I’ve always been fascinated in learning languages and exploring different cultures. I am curious of the differences and similarities between countries in terms of food, music, and history, especially of those countries located nearby mine. I once studied Spanish when I was in College, and although I failed to pursue that to mastery, I’m still equipped with basic reading. Perhaps this mindset has helped me become open minded and less judgmental of other races.
When I started working between 2015-2016, I’ve noticed that Mandarin and Fokkien was widely used in business in the Philippines. I wanted to study the language then. Then I remember when I travelled to Las Vegas and Los Angeles in 2018 and 2019, I went to a Chinese grocery store and I asked the staff a question but he responded, “no english”. That interaction intensified my desire to study the language.
I recognize that Mandarin is widely used in Asia and in most parts of the world. I thought I could study that first then maybe Fokkien. Then maybe after that I could study Japanese and finally revisit Spanish.
Though personally I prefer to study Korean and Italian, I believe Mandarin will greatly help my resume and be useful somehow in my future business pursuits, just in case.
I also find it tiresome that I needed a third party to communicate with my tenants who are mostly of chinese descent and only speaks Mandarin. I find that they trust people more who can speak their language.
I’ll let you know of my progress. After all, once I’m ready for a conversation, I will be looking for chinese speaking friends, and that will be interesting to write about. These days, I’ve surrounded myself with Mandarin tv shows, music, and podcasts, hoping it would help.