Learn By Doing

Here is Peter (ah-Dak) who’s been taking Canto lessons with me for some months now. When we went on our first trip to Guangdong province together at the end of last year, he immediately went off by himself, saying “being thrown in at the deep end is the best way to learn languages.” His Cantonese improved immeasurably after that, and now he’s swanning around the blessed province every time he gets the chance, picking up Canto like a dog picks up fleas.

However, this particular holiday isn’t in Guangdong, but in the north of China, whose transport hub is Lanzhou, Gansu province. Of course Canto is no good here, so Peter has to learn Mandarin. And above you can see his first lesson: “How to buy plane tickets.” That’s right: Get a phrase book and sit down and jolly well buy the tickets. Learn by doing! It’s the only way. Here he is in another practical exercise: “How to order iced water while wearing sunglasses.”

By the way, there’s a big demonstration today to protect the Cantonese language. I think it’s at 2 in Wan Chai. I can’t get back to HK in time, so can you stand in for me please?

Save Cantonese AND irritate the HK and Chinese governments. That’s what I call an excellent double whammy.