So Miaka, how do you say “can I do you in the bathroom?”
[quote=“piggynut”][color=darkblue]In general, I think what I’m asking is; how important do you think a shared language or languages are to a relationship, and can difficulties be easily overcome?[/color]
Positive! 
About 8 years ago, I was having a relationship while studying in the U.S.
He is a Russian, whose English speaking ability could barely buy him a burger in McDonalds. Mine is okay.
This relationship kept for 6 years, English is definitely improved for both of us, so as other languages (Russian for me and Mandarin for him 
).
I didn’t find many troubles or problems between us regarding language barrier. The only problem is the culture differences.
Overall, it’s a very wonderful memory. BTW. I did get a chance to visit his house in Russia, that’s cool.
PS. we didn’t get involved that relationship just to practice English, it was for love~ But… it’s a long story…
Hope you guys all have good experiences of learning Mandarin here in Taiwan .[/quote]
Thanks for writing that, piggynut. It is a great story and very encouraging.
Anytime!
I think foreigners should be given a credit for studying abroad. Just imagine yourself being in a totally different environment with no friends, probably nobody to talk to… that’s scarry.
The friendly environment is very important.
As my experience in the U.S., people in the East coast and West coast are different. Likewise, people who live in the north and the south of Taiwan are different too.
I got much of the encouragement when living in the U.S., that made up precious memories for me.
That’s why I give all foreigners thumbs up for learning Chinese here!
[quote=“sandman”]So Miaka, how do you say “can I do you in the bathroom?”[/quote]Я могу сделать Вас в ванной?
not sure if “do you” has the same meaning in Russian
You don’t need a Chinese/Taiwanese girlfriend/boyfriend to learn Chinese. What you need to do is make a bunch of Korean/Japanese friends (boys and girls) who are in Taiwan to learn Chinese and don’t speak English anyway.
When you say “Since we are here to learn Chinese let’s ban all other languages” you get a very positive response because everyone involved:
- Is lonely
- Is a foreigner in a foreign land
- Have only Chinese as a common language
- Are desperately trying to improve their Chinese
This is the technique I used after my English-speaking Indonesian friend refused to speak English anymore. She said “We are not here to learn English” and I couldn’t fault her logic.
Why do language exchange 1 hour English for 1 hour Chinese when all you need is some non-English speaking Mandarin students to hang out with and you can do 2 hours Chinese straight leaving nobody feeling robbed?
Where can you find such friends? Enroll at ShiDa; Koreans and Japanese comprise half the student body there. They can correct your grammar, you can correct theirs and everyone can go back to the teachers the next day to verify.
Learn Chinese with the other students and be free to date whoever you want.
[quote=“Larsen Ni”]How is her English now? Did she learn to communicate with the English speaking world too? Or is Chinese the only language you speak to her ?
I’ve found that the language you begin a relationship with somebody is the language most comfortable for both people to use throughout the relationship.
BTW, a lot of people (myself included) have found that their significant other can understand their Chinese really well but to the rest of the world it is pretty unintelligible. 
[/quote]
After 12 years, I can tell you that what you say about the language a relationship starts in is the one that tends to predominate the relationship for eternity is very much true. Even though my wife can now speak English very well, we still can’t communicate with each other as well in English. Go figgure…a psychologist woud probably have a field day disecting this 
.
As far as the rest of the world, you are right…but getting out and speaking Chinese with other people cures that fairly quickly. Of course, there is always the occasional blank stare from someone who can’t believe that the white face could actually be speaking Chinese .
My wife’s English didn’t really start to improve until we moved to the U.S. for a few years. Even so, she didn’t really believe she could do it, so it REALLY didn’t start to improve until boredom got the best of her and she wanted to start working in the U.S… Amazing how fast fluency came after that .
[quote=“mod lang”]So, how did you get around the Catch-22:
a) in order to learn Chinese well, you must pick up a Chinese girlfriend
b) in order to pick up a Chinese girlfriend, you must speak some Chinese[/quote]
When I met my wife, I spoke virtually no Chinese and she spoke virtually no English. I HAD to learn Chinese, carrying around all the damed dictionaries had increased my chiropractic bill to national defense levels :shock: .
Hi i got a question here:
Do you think that it’s your taiwanese GF’s fault if you’re with her for over 3 years and your Chinese is still not fluently enough? I mean,the two should learn from each other but what if your GF already speaks perfect English and you two speak English most of the time. Can you say that it’s her responsibility to make your Chinese better? Somebody please tell me 
Jacana: No. You have to learn Chinese yourself, not sit around waiting (and blaming) for others. If he doesn’t go to class (Shida etc.) he will never learn.