The decision to learn Mandarin Chinese was not a simple one. I had a desire to learn a foreign language for years but I never really found the time nor inspiration to do so. I was forced to learn Spanish in Secondary school but I soon lost interest in that since I truly believe that teachers need to find creative ways of making certain subjects in school interesting and appealing to students. I still managed to pass Spanish at the CXC level though with an average grade.
My interest in Mandarin and the Chinese culture originated from early childhood. There were many factors and experiences which attributed to my growing interest in the culture. My most significant and memorable exposure to this culture was when I played Kiddies Carnival in Primary school with my brother. His school, Rosary Boys R.C. had brought out a relatively large band in Kiddies Carnival in 1992. The band featured various sections depicting fashion which was indigenous to certain countries and of course, my brother and I played in the Chinese section which was the biggest and best section in my view because that section featured the band's King which was a large dragon. The girls wore a yellow kimono with red bright flowers and shoes to match with a red fan and purse while the boys wore a red and green pants with a white shirt and a green head band. Our band subsequently won Kiddies Carnival band of the year with the King also taking the top prize for Best King. Oh and did I mention that the boys had to learn the Chinese dragon dance while taking turns carrying the King?!? No wonder we won the Best Kiddies band that year! This was certainly one of my favourite and most memorable childhood experiences which I must say impacted a great deal on my life.
Although this experience was quite significant, it wasn't the only influence. I remember there were certain Kung Fu movies which I always considered to be quite fascinating and exciting. There were actors like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, David Carradine and a few others who looked simply amazing in fight scenes in these movies. Apart from Kung Fu movies, there were other action and comedy movies which highlighted certain aspects of Chinese culture such as the Rush Hour trilogy and others that kept me intrigued all the time. So, in a nutshell, I decided to embark on this riveting journey to learn Mandarin and have loads of while doing it simply because I love the movies, music, food and overall culture of the country, China! Who knows, maybe one day I might even learn how to make Chinese food which just happens to be my favourite! Oh Yummy!
.jpg)
