On a roll

I've been interested in languages since about sixth grade. In high school I dreamed of being a language teacher, but due to certain circumstances (life) I wasn't able to pursue that dream until recently. I hope to be teaching English in Taiwan by early next year.


One of my goals while I'm in Taiwan is to learn Chinese as fluently as possible. I feel this is necessary because:

• Life will go a heckuva lot smoother for me if I can order food and buy toilet paper in the native language.
• I think it's rude to live and work in a country and not use their language.
• Learning Chinese is totally cool!

So I gathered a few books and Cd's a couple of months ago to begin learning some basic Mandarin while I'm still in the US. My favorite materials so far are found on the internet at a site called FSI Language Courses. These courses were developed by the Foreign Service Institute of the United States government and are now in the public domain. And, unlike the government's $700 hammers, these courses are free!

I'll update my progress--assuming I make progress--from time to time on this blog.