A Change in Daily Schedule

Now that our language classes have begun, our daily/weekly schedule looks very different than it did in the summer. Life has quickly gotten much busier. Though our classes have been a challenge, we are enjoying the learning, so the change in pace has been well worth it.

We have class each day from about 8am until noon. That means being out the door and our bikes by 7:45am. For me, that has meant trying to be up by 6:30am for a cup of coffee and some time to read, think, and start my day well.

On Mondays, we will begin (starting tomorrow) an afternoon class in Chinese calligraphy writing. The other days of the week, though, we do not have class in the afternoon. But, if we don't want to look clueless or unprepared for the next day of class, we would be wise to get another 2-3 hours in the language books sometime during the afternoon or evening. (Even as I write this blog post, Bethany is learning new vocab words in preparation for tomorrow's class)

Along with our morning classes, I meet with my tutor 2-3 times a week, for 2 hours each. Bethany has tutoring once a week for 2 hours. And then, on 1 or 2 evenings, Bethany will go to yoga while I go play volleyball.

So, for now... that is the life of a language student.

On a somewhat related note... I am finding that the more I learn Mandarin, the more I wish that my Cantonese was better. There are things that I learn in Mandarin about which I think to myself, "Ohhh... I've heard that same phrase said before, but in Cantonese! So that's what that means..." These are the most rewarding times of language-learning, because I feel like I'm actually getting to learn a little bit of 2 languages at once. I wonder if my Cantonese will improve at all as my Mandarin improves.