I suppose you heard of the self-made man, the self-made woman or rugged individualism. The idea is that you can be successful on your own without the help of others. The problem is it simply isn’t true. Don’t lie to yourself. Of course, there is a lot that you can and should do for yourself, but at some point we all need other to help us. In this video, I talk with my friend Patrick about language learning. Patrick is a Hong Konger, who both studied and worked overseas. I start the interview in English, but then shift over to Cantonese. Why is this important? I have shared a lot about studying a foreign language, but for the most part it has all been in English. I don’t this to be just theoretical.
Taking a Risk
Everyone is more comfortable in their mother tongue. That’s normal. Still, there has to come a point where we put ourselves out there. We take a risk and let the dice land as they may. It’s not a 100% gave of chance. You can have somewhat of an idea of how things might go before you talk with a person in another language, but not complete. There is a risk. I don’t want to tell you, go practice your language and not do so myself. In the interview, you will hear Patrick encouraging people to step past their fears and speak their foreign language. We both recognize that it’s important start out in the areas that you feel more comfortable. It’s okay to make mistakes. You will also hear me thank him for being a welcoming person who actually spoke Cantonese with me while I was still pretty weak. He accepted me, in spite of all my errors. I am truly grateful for people like him who helped me along my language journey. Hope you have someone like a Patrick to help you. We need help from others.
My Interview with Patrick in MaOnShan Park
Cantonese 101 is a good website for learning Cantonese. They also a service where you can pay extra to meet with a tutor online.
