How the Chinese Vocabulary Wiki Saved This Student Abroad
Learning another language has its quirks. I’ve been learning that this summer while studying in Taiwan. Chinese classes and textbooks are really helpful–don’t get me wrong–but using the language in the real world is a whole different story. I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing encounters, whether it be while ordering coffee, navigating the subways, or asking where the bathroom is.
Something that’s helped me improve my Chinese is studying specific words and the situations I can apply them in. While interning at AllSet Learning this summer, I was able to do just that, and I’d like to share some of the more helpful things I learned from the new Chinese Vocabulary Wiki.
“改 (gǎi)” and “改变 (gǎibiàn)”
OK, so both mean “to change,” but studying the specific differences between these two gave me the confidence to use them in public. Just last weekend I took a train to Hualien (花蓮 / 花莲) for the weekend (absolutely beautiful, if you get the chance to visit Taiwan, I highly recommend it!), and on my return trip back to Taipei I wanted to change the time of my departure. I remembered that I could use “改” to change the time of an event, and I successfully asked the service worker to help me find a new ticket. It was such a brief encounter, but I was so proud of myself for correctly applying a new concept I had learned in a real situation.
“打算 (dǎsuàn)” and “计划 (jìhuà)”
As I said before, learning from textbooks is convenient, but it doesn’t always go into the depth that I wish it would. For example, before this summer I had no idea that “打算 (dǎsuàn)” and “计划 (jìhuà),” both meaning “to plan,” had any differences, and I would use them interchangeably at random. People would usually understand what I was trying to say, and I would get the occasional, “你的中文很好!”, but I know that they were being extra polite. After using “打算” correctly to describe my weekend plans and “计划” to talk about what I want to do after I graduate, I felt a small sense of accomplishment. It’s so exciting to see yourself improve little by little and gradually be able to have more in-depth conversations with others.
“变 (biàn)” and “变化 (biànhuà)”
Right now I’m a senior in college and starting my fourth year of studying Mandarin, so I am familiar with all of the words included in AllSet’s first Vocabulary Course lesson. However, I never learned that there were certain situations you could and couldn’t use words with similar meanings, such as “变 (biàn)” and “变化 (biànhuà),” meaning “to change.”
No matter what level of Chinese you’re at, there’s always something new to discover when learning a second language. Even though I’ve only been interning at AllSet for a short time, I’ve already taken away new concepts that have been so enjoyable to try using while making new Taiwanese friends.
If you’re like me and want to improve your Chinese skills, I highly recommend that you check out their new resource, the Chinese Vocabulary Wiki. It’s really helpful and includes great example sentences, a few of which I may or may not have memorized to practice when speaking in public… ;) I’m beyond excited to continue using their lessons and see how my Chinese improves over the summer!
Good luck, everyone, and 加油！
-Cait / 雷彩