I am a Mathematics Senior at Hofstra University in Long Island New York. (Yes I have a bit of a long island accent and I do say “coffee” like cwa-ffee, haha). I’d say the influencing factors that led me to want to starting learning mandarin again:
- I have actually been studying since high school and I’d like to finish learning! For me, it’s a matter of principle at this point!
- I work for a Bank (interned and now have a full time offer), and I recently discovered that we have offices in Shanghai, giving me the opportunity to potentially work from Shanghai.
- My Girlfriend is an international student from Shanghai China.
As funny as it may seem, I promise 2 and 3 are not related haha! I’ve been with the Bank longer than I’ve known the girl, or since I’ve learned we even have offices in China. Regardless of the girl, I’d love the opportunity to experience working/living abroad someday (I barely leave the east coast!).
My decision to start learning Chinese actually began back in my freshman year of high school. There was no particular reason at the start, at the time I just thought it would be more interesting than French or Spanish. At Hofstra I continued to study for my first 3 semesters. Unfortunately, I had to make the decision to take a break from my mandarin studies for the last 2 years in order to focus on my major. There is an old saying that is very true “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. I went from being conversational, to forgetting how to have even basic conversations. So I now I have to start again from the ground up, but I am determined!
My goal is to become fully fluent. I want to be able to talk both business and casual without missing a single beat.
I try to use ChinesePod almost every day for at least an hour and half. I usually only have free time later in the evening, so this website has turned me into a mandarin obsessed night owl!
If anyone is look for a chat buddy I’d be happy talk! Nice meeting all of you!