Learning something new is great. Especially, learning new languages can be a great opportunity! Recently, I read about a Chinese intensive course for level A 1.1 at my university. My curiosity grew and at this moment, I thought it could be fun to start with learning Chinese. I thought it would be a great idea to take part, and so I did.
No sooner said than done, I enrolled in the course and took a week off my job. I needed a break anyway and I‘m well-known for spending my holidays unconventionally.
Starting the Course
At the beginning of my holidays, I planned the afternoons. I’d do so many cool things during my week off! Some seminar papers to finish, some homework to do. Spend time with my hubby, the horses and the cats. I was very optimistic and excited about the upcoming busy week.
The Chinese classes were scheduled from 9 am to 12.30 pm. After the first day, I felt completely exhausted and tired. Chinese really is a cool language but hard to learn for a German native speaker and I have to admit that I underestimated the energy it takes to learn Chinese and take part in such an intensive course.
I felt so tired after the first class that I decided to go home and took a nap for the whole afternoon…
The sessions were great and I learned a lot. Chinese is a cool language. It is like singing for me – a bit difficult but great fun! I admire the whole attitude that our teacher conveyed. It was like „work hard and have fun“. This attitude will guide me in my upcoming economics studies.
Side Effects of Learning Chinese
The positive attitude towards learning will guide me in the next level of studying Chinese! I was so happy with the course and my grade was very good, so I decided to join the next course. This time I won‘t do an intensive course but go to classes during the whole semester (in Austria we have two terms for university studies).
I‘m sure that the discipline which is needed for learning Chinese and the attitude of my great teacher supports my economical studies as well. It‘s not only about learning a new language. It‘s about other skills that you gain with every new topic you decide to dive in. Maybe you cannot see it immediately but later you will benefit from it. This is also true for many other topics that you learn.
Besides the learning effects, I met cool new people and made new friends. Courses can be a great opportunity to meet new people. If you live in a part of the world where you are still in quarantine due to the pandemic, you can make new friends at least virtually. Maybe you could meet in person later.
Benefits of Learning
This story shows you that you always can benefit from learning something new even if you thought you just learn it for fun or for personal interest. Sometimes it turns out that you want to go further and continue but that is your personal choice. No one should force you to stick to something you are not happy with – even not yourself!
Maybe you can use your new competency later, but in any case learning something new is worth spending your resources, no matter if that means investing time or money or something else.
Let me know more about you. What do you think about learning new things? Leave a comment below!
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Hi, Hi I passed my HSK5 a couple of years back and it has been an adventure. Sounds like you had a lot of fun learning it 🙂 It definitely felt like relearning how to communicate for me!
Hey Marta! You’re right, it was a lot of fun but also a challenge. For me it was also a new way of learning how to communicate. Very interesting experience!