Julien is a student from France who has been studying at Mandarin Inn for 2years. He thinks that learning mandarin for westerner especially is first-of-all an adventure of the mind. As in any real adventure, there are some tigers on the road. We’re all bound to make mistakes (especially with the accents)! But it will also be very rewarding, to try some food or communicate with some people you’d otherwise never meet.Interested in what she considers the most important method of learning Chinese? Let’s have a look together!
Julien 来自法国，在Mandarin Inn已经学习了两年的中文。他觉得学习中文对西方人来说，学习中文是一种思维上冒险，和任何冒险一样，旅途中都会遇到困难，都会犯错，但是这也是非常有益的，你可以尝试不同的食物和不同的人交流。他有什么好的学习方法呢？我们一起来看一下！
Q: Please tell us how long you have stayed in China, how long you have studied at Mandarin Inn, what kind of course you are learning, and which level you are.
请告诉我们你在中国待了多久，在Mandarin Inn学习了多久，你正在学习的课程是什么，以及你目前的汉语水平等级。
A: I’m Julien COURT, from France and I work as a Project Control Manager in the Oil & Gas industry. I have lived in China for 5 years altogether, butin 3 different periods. I have been studying Chinese at Mandarin-Inn for 2 years now, through private lessons on weekends and I am currently in the middle of HSK level 4.
我是Julien,来自法国，我在一家石油公司担任项目经理。我已经在中国五年了，在Mandarin Inn学了两年中文，一直是周末上的一对一课程，目前是四级的水平。
I started to learn Mandarin at university some 20 years ago, out of pure curiosity and because I needed to expand my cultural horizons. After 2 years at school, I decided to do a training period in China, but could only secure a training period in HongKong. Although it was a wonderful cultural experience, there were only seldom opportunities to speak Mandarin in HonKong as Cantonese is more widely spoken there.
大约20年前，我在大学里开始学习中文，当时纯粹是出于好奇心，也因为我需要扩大我的文化视野。在学校学习两年后，我决定来中国进行培训，但只能在香港获得培训机会。虽然这是一次美妙的文化体验，但在香港很少有机会说普通话，因为那里更多的是用粤语。
Q: Why did you come to China?
你为什么来中国
A: Since my first experience in HongKong, I always had in mind to come back to discover more of the mainland, but in my field of work there were more opportunities in Middle East, where I spent the next 20 years. Unfortunately during this period, I did not continue studying mandarin, and when I finally secured a work opportunity to come back to China in 2015, much of my former knowledge had evaporated.
自从我在香港的第一次经历后，我一直想回来这个国家探索更多，但在我的工作领域，中东有更多的机会，我在那里待了20年。不幸的是，在此期间，我没有继续学习中文。当我终于在2015年获得一个工作机会回到中国时，我以前的许多知识已经蒸发了。
When in Shanghai, I tried for a year to learn back mandarin by myself, using my old school books; I struggled with it for a while before I realised that：1) I needed more methods and discipline, 2) the gap was still too great for me to talk to Chinese natives and only a teacher could bring me the practical experience of speaking.
在上海时，我尝试了一年的时间，用学校的旧书自己复习中文，我挣扎了一段时间，才意识到：1）我需要更多的方法和自律；2）对我来说，与中国本地人交谈的差距还是太大，只有老师才能带给我说话的实际经验。
Q: Do you think it is useful for foreigners to learn Mandarin? Why? And why you’d like to learn Mandarin?
你认为外国人学习中文有用吗，为什么? 你为什么想学中文?
A: Foreigners can live very comfortably in Shanghai as in any major city in the world without speaking the local language, but will never “get off the beaten track”. Learning mandarin for westerner especially is first-of-all an adventure of the mind. And as in any real adventure, there are some tigers on the road; We’re all bound to make mistakes (especially with the accents !) But it will also be very rewarding, to try some food or communicate with some people you’d otherwise never meet.
外国人在上海可以像在世界任何一个中心城市一样，不说当地语言也能生活得非常舒适，但却永远无法 “脱离舒适圈”。特别是对西方人来说，学习中文首先是一次心灵的冒险。就像任何真正的冒险一样，路上会有一些困难，我们都会犯错（尤其是口音！）但这也将是非常有意义的，可以尝试一些食物或与一些你从未见过的人交流。
Q: As a good student, how do you learn Mandarin? Would you like to share your tips？
作为一名好学生，你是如何学习中文的? 你想分享一下自己的学习建议吗? 你学中文的时候是怎样激励自己的?
A: As a student, I try to be very disciplined. Ideally, I practice everyday 1 hour before going to work, but I also do the same with sport, and that means waking up very early. Obviously it’s not always possible, but I never fail to try to study a few minutes everyday. (And if it rains and I cannot do sport, I can always do 2 hours of studying instead). I feel its more important to have a daily studying routine, than to work hard if one is not going to maintain the effort.
作为一名学生，我努力做到非常自律。理想情况下，我每天在上班前1小时进行练习，我在运动方面也是这样做，这意味着我每天很早就起床了。显然，这并不总是可行的。但我从来没有忘记每天学习一下（如果下雨，我不能做运动，我可以用两个小时的学习来代替）。我觉得有一个日常的学习习惯比不是持续努力的学习更重要。
I chose private lessons because during the week I have a busy schedule and cannot commit on lessons at regular times. Eventhough they are more expensive, 1-to-1 lessons are also more intense. When on 1-to-1 lesson, you cannot skip since you are the only student, and you cannot let the other speak instead of you. I found this to be a good motivation for having frequent objectives. I’m usually exhausted at the end of each session, and I keep the rest of the week for memory works and listening practice.
我选择了私课，因为在周中我有一般都很忙，无法在固定的时间内上课。尽管价格较高，但1对1的课程也更紧张。在1对1的课程中，你不能跳过，因为你是唯一的学生，你不能让其他人代替你说话。我发现这是一个很好的动力，让我经常有目标。每节课结束时，我通常都会筋疲力尽，我把一周剩下的时间用来做记忆作业和听力练习。
My own personal tips ：the first thing I did twenty years ago was to draw memory cards with characters, and hook them to a ring so I could keep them in my pocket and memorize them anytime anywhere. There were no mobile phone apps back then to train on your characters. I still make those, only now I have at least 6 or 7 decks of such cards.
我自己的个人心得；二十年前，我做的第一件事就是画汉字记忆卡，然后把它们用钩子挂起来，这样我就可以把它们放在口袋里，随时随地都能练习。那时候还没有手机应用来练习汉字。我一直坚持在做这些，现在我至少有6、7副这样的卡片了。
I did try paid phone applications, which I found very helpful the first 1 year. Howether, I realized those are mostly limited to HSK level 1 to 3. And the phone by itself rapidly becomes a source of distraction which can easily render my work sessions unproductive.
我确实尝试过付费的手机应用程序，在最初的一年里，我发现它们非常有用。但是，我意识到这些软件大多只限于HSK 1至3级，而且手机会让你容易分心，这样学习的效率就很低。
Yet, I do use once or twice a week video resources on the internet for the listening practice as there is so much free and creative material out there.More recently, I started reading small novels, which exist by levels (number of words known by the reader) and come with recordings.
我确实每周使用一到两次网上的视频资源进行听力练习，因为那里有很多免费的、有创意的材料。最近，我开始阅读小小说，这些小说按级别（读者知道的字数）存在，并配有录音。
Q: Would you like to talk something about your teacher, do you like him/her? And What kinds of teacher’s behavior will encourage you to learn Mandarin?
你想谈谈你的老师吗，你喜欢他/她吗? 老师什么样的行为会鼓励你学习中文?
A: I had several teachers, some who spoke mostly in English -which is helpful for the concept but does not encourage the “immersion”. On the other hand, some teachers speak too much Chinese and at the beginning it can be frustrating to understand neither the lesson’s material, neither the explanation about the grammar. I really appreciated the attention of my teacher of a good balance between English & Chinese, gradually moving it to more Chinese.
我有好几个老师，有些老师主要用英语讲课，这对概念有帮助，但并不是 “沉浸式”学习。另一方面，有些老师说太多的中文，在开始的时候，既不能理解课程的内容，也不能理解关于语法的解释，这是很令人沮丧的。我真的很感谢我现在的老师注意在英语和中文之间取得很好的平衡，并逐渐用越来越多的中文。
Q: We just got through a very tough time in Shanghai, during these time, how do you keep learning Chinese?
在上海的我们都刚刚经历了一段不太容易的时间，在这段时间里，你是怎么保持学习中文的呢？
A: I continued my lessons with online class, and my teacher changed her teaching approach with pre-prepared examples for new words, and also a longer initial part of open discussion, since there aren’t any opportunity for us students to speak with other Chinese speakers the rest of the week.
我继续在线上课，我的老师改变了她的教学方法，预先准备了新单词的例子，而且最初的公开讨论部分也比较长，因为在这一周的其余时间里，我们学生没有任何机会与其他讲中文的人交谈。
Q: You are keeping doing online class, how do you feel about it?
你一直在上线课，你觉得在线上课怎么样？
A: I still prefer real class to online class, as the limitation of the sound and internet connection may affects a little the quality of the exchange. But to be honest, a regular class online is always better than no class at all. I also continued my online class during my vacation in France, with 6 hours time difference, which required early morning sessions.
我还是更喜欢真实的课堂，而不是网上的课堂，因为声音和网络连接的限制可能会影响到交流的质量。但说实话，定期的在线课程总是比没有课程要好。考虑到这一点，我在法国度假期间也继续我的在线课程，即使有6个小时的时差，需要很早上课。
The tool we use for online class is well suited, A s far as suggestions are concerned; I feel spending time listening to Chinese content is important for practicing and the HSK exercise are probably not enough; a library of podcast, news, or other videos by level would be most helpful.
我们在网上上课使用的工具很适合，就建议而言，我觉得花时间听中文内容对练习很重要，HSK练习可能还不够；一个按级别划分的播客、新闻或其他视频库会很有帮助。
Q: We are doing free public online class recently, how do you feel about it, and do you have any suggestion, or do you have any subject you are interested?
我们最近一直在做免费的公开课，你觉得怎么样？有没有什么建议给到我们，或者你有没有特别感兴趣的主题呢？
A: I have not tried the thematic online classes yet but I am definitely interested! One topic I would suggest is emergency situation (accident, hospital, ambulance, etc…). I recently had an accident and realized I was missing a lot of vocabulary just when Ieagerly needed it. Interestingly enough, it is an opportunity to give a few practical advice to foreigners (example: I bet they don’t know the number 120 to call an ambulance in Shanghai……)
我还没有参加过公开课，但我确实感兴趣！我建议的一个话题是紧急情况（事故、医院、救护车等）。我最近发生了一次意外，意识到就在我急切需要的时候，我很多词汇都很匮乏。有趣的是，这也是一个给外国人科普一些常用知识的好机会（例如。我打赌他们不知道在上海叫救护车的号码是120……)
Q: Do you have any interesting thing during your Mandarin study or the problems you meet in your daily life as the language to share to us？
在你学习中文的过程中，你有没有特别有意思的事情，或者在日常生活中有没有遇到什么语言引起的问题，可以跟我们分享一下呢？
A: HSK course give a good overview of pure mandarin, but there are quite a few usual terms people use on the street that confuse the students like Filler phrase such as “那个”, “就是”,some of which can be rather funny and simple to remember, like “心灵鸡汤” ?
HSK课程体系可以让我们对中文有一个很好的全局观，但是里面有很多常用的词让人有点困惑，比如像“那个”、“就是”等。有没有可能让里面的一些词变得更简单有趣有记呢，比如像“心灵鸡汤”？
Q: Finally, please say a your favourite Chinese sentence, and why.
最后，请说出一个你最喜欢的汉语句子，并说明原因。
A: I don’t know if this is due to my original line of work (im a time-scheduler) but my favorite sentence is 来得及 Lai de ji (there is still time).
我不知道是不是因为跟我的日常工作有关系（我负责进度的把控），我最喜欢的句子就是“来得及”！
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