Whilst loathed to start off with a cliche, I'm hard pressed to find a better way to kick things off than to say that after much anguishing over the choice of taking a fairly set out route of an established career along with much that I know and love, against letting much go to pursue the dream of teaching English in China, I have fallen into the latter. Its been one of, if not the hardest choice I've had to make to date and the base structure for how this journey will evolve has had to be altered in many ways but I am now set and fully committed to this new venture...
I've always had a passion for learning new languages and understanding their history, etymology and current use because I think as much if not more than anything else, the language gives a great insight into the cultures, philosophies and priorities of a community. Chinese seems to be the quintessential example of this in maintaining more consistency with in its verbal and written communication over its long history than any other language (that of course is said with little knowledge on the background of arabic and some other languages which could lay similar claims) and I'm constantly fascinated by the way that learning this language is as much a history study as it is a communication one.
However, after reading Bill Bryson's 'Mother Tongue', my eyes were opened to the intricacies of my own first language which I had been unaware of and whose nuances and quirkiness I'd taken for granted or overlooked. And this made me wonder how much people really understood the words they use, the idioms and colloquialisms which are a part of every day interaction. I've not come across more people than the chinese whose youth understand the stories and meanings behind words and phrases but then I've equally never explored others that much.
Before trying to understand the make up and application of another tongue though I feel it important to understand that of my own first language and I'll be starting on an entry level Trinity TESOL certificate in a few weeks to do just that. This blog will document my findings, observations on the journey whose destination I hope to be in the field of breaking down language barriers through communication and understanding.
As those who know me will testify, I tend to learn things in 3s, the first time I make the mistake but dont realise, the first time I repeat it but pick up the wrong lesson, and the third time when it finally sinks in and I get it. So this promises to be as much a comedy of errors as anything else!
Enjoy and I'd be very keen to hear your experiences too.
