Babble On

This is something of a random post as far as the blog goes, but it's where I'm at these days, both figuratively and literally.

I had a strange thought about language and communication this week. I think it was because I was in Hong Kong on Wednesday, where I heard more English spoken than I've heard in a while. Here's what I thought about on the flight back to Xiamen.

Since stepping off the aircraft in China on December 2, I figure I've probably understood about 5% of the talking around me. Of course I'm not just speaking of conversations I've been involved in. There's also chatter on the bus, on the street, and on the radio in taxis. 

On one hand, I'm trying to pick up a bit of the language, so I'm listening for words that I can identify, and also trying to pick up pronunciation and tone, which is absolutely critical for Mandarin. On the other hand, because I don't really understand what's being said, it becomes a kind of background noise, and I find I tune it out.

If it was English, I would understamd what I overheard, even if I wasn't listening. Here I'm listening but not understanding. I wonder of this is having an impact on my listening skills. Am I really concentrating, which might make me a better listener, or am I getting lazy, and losing some of my listening ability?

Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?

Comments

[Adele]

Mike, I learned much of my Chinese from listening to others speak. The words (including the tones) become engrained in your memory, and when you're finally ready to speak more, you intuitively know that a word just doesn't sound right. Or you find yourself using vocabulary which you know you never deliberately memorized. That, to me, is the beauty of language immersion.

Enjoy the New Year's celebrations!

[Mike]

Thanks Adele - That's encouraging.

[Gillian]

Its a very strange and disorienting feeling, isn't it, to be hearing voices around you, to be able to pick out words here and there and distinguish between words words, but to have absolutely no idea what is being said. I think, in countries like China, it is magnified because none of the characters on signs are even immediately recognizable without prior study.

And I completely understand the triumph of giving taxi directions and being understood! I felt the same way the first time I bargained - successfully (I think?!) - at a Shanghai market completely in Mandarin.

[Erin Wilson]

I'd be curious to know if you find yourself tuning out people (as well as language), or are you developing your ability to communicate with your eyes and gestures? I have a feeling I might end up turning inward.

[robert]

Dude, I don't know what to tell you, I've never gotten the sense that you understood what I was talking about.