Chinese immersion with Carl Gene Fordham

这是一次对卡尔老师的访谈，访谈中卡尔老师谈论作为英语母语者的中文学习历程。希望看完后对大家的英语学习可以有所帮助。就如下面的这幅对联一样，加油！

“有志者事竟成，破釜沉舟，百二秦关终属楚；苦心人天不负，卧薪偿胆，三千越甲可吞吴。”

“My mission from advanced Chinese learner to professional interpreter”

Who wouldn’t be interested in someone who writes under a tagline like that? I have been an avid reader Carl Gene Fordham’ blog and have been following his Twitter feed for quite some time now. Therefore, Carl was also one of the people I turned to with my question about bridging the gap to real Chinese .

It turned out that he had much more interesting things to say that would fit in just a few hundred words. This article is the result of an ongoing dialogue between us that includes both his original answer and some expansions in various directions. In case you aren’t already familiar with Carl, I asked him to introduce himself and this is what he wrote.

Who is Carl Gene Fordham?

Carl is a NAATI-accredited Chinese-English translator with a Master’s degree in Translating and Interpreting Studies from RMIT University and a HSK 6 Certificate (the highest level Chinese proficiency certification). Carl currently runs a translating, interpreting and IELTS training school in Melbourne, Australia. He also writes a popular blog about translating and interpreting Chinese called 一步一个脚印.

Apart from hearing about his opinions about immersion, I was also curious about how he became an advanced learner, what made him keep going after reaching an advanced level and what advice he has for others who are currently learning Chinese. Now, let’s get into the interview, starting from the most basic thing: textbooks and courses.

To what extent do you find teachers and textbooks helpful for learning Chinese.

The way I see it, the job of a good textbook and, even more importantly, a good teacher, is to provide you with the means to secure a solid foundation in the language you are learning. For me, this involved taking Mandarin classes from mid-primary school to high school, which eventually led to me majoring in Chinese during my undergrad, and studying translation studies at a Masters level. But independent learners can get much the same foundation with the aid of a tutor and, of course, the right amount of motivation. All of this can assist you in developing a decent level of proficiency with only a minimum of bad habits and fossilised mistakes, provided you are truly engaged in the process. This “textbook” or “classroom” level of Chinese, though, has its limitations.

I’m personally not that surprised that you can reach a high level without living in China, but I’m sure readers would like to know more. Could you go into more details about this? How did you achieve it?

I still maintain that socialising is the fastest way to create an immersive language learning environment. I have heard of people doing things like labelling items around their home, changing their phone or computer’s system language, putting on Chinese radio as background noise, etc. For certain types of learners those strategies can be very helpful. But in my opinion most people would be better off spending that time actually using the language.

Language is, after all, a tool for communication, so learning how to communicate naturally and efficiently should be your ultimate priority. And the only way to improve that skill – after having already gained a solid foundation, that is – is to strike up conversations with as many people as you can find, either in your city, or online. You’ll soon find out what language patterns are the most common, and how to imitate them most effectively.

I know that some people experience ”language wars”, where they find it difficult to make Chinese people speak Chinese with them instead of practising English. Have you found this to be a problem for you, considering that you’ve mostly learnt Chinese outside China?

I find this question a bit funny to be honest. In Australia, Cantonese and Mandarin are the most commonly spoken languages apart from English. And in the capital cities where most people live this is even more obvious. So you don’t really have to insist on anything.

In my experience Chinese people are very willing to speak Mandarin, to the extent that they often refuse to speak English to me, even after telling them I need a break! And during my time in China and Taiwan, I had the same experience. It’s extremely rare that I come across a Chinese person who flat out refuses to speak Chinese to me, perhaps 1 out of 100. And in any case I’m happy to speak English or Mandarin to anyone – after all, we all want to improve our second language, so we should be patient enough to help anyone who genuinely wants to learn.

Is there anything we should pay attention to while using the language as much as possible?

I recommend taking as many notes as possible, for the simple fact that you’re never going to remember everything you encounter in what may originally seem to be simple, run-of-the mill conversations. Over the years I have shamelessly copied sentences my language partners have said to me, archived them and used them with other people.

Inevitably, people comment that my spoken Mandarin in many cases sounds like a native speaker. But anyone with the passion and motivation can achieve this. You just need to pay attention to the details, and always be curious. My Chinese friends have spent countless hours explaining to me the intricacies of the language, and I am forever indebted to them.

Curiously I have never met a Chinese who got tired of my inquisitiveness. Nor have I come across any of those notorious “English ninjas” that some Chinese learners complain about. In my experience Chinese people are very eager to teach foreigners any aspect of their language or culture. Some even consider it an honour. If you have to teach them a bit of English in return, I think that’s totally reasonable. If they try to dominate the process (I personally haven’t had this problem), simply find someone else – there are millions of other potential language partners out there all over the world!

“我们关注你的成长”

------- 澳洲新梦想雅思翻译学校