Michaela is a student from Germany who has been studying at Mandarin Inn for 9 months. She thinks it is important for people who live in a foreign country to learn the local language, not only to communicate, but also to learn more of the culture and to get a better understanding for the thinking of the people. Interested in what she considers the most important method of learning Chinese? Let's have a look together! 

Michaela 来自德国，在Mandarin Inn已经学习了九个月的中文。她觉得在异国学习当地的语言很重要，不仅仅是为了交流，更是可以了解语言背后的文化，从而更好的去理解人们所思考的和他们的观点。她有什么好的学习方法呢？我们一起来看一下！ 

Q: Please tell us how long you have stayed in China, how long you have studied at Mandarin Inn, what kind of course you are learning, and which level you are.

请告诉我们你在中国待了多久，在Mandarin Inn学习了多久，你正在学习的课程是什么，以及你目前的汉语水平等级。 

A: I am Michaela from Germany. I am a Chemical Engineer and have worked for over ten years in projects designing and building water treatment facilities and cooling towers for chemical plants. I came to Shanghai nine months ago I have started learning Mandarin at the same time. I am having private lessons but also enjoy the open classes. I am currently finishing HSKII, looking forward to the next books soon.This is my first time in China, but I have spent 6 month in Korea in 2006. I had learned some Korean there and I had a little Japanese in school. I think it is very interesting to compare the three languages. They are so different from each other and very different from European languages.

我叫Michaela,来自德国。我是一个化学工程师，致力于设计和建造水管理系统十余年了。我九个月前来的上海，一来我就开始学中文了。我上的是一对一的课程，也经常参加公开课。目前已经学完了HSK2级，马上要进去下一个级别的学习。这是我第一次来中国，2006年的时候我在韩国待了六个月，也学习一些韩语，然后在学校的时候学了一点日语。我觉得把三种语言放在一起比较非常有意思。这三种语言各不相同，跟西方的语言也截然不同。

Q: Why did you come to China?

你为什么来中国？

A: I came to Shanghai for a project of my company. I’m planned to be in Shanghai for the first 2 years and then move to Guandong province for another 2 years.

我来上海是因为公司的一个项目。我计划在上海待两年，然后去广州待两年。

Q: Do you think it is useful for foreigners to learn Mandarin? Why? And why you’d like to learn Mandarin?

你认为外国人学习中文有用吗，为什么? 你为什么想学中文?

A: I think it is important for people who live in a foreign country to learn the local language, not only to communicate, but also to learn more of the culture and to get a better understanding for the thinking of the people. I’ve learned in my past stays in different countries that the language will display the way people think very well. What is on the tip of people’s tongue is often the more common though in their heads and vice versa.I also think it is important for me to speak some Mandarin, when I move to an area where English is not an option, even if other dialects are more prevalent in the South.

我觉得在异国学习当地的语言很重要，不仅仅是为了交流，更是可以了解语言背后的文化，从而更好的去理解人们所思考的和他们的观点。我去过不同的国家，发现语言是表达人们想法的很好的途径。人们最快表达出来肯定是在他们脑子里的东西。我觉得学习中文很重要的另一点是当你去一些不太讲英文的地方时你需要讲一些中文，像在中国南部的一些城市。

Q: As a good student, how do you learn Mandarin? Would you like to share your tips?

作为一名好学生，你是如何学习中文的? 你想分享一下自己的学习建议吗? 你学中文的时候是怎样激励自己的?

A: I try to use different media to learn Mandarin varying between workbooks and exercises, Apps and conversation, both with my Chinese colleagues and with my fellow delegate colleagues that are also learning. I am making a point of learning to read and write Hanzi as well. Apart from the additional depth of understanding, cell phones are in my view an essential part of living in China and while they help with translating functions, it is very satisfying to deceiver the first if short messages without a translation App.

我尝试很多方式去学中文，比如用课本、app、和我中国同事聊天。这些都很有用。同时我也学习认汉字和写汉字。除了不能深入理解，我觉得手机是我在中国生活非常重要的工具，它的翻译功能有很大的作用。

Q: Would you like to talk something about your teacher, do you like him/her? And What kinds of teacher’s behavior will encourage you to learn Mandarin?

你想谈谈你的老师吗，你喜欢他/她吗? 老师什么样的行为会鼓励你学习中文?

A: My teacher is very kind and has a good balance of letting me talk and correcting me. I think it is very important to getting into a flow of talking, even if not every word is completely correct, in order to built up confidence talking to other people. Teachers are for me a safe place to try out sentences.

我的老师非常的和善，她能很好的在让我表达和给我纠错间有一个很好的平衡。我觉得连续的表达非常重要，即使不是每个词都很正确。为了能建立在其他人面前讲话的自信，我觉得在老师面前讲和练习一些表达很有安全感。

Q: We just got through a very tough time in Shanghai, during these time, how do you keep learning Chinese? 

在上海的我们都刚刚经历了一段不太容易的时间，在这段时间里，你是怎么保持学习中文的呢？

A: I think it is most important to be consistent with the repetition. When I don’t speak Manadrin as much, because I don’t leave the house I make sure I still do some exercises and use my language learning Apps. For me it is important to mix the mediums, to avoid getting bored or frustrated.

我觉得重复很重要。当我不能离开房间也没有机会说中文时，我要确认我做了一些练习，使用了一些学习的app。对我来说使用不同的方法非常重要，因为这样可以避免觉得枯燥和厌烦。

Q: You are keeping doing online class, how do you feel about it?

你一直在上线课，你觉得在线上课怎么样？

A: While online classes are a good tool, when face to face meetings are not possible, I still prefer f2f meetings. Especially when you are learning a language, I think it is much easier to pick up nuances when you are in the same room as you teacher.

当你不能面对面上课时，在线上课是一个不错的工具。但是我更喜欢面对面上课，我觉得当你学一门语言的时候，你跟老师在一个房间里能更好的去捕捉到一些发音等其它方面的细小差别。

Q: We are doing free public online class recently, how do you feel about it, and do you have any suggestion, or do you have any subject you are interested?

我们最近一直在做免费的公开课，你觉得怎么样？有没有什么建议给到我们，或者你有没有特别感兴趣的主题呢？

A: I think the free classes is a great opportunity to meet other students and start speaking Chinese more in a more informal setting. I would love to see the smalltalk section of these classes increase a bit to force students speaking with the help of a teacher, even for low level students.

我觉得公开课提供了很好的机会去见到其他的学生，然后能在不那么正式的场合开口讲中文。我想要更多开口的机会和环节，让学生在老师的帮助下多开口，同样也给到一些低级别的学生一些机会。

Q: Do you have any interesting thing during your Mandarin study or the problems you meet in your daily life as the language to share to us？

在你学习中文的过程中，你有没有特另有意思的事情，或者在日常生活中有没有遇到什么语言引起的问题，可以跟我们分享一下呢？

A: I think the most interesting thing is to talk with my Chinese colleagues about the idea behind the language rules. My German colleague noted early in my study, that the understanding or down and next are the same word in Manadrin. As Germans we thought, that the newest thing in would always be on top, because we were thinking of papers on a desk. We discussed the thinking behind this a little bit with our Chinese colleagues and finally came to the point, that it would be disrespectful, if the young would stand on the old. The concept itself made sense to us Germans, but we are very used to see the old as the roots of the young, like a tree that grows slowly from under the ground into the sky.I always think it is fascinating to understand, what the underlying concepts behind a figure of speech is, even if it is just the concept of up and down and old and new.

我认为最有趣的事情是与我的中国同事谈论语言规则背后的想法。我的德国同事说，在汉语中，“向下”和“下一个”是同一个词。作为德国人，我们认为最新的东西总是在上面，因为我们想到的是桌子上的文件。我们与我们的中国同事讨论了这背后的想法，最后得出的结论是，如果年轻人站在老者身上，那是不尊重的。这个概念本身对我们德国人来说是有意义的，但我们非常习惯于把老人看作是年轻人的根，就像一棵从地下慢慢长到天上的树。我一直认为理解一个比喻背后的基本概念是非常迷人的，即使它只是上下和新旧的概念。

Q: Finally, please say a your favourite Chinese sentence, and why.

最后，请说出一个你最喜欢的汉语句子，并说明原因。

A: “听到了吗？“Just because it is the first full sentence I understood in an online meeting at work and it reflects the hard time Shanghai just went through. Hopefully we soon can hear – and see – each other again!

“听到了吗？”这是我最喜欢的句子，仅仅是因为这是第一个我听懂的完整的句子在一个在线的工作会议上。它反映出了上海刚刚经历的困难时期。希望我们很快看到听到见到彼此！

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