People often ask me how I learned Chinese. “你中文怎么说的这么好？你是新疆人吧！” (“Why do you speak Chinese so fluent? Are you a Sinkiang people?”) Or “哇，普通话说的真好！那儿学的哟？” (“Wow, you speak Mandarin so great! Where did you learn it?”) They ask, perhaps expecting I took a magic pill one evening and was fluent by morning.
It wasn’t so easy. But I do have a simple trick that helped.
On my first trip to China in 2008, I got lost in the Hong Kong airport. I had just started learning Chinese and was en route to Beijing for a semester abroad. I found a flight attendant from my airline and mustered up the courage to speak Chinese with her.
“你好，怎么我去登机口？” (Hello, I how go to terminal?) I said nervously, but proud I could say “airplane terminal.” She responded in Chinese and I didn’t understand a thing. The words came too quick. After all, it was the first time I had spoken Chinese outside of a classroom.
After walking another 10 minutes, I felt lost again. I asked another airport worker. This time I spoke English. The exchange was much easier. I got the information I need and arrived at the terminal without any problem.
Though I quickly found my way to the terminal, I had lost something more important. I missed an opportunity to learn and improve my language skills. Throughout my study abroad, and for the next year, I took a different approach. I vowed to use Chinese whenever I had the opportunity, until I was fluent.
So, I started speaking Chinese all the time. I texted in Chinese, e-mailed in Chinese, sang in Chinese, and eventually dreamt in Chinese. It was hard and I felt horrible. But I continued to improve until I achieved fluency.
The language skills I built helped me earn great work and study experience in China and gave me the confidence to leave Beijing for a position in San Francisco.
That moment of despair in the airport was a turning point. I could have continued doing the easy, straight-forward thing. Maybe my Chinese would have improved. I definitely would have had more fun. Life during study abroad would have been easier. But I would have never been able to achieve the things that ultimately brought me the most happiness. That simple rule to use the harder language all the time made all the difference.
人们常常问我是怎么学习中文的。“Why do you speak Chinese so fluent? Are you a Sinkiang people?”或者“Wow, You speak Mandarin so great ! Where did you learn it ?”他们这样问，也许以为我在某个晚上服用了一颗神奇的药丸，
这不是那么容易的。不过我确实有一个简单的技巧来帮助学习中文。
在2008年我第一次去中国时，我在香港机场迷路了。
“你好，怎么我去登机口？” 我紧张，但也很自豪——我可以说“登机口”。她用中文回答了我，
走了10分钟后，我感觉再度迷失。我问了另一位机场工作人员。
尽管我很快地找到了去登机口的路，但我已经失去了更重要的东西。
于是，我开始所有的时间都说中文。我用中文发短信，
我的语言技能帮我在中国得到了很棒的工作和学习经验，
在机场那一刻的绝望是一个转折点。我可以继续做简单的、