language progress

My Chinese is worlds away from perfect. Some days it's not even good. But, I have been noticing some progress recently, which after more than 4 years of study is warmly welcomed.

I have a TV at my house, but I normally don't watch Chinese TV because after speaking Chinese all day at work, coming home to more Chinese is no kind of entertaining. But, for some reason Sunday night I decided to watch a little. I understood an entire info-mercial about solar water heaters. Why would I waste my time on such a subject? I watched it on behalf of my friend here, who has had continuous problems with hers, hoping to gain some information for her. I learned about the 6 major complaints all solar water heater users have. I think my friend has more than 6, but I hope it was encouraging to her to know she's not the only one with those issues. Then came Access Hollywood, the Chinese version. This was very entertaining. Here's the 10 most attractive men from the Chinese perspective: 1. Justin Timberlake, 2. David Beckham, 3. Matthew McConaughey, 4. Jamie Foxx, 5. Leonardo diCaprio (anyone who has been to this country knows he has to be on the list), 6. Orlando Bloom, 7. Will Smith, 8. George Clooney, 9. Brad Pitt, and 10. Patrick Dempsey. It was funny for me to listen to their description of these men. I'm sure we use the same kinds of descriptions in English, but when I hear it in Chinese then try to translate the meaning in my head, it somehow becomes more entertaining to hear things like, "he will satisfy your taste" or "he will make you excited" and I know they talked in detail about Mr. McConaughey not wearing a shirt.
I doubt I'll become a TV watcher, but it was nice to be able to understand what was going on.

I've been calling information recently. (I find it amusing that the number for infomation is 114 and the emergency number is 119). I'm sure I say things wrong, but I have tended to get the needed information without too much trouble. The internet guy showed up at my house, so that was successful. (This actually took calling 3 different service numbers for 3 days until I finally got the office that services my area of town). I called to get the phone number to a restaurant and I got the restuarant I wanted. I called to get the number to the movie theater then called them to see what was playing. Understanding the titles of the movies wasn't so successful, but we got the times right for the American movies. We ended up watching "Shooter" because it seemed like a better option than "Click." Calling to get the movie information was more successful that the actual watching of the movie. The general idea I could follow, but I'm still not sure who that oil company guy was or what his involvement was or what he said in that speech on the top of the mountain. Understanding or not, it was fun to watch a flick on the big screen. (Maybe Mark Wahlberg should have made the above list).

I know I've been reading better these days. My tutor tells me each time I'm getting better, but I still have a long, LONG way to go in this department. I'm at least reading like an upper elementary school student now as opposed to being completely illiterate.

Last week right as we were supposed to be starting the Front Office English training, I saw some of the Concierge guys trying to sneak past the door without coming in. I stuck my head out and asked in Chinese something like, "Are you coming or not?" A guy who works at the Front Desk who was already in class started laughing and said, "Jill, you've been here too long. You used to speak really standard Chinese, but that sounded just like a local person." We all laughed and then started class...without the Concierge guys.

These small victories in the past days have almost given me enough confidence to call the university to see if my test scores have come in yet. Maybe I'll just wait another day or two.