As someone who slacked off and didn't learn the language before he got to China. I totally affirm that studying before you get to the country is a good idea. I feel so out of my depth all the time.
And people constantly tell me that no my Chinese is relatively good (at least, pronounciation wise), so I'm not sure if there are just some really useless Lao wai out there (actually, there ARE, I've met some who've been here years and still don't speak any Chinese) or if they're just too polite to agree with me. (Also a possibility, Chinese people are pretty polite to foreigners).
But anyway, studying as much as you can before you're there is bound to help make the transition easier, though be prepared to have to discard parts of the pronounciations you have for stuff, at least, if your experience is anything like mine. Most of the words I pronounce correctly I thought were pronounced completely differently on paper, even when I've been reviewing the pinyin.
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Date: 2009-12-13 04:32 am (UTC)And people constantly tell me that no my Chinese is relatively good (at least, pronounciation wise), so I'm not sure if there are just some really useless Lao wai out there (actually, there ARE, I've met some who've been here years and still don't speak any Chinese) or if they're just too polite to agree with me. (Also a possibility, Chinese people are pretty polite to foreigners).
But anyway, studying as much as you can before you're there is bound to help make the transition easier, though be prepared to have to discard parts of the pronounciations you have for stuff, at least, if your experience is anything like mine. Most of the words I pronounce correctly I thought were pronounced completely differently on paper, even when I've been reviewing the pinyin.