Learning Mandarin

My family is taking a huge trip to the 'motherland' (China). Most of our families will be spending two weeks traveling from city to city, taking in the scenery, getting in touch with out roots and starting petty arguments. As much as I love my family, regular family lunches are enough. I'm pretty sure my travel zen will be put to the ultimate test on this trip. Regardless, one deep dark secret that has come out of the planning of this trip is that none of us speak 'chinese'. Most of our family is supposed to be cantonese but we don't even know mandarin. Which is part of the reason, collectively, we are the worst 'chinee people' ever.

To rectify this problem some of us decided to at least attempt to learn some mandarin before our trip, in order to resolve our family shame. Unfortunately, we are also poorly organized, so we haven't started classes yet. However, knowing three languages other than English is on my bucket list so I started learning regardless. In walks Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is a computer based, language learning system. It's expensive but supposed to be very effective. No doubt you've seen an ad for it, or been accosted at the mall by some sales person trying to convince you its better than sliced bread. Since I wasn't really sure how to start learning a foreign language like Mandarin, it seemed like the go-to place to begin. Biting off the hefty price tag is difficult but otherwise so far it seems to be worthwhile.

Except for one thing. I know I'm learning, but I'm not sure HOW I'm learning. Yes, I'm doing all the exercises. Yes, I'm getting them right. And Yes, I'm repeating the lessons I failed. But, how am I understanding them? It feels somewhat like a Jedi mind-trick. Where you look at some photos, repeat some gibberish, then all of a sudden beyond all uncertainty, you are positive that these are not the droids that you are looking for. Some characters are starting to look familiar and some are even starting to sound familiar but its definitely not sentences. And most of the recognition is more of a gut feeling than an actual certainty. Does this equate to understanding a whole other language? Granted I'm not even close to being conversational, but I'm pretty proud of my progress. On the other hand, since most of it is multiple choice, might just be good luck.

I guess only time will tell. If I'm able to engage in small talk without being abducted into the slave trade, I'd consider it money well spent. More than anything I just don't want to call someone a cow and then tell them about their mother.  Then I really will be the worst 'chinee' ever.

How about you guys, what do you do when you are traveling to a country that speaks a foreign language? Have you tried any language systems that actually work? Let me know in the comments down below.

And if you want to try Rosetta Stone, check them out here.

They've got loads of languages, and I think some of the online deals are even better than the ones they are peddling down at the mall. And if this all works out I may even try French next, gotta take advantage of those 2-4-1 deals.

UPDATE: We started and finished the classes. It was pretty sweet learning Mandarin with my family, this trip may not be a total disaster after all. Now we are just gearing up for our trip at the end of the month.