didn’t become able to speak it after that so I studied abroad and went to a Chinese school for another half a year after that.
Wow! I didn’t know that!
It was when you were …
Eleven years old! And I became able to speak a little bit of Chinese.
Wonderful!!
You’re over-flattering me, haha.
Just because we really think so, haha.
Though living in Japan, did you think you wanted to be able to speak Chinese?
Yes, I did.
What motivated you like that?
My motivation… When I was young, I thought I was Chinese. Actually, people often said to me, ” your parents are Chinese”. However, when I visited China, I was unable to talk with Chinese people and was treated as an outsider. I didn’t like this.
I see.
But it was when I was a high school student and was into Chinese dramas that I became able to speak it fluently.
Actually I’ve heard that before!
Yeah, I watched them a lot!!
To be continued…
About the guest Emi
Emi is an uni student, working as a fashion model. Also, she teaches Japanese people the Chinese language on Instagram, which is fantastic. Check out her instagram account from the links below.
えみさんは、ファッションモデルとしても活動されている、大学生です。また、インスタグラムでは、日本人向けに中国語を教えています。是非彼女のアカウントをチェックしてみてください！リンクは以下の通りです✨
Her Chinese Teaching Account: 独学で綺麗に話せる中国語＠えみ
Her Account as a fashion model: えみ