hanyu addict

i have always been interested in languages... maybe this is the reason why, ehem, my highest ever score on a class card (99%, believe or not) was from my French class during high school... maybe this is also why i learned cebuano effortlessly... may well be the reason why even on self-study, i was still able to grasp German.

having told you the above, i thought i had a gift for languages - which held true.. until i started learning Hanyu(Chinese). Hanyu, i must say, is by far the most difficult language i have ever known. might it be because of the four tones (i.e, a "flat" ma denotes inquiry, and a "rising-tone" ma means mama)? or might it be because even at its simplest form, which is the pinyin, you cannot just read the chinese words as they are written? or might be because you need to master three aspects of it - the characters, how to pronounce them, and the tone of each of the 855 most-used characters. all these, compared to 26 letters of the english alphabet, which when you try to mix and match, would more or less be read as how you've put the letters together.

oh and i forgot, one also needs to unlearn his English lessons to fully master Hanyu. in general, the order of subject, predicate, direct and indirect objects is the reversed of that of English. "i shall wait for you at the school gate" in English, shall be "i, at the school gate, wait you" in Hanyu.

and so just minutes before this entry, i was running through my vol.2 book, because i wanted to prepare for tomorrow's class. nyahaha, such an exciting way to celebrate a friday-payday...

i am already at the 18th lesson now of my 30-lesson package, which is supposed to equip me with all that i need to come back to philippines in one piece. despite this, i still find myself lost in translation, and i still feel that sensation of braincells at a standstill. nevertheless, not even in a single moment have i thought of quitting... - rest, yes! - but quit, never. i have made a pact with myself that i shall only stop learning Hanyu once my proficiency has been categorized and more importantly certified by HSK Center.

so, after few minutes of revision for tomorrow's class, i decided to finish my last cheesecake. this one's that which has rose petals.

and this for me, is reward enough for the rather chaotic week that has just passed - because afterall, i am just a kindergarten.

goodnight people, happy weekend, too!