Sadly, no photo for this, but better a post without a photo than no post at all. My new (low) ambition is to actually write something other than my thesis, however short!
So tonight was a big thrill because M. and I started an actual bona-fide Cantonese class. So instead of all my ad-hoc practice and learning from books and online lessons, I got to sit in a classroom with other students, and go back to the basics.
I loved it! My pronunciation is definitely going to improve. Our teacher, Crystal, was a very clear and consistent speaker, and was good at explaining the nuances of the mouth muscles which help shape the different sounds and tones of Cantonese. She was very quick to correct people when they were wrong, but she did it with a smile, and was very encouraging, with lots of repetitions of 好 (good) and 得 (okay) to help us along. We practised all seventeen initial consonants and the 51 final sounds of Cantonese, and repeated them all many times. Very useful, even if it felt like being back in Grade 1. M really did not enjoy this part of it. For myself, I hope I get corrected on my pronunciation every lesson for the entire course. What a thrill. M swears she is not going back, but I trust that she doesn't really mean that!
In the second half of the lesson we learnt to say, 我叫 (I'm called... My name is...) and 我係澳大利亞儿 (I am Australian, or really, I am Australia person), or whatever country you were from. I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the class. There was someone from Germany, France, Italy, Taiwan, Austria, Fiji, three from Japan, three from the US, and three from Australia. For sure I had learned how to say all these things already, but the endless repetition of them in a classroom situation, as well as having to say them out loud, on your own, in front of a roomful of people, really helps them stick in your mind. Bring it on!
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