Adventures in Chinese

So for those who don't know yet, I learned how to speak Chinese over the last few months.  Xianzai wo neng shuo Zhongwen! (Now I can speak Chinese!)

But in order to retain and improve my speaking skills, I need practice.  But unfortunately, all my Mandarin-speaking friends are either in Boston or in Asia (go figure.)  Tamen bu zai Zhijiage. (They are not in Chicago.)  So I have been trying to find other people to practice with.

And since I have no shame whatsoever, I've decided that random Asian people I see around Chicago are perfect for this!  In stores, malls, bars, restaurants, subway stations, etc.  You name the location and I've probably ambushed an Asian person there.

Now, I don't actually ambush them.  I'm a little gentler than that.  I actually use a little bit of tact, but nevertheless, they are usually weirded out at first.  But then I tell them that I speak a little Chinese, and they usually become pretty interested.

In the subway station last week, I saw a group of 4 Asian college students waiting for a train.  So I asked them what nationality they were.  "Ni cong na li lai de?"  (Where are you from?)  3 were Korean, and 1 was Chinese (and spoke Mandarin.)  (Yi ge ren she Zhongguoren. Ta neng shuo Zhongwen.)  It took a bit of explaining (in English) to make him realize that I wanted to speak Mandarin with him, but when he was finally willing to talk Mandarin with me... I couldn't think of anything to say!  I had just spent so much effort trying to set up this conversation in Mandarin, and then my mind just goes blank.  I could not think of anything interesting to say to him.  So I just pointed to the subway train and said, "Huoche" (train).

Anyway, the conversation did get a little better than that, and after a minute or two, he actually said I speak pretty well!  I don't know if I believe him, but it was very nice to hear that.  I think he was just being nice though.

Anyway, I'm sure my Mandarin skills will probably get me into trouble here and there, but I need to practice.  So in advance, I apologize to the dozens of Chinese people I will most likely ambush over the coming weeks and months.