Why I Decided to Learn Chinese

People in my life often ask me why I wanted to learn Chinese and how I got interested in Chinese in the first place. I’ve told various versions of the story over the years and I’ve finally decided it’s worth putting it to virtual paper here.

Although I’m in the translation industry now, I have a bachelor's degree in apparel merchandising and design. After graduating from university, I moved to Los Angeles to work for a women’s apparel brand. I was with that company for over four years, beginning as an intern and moving up through the positions of design assistant and design and pre-production coordinator. Eventually, after a couple years with the company, I was offered the opportunity to travel to China to visit the brand’s overseas manufacturer and accompany the brand’s designer on her yearly sourcing trip, where she would select fabrics and trims to be used in the line for the coming year.

I have been journaling regularly since 2017, but I wish I had begun recording my thoughts earlier, back before my first trip to China. It’s been so long that I don’t remember how I felt before going, whether I was scared, excited, curious, ambivalent. I do remember how I felt during my first trip though. I remember riding to the factory on my first workday in China viewing the cityscape from behind the van's windows. I was surprised that all of the signs were in a language I couldn’t even attempt to pronounce, with no roman characters at all. Although I knew what Chinese characters looked like, and that logically I would encounter them everywhere once I arrived, that was a feeling I had never experienced before.

Beyond the usual interest that grows from maintaining friendships with culturally diverse people, I didn't have any particular interest in the Chinese language or culture before that initial trip. On the ride back to the hotel at the end of my first day at the factory though, the first thing I did was take out my phone and use the browser to search for articles. After one day in Hangzhou, China, I wanted to know how difficult it would be for a native English speaker to learn Chinese. We always seem to hear in the US that Chinese is the hardest language to learn. That was my impression at the time anyway, but I really didn't know the reasons behind that evaluation. To this day, I still feel very fortunate that I came across Benny's blog on my ride home, where he had written an article designed to convince English speakers to consider learning Mandarin Chinese. Contrary to popular opinion, his article argues that Chinese is not, in fact, the hardest language in the world to learn (and on another note, there is probably no single language that could be universally designated as "the hardest").

There was something life-altering about finding myself halfway around the world in a massive city I had never heard of. Looking back, I believe that what convinced me was this combination of the magical inspiration I felt being abruptly inundated with a language so beautiful and elusive for the first time, while simultaneously connecting with someone in my own language who told me I could become a part of that. The challenge was exciting to imagine, and knowing there was at least one person out there who claimed from experience that it wasn't as hard as everyone says motivated me to seek out more information.

I researched Chinese language schools in Los Angeles and eventually found one that seemed suitable (it was reasonably priced and nearby my workplace). Enrolling there is what initiated the language learning journey I am still on today. I have been in love with the Chinese language ever since my first immersion experience, and I intend to remain immersed for the rest of my life.

That's the brief story of how I decided to start learning Chinese. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Chinese language, I encourage you to check out Benny's article above or shoot me an email. Thanks for reading.