I’m doing a number of language exchanges at the moment so that I have some basic Mandarin skills for when I go to Xiamen. I thought this would be practical and that it would make me a bit more independent. It is slowly becoming clear however that I am learning a lot more than simply how to order noodles. Little by little I start to see how the language is put together and how this gives people who speak, AND THINK, in the language a different perspective. As I will be looking at how I am framed by people in daily life in southern China, having some access to the language is really important. I am also trying to learn some of the characters and this brings it into a whole visual level.
The other day I thought I should take a picture of one of my language exchanges to document this process and get things running with this blog. I then had to stop and think from which perspective should the picture be taken? Would my partner be comfortable with it? I finally decided that the language exchange should remain what it is, as it was not advertised as an art project, and I should look for images elsewhere. At least for now.
So you can see in the photo how I’m learning Chinese characters: copying from printed examples and repeating them.
I’ll explain the project more another time and go into these exchanges more. If I try to say everything at once it is simply too much and I’ll end up saying nothing at all.
