Alright, so I changed my name from 罗丹 to 罗文瀚 earlier on this week. Since there were already 2 other 罗丹’s in the PiB program. My new name actually means something too–I guess the closest English translation would be “vast knowledge”, which in my opinion is a pretty cool name. Also, what’s perhaps most important is that I’m not constantly being asked by Chinese people if I’ve heard of 罗丹, the artist. It happened ALL THE TIME when I introduced myself to people. It was really starting to tick me off, but now I’m not gonna have that problem!

So to continue where I left off last night, after talking with the two 北师大 students, the thought truly came to my mind that being able to communicate in Chinese will open up a whole new world. I know it sounds corny, but I had an awesome time talking with people who had never been to the United States before and who have been speaking Chinese their entire lives. I don’t know how to explain it, but whatever happened to my mindset gave me a huge push. I think the realization was that the majority of my Chinese learning is not going to come from my textbook, but rather from the people who I meet here. Chinese is a living language, with meanings and usage changing constantly–for example: at Yale, the word fazi was used to mean “method” (as in “study method”) but when I got here, I learned that fazi isn’t often used for that meaning, the word I should use is banfa. The grammar, as I’m slowly learning, is also one of the most messy I’ve ever encountered. Of course there are constant rules, but as there is no confusion related to verb tense, noun declensions, prepositions, or articles, Chinese grammar makes up for it in other ways. Ok, back to studying…will repost later tonight!

罗文瀚