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Cantonese Class

Last night I went to my first Cantonese class. It's an intro class that meets once a week for 2 hours over the next 10 weeks. It cost 10 HKD. (Like $1.25. For all 10 weeks.)

Anyway, I was excited to go. Not just to begin to learn, but also because the class is organized and hosted by the Hong Kong Outlying Islands Women's Association. In my mind, this meant the class would be all women. And I just imagined the room full of young moms (a.k.a. potential friends) glad to have a night away from home and an opportunity for brain stimulation.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that everyone besides me was over 40 and over half the class was men. Most everyone had actually been in Hong Kong for over 10 years. My partner (who I got to practice all the exciting dialogue with) is a teacher who has been in Hong Kong 17 years, but this is the first time she has taken a Cantonese class.

Maybe in another 10 years, all those young expat moms that I know live around here, will take a Cantonese class. And until then, I should try and meet them at the park instead.

By the way, this teacher is fairly terrible and if I didn't have a foundation in Mandarin and know some characters, I would be lost. But that's partly my fault, as I require lots of explanation in language learning. I'm not satisfied with simple memorization of phrases that I don't quite understand. Anyway, 李老師, come be my teacher!

Comments

  1. Aunt SusanJune 24, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Assuptions, expectations-----Life just keeps getting more interesting! I love the chatty blogs. It feels like you are just across the room chatting with me.

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  2. BaideweiJune 24, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    My daughter wants 李老師 to be her teacher!?! Hey P&G we think the World is still Turning.

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  3. Ma TorgJune 25, 2011 at 12:07 AM

    Poor thing. Unfortunately, from what I've heard from Merrilee, it doesn't sound like many expat young wives bother to learn Cantonese!!! But at least you get out of the house...right?

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  4. nanaJune 25, 2011 at 11:41 PM

    you'll do great wtih cantonese...yut, yi, some say! others say, yi, are! have fun!

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  5. AnonymousJune 27, 2011 at 3:33 AM

    1. I am impressed. I can't imagine a class only costing 1.25, and that I would even be able to pick up anything is a joke. I am excited to hear how it goes.
    2. I love that Josiah reads in his bed with the paci. We weaned Bria to just bedtime, but it's hard. We started giving her a sippy cup with water and I am thinking about pitching the paci's and making her depend on the sippy for a while. Is that bad to just switch it to something else? :-)
    3. The cow post (I think it was a cow) was hilarious;).
    Kelly

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