End of my Shanghai Stay… End of my Chinese Mission?

Ten months ago, I came back to Slovakia. So how did my stay in China go?

Life in China

The beginnings were a bit rough. You realize how much your life depends on a certain set of apps and websites only when they become basically useless. Getting used to Chinese counterparts takes a bit of practice, especially when you’re still not good enough in the language and most of the apps can’t be switched in English. On the other hand, that's perfect for a deep dive in the language.

It took me some time to find a place to stay. The prices of food, subway or taxi are very affordable in Shanghai. The same cannot be said about the rent. In the end, I managed to find a one room appartment very close to the Nanjing Road (which can be considered to be the most central part of Shanghai). The rent was about 750 € for some 50 m². Not the cheapest, but the view was definitely worth it. And I needed a good place to work and study, since I was about to spend a lot of time there.

View from my flat

View from the hallway of the building I lived in

Fudan University main meadow
and Guanghua Towers

As soon as the classes started, my weekdays were quite full. Fudan University offers 10 levels of Chinese courses. I enrolled in the level 3, but after a week, downgraded to level 2. Not because of the difficulty, but the level 2 had classes in the morning, whilst 3 and 4 in the afternoon, so it was a better fit with my full-time job. From Monday to Friday I went to classes and at around 14:00, I came back to my flat to work. That was about the same time my European colleagues started working, so it was a perfect fit.

For a European, learning Chinese means doing three things: Learning how to read, to speak and to write, as opposed to just having to learn to speak and read when learning a language with a Latin Alphabet. If you’re learning another European language, writing comes much easier together with reading. So I spent most of the weekends practising writing and reading. Of course, there was time for exploring and trips as well, although not as much as I’d wish.

My Chinese

During that one semester, I was supposed to climb levels 2 & 3. I was trying to work on my writing as much as possible, to burn in my memory those 900 characters that I was supposed to master. Because of the cell phones and the way young Chinese write—using Latin transliteration of the characters called Pinyin—you’re fine even if you don’t remember how to write a character, as long as you remember how to read it & how to use it.

Many people complimented on my speaking. Supposedly, I spoke much better than the second level. I was trying to “put myself out there” and tried initiating a conversation with the locals even if I could barely say anything. That probably helped. It was enough to find Chinese friends and in one case even to be invited in their home city (Wuxi). But I am still a beginner. I can a do a small talk via a cell phone without a dictionairy, but for more complex topics, I need to use a translator.

Trip to Wuxi

Trip to Jiangxi province

I passed the final test with relatively high result (90 % something). I am able to perform basic tasks—ask for directions, buy stuff, have a small talk, understand the basic meaning of various signs or restaurant menus. Knowing 900 characters puts me somewhere between HSK 3 and 4, the equivalent of which in CEFR is A2.

I fulfilled my dream of standing on the Bund (Shanghai riverside), looking towards the Shanghai Pudong skyscrapers and then returning to my flat… in Shanghai.

Does it end here?

I jumpstarted my Chinese as planned and now can continue to study on my own. I am happy I leveled up in this beautiful language. I bought a set of books for the next two levels (around 12 textbooks) and will continue to learn on my own. I am happy this chapter of my Chinese mission fulfilled its goal and I’m looking forward to improving my language skills further.

My arrival to Shanghai & plans for the next four months

China. Shanghai for four and half months.

Is it even allowed to post on a blog after a hiatus of five years (ironically, it’s exactly five years today)?  I am not sure, but indulge me.

Five years ago, I announced I’m gonna do a Chinese mission. The execution of this one was very different from my previous language missions. Reasons? COVID, finances and trying to do several things at once. I studied at home while focusing on my career as well. I commuted to Vienna every day for work, spending four hours daily travelling, which often left me exhausted. On the top of that, in those five years, I unsuccessfully tried to kickstart two startups and one less “startupy” company. I was co-organizing a bi-weekly IT meetup. There is no way around the fact that for a European, Chinese requires more hours put in than let’s say, Spanish (especially if you have prior experience with other romance languages, which was my case). And because I didn’t set any deadlines for myself, I learned only now and then. I didn’t touch Chinese for about four years of those five. Well, at least I know I’m not that immune to the student syndrome as I thought. Being thrown in the water is definitely a good motivator to learn to swim and I am currently trying to make use of that.

Of course, COVID was another reason. Spring 2023 is the first semester China is opening up. I also got a full remote job now, which helps a bit. I came to Shanghai on the 9th of February 2023 and will stay till July. I enrolled in one-semester course at Fudan University.

What level is my Chinese now? I am almost an absolute beginner. I know tens of most common characters, but can’t make a conversation and don’t understand what people are saying. I believe it is possible to rapidly progress in Chinese, given enough effort and time, but four and half months are not enough to reach fluency, especially if one has to work full-time. So my goal is to progress as much as possible so that I can continue learning back home.

Here, a video of me speaking so that you know what I mean. The mistakes I made are marked and kept in on purpose. Make sure to turn on the subtitles.

Head kept down and ready to work. Let the fun begin.

Chinese mission

As promised—an entry to my new language adventure. I am going to learn Mandarin Chinese. It has always been one of the languages that I wanted to learn. If you are curious about the details, check out the video below.

Halftime

It’s been more than a year since I returned from France. One chapter of my language missions is over. From 2012 to 2015, I had been traveling around Europe as a nomad.

One year break

The entire year of 2016 meant a break for my language missions. I traveled, but not because of the languages. I wanted to save some money in Germany and then find a job in the United States. I executed the plan. From January until June, I lived in Hamburg again. Then, I worked offsite from Slovakia, still for the same company, before I quit in October. Only then, I bought the airplane ticket and went for two and half a month to San Francisco.

Plan A did not work out, as I failed to find a job. However, the alphabet has plenty of letters and I still want to settle there. I am trying for the plan B now. Meanwhile, I am going to move to the city of my birth and make Bratislava my home again.

How are my languages doing?

In the place where I lived in San Francisco, the only two languages I did not have anyone to practice with were Slovak and Czech. I have to admit my Romanian got a bit rusty. Maybe the next book I pick to read should be written in this beautiful romance language.

As a little graphical summary for myself, I wanted to create a map of the world with highlighted countries whose languages I speak. Here it is: The parts of the world where I should be able to explain to the waiter that the beer tastes sour and that I want a different one.

I almost got all of the American continent covered. Stupid Surinam.

What now?

The first part of my language missions is over. Traveling in Europe was, thanks to the Schengen Area and my online job, as easy as sitting in a car and driving off. I was also studying intensively and 

basically wrapping my entire life around them.

You know I would not stop at this point, right? I just like to talk to new, interesting people and deciphering books in new languages too much to just let this part of my life go. So I am starting with a new language mission. It will be bit different this time. I will announce it in the next post. Until then, I wish you a wonderful start into the new year of 2017!

Keyboard Layout for Polyglot Programmers

If you are chatting on Facebook with two-three friends and each speaks a different language, switching over between the keyboard layouts is demanding. It would be nice to have more of a universal layout, right? But it shouldn't be too weird and since you are a programmer, it should be based on the US-English layout, which has all those cool programming characters at hand.

Here is my attempt to create such a keyboard layout for MS Windows. It's basically a US-English keyboard, where the numbers in the alphanumeric section were replaced by dead-keys (inspired by the dead-keys from the Czech QWERTZ-layout). I haven't written the version for Unix-like systems, but I might add it later.

You can download it here: al-polyglot-keyboard-2016-source.klc

And it looks like this:

Normal state

Shift key pressed

AltGr key pressed

Who is it good for?

Programmers

...that use mostly US-English keyboard, but want to write from time to time in their own language with Latin-based alphabet properly, with all the diacritics

Polyglots

...that need to write short texts in several languages and switch over between the layouts often

Web developers

It has a damn-hard-to-find n-dash (–) and his elusive brother m-dash (—)!

Perl6 coders

The layout contains the French quotation marks («»)

Who is it not intended to?

Writers and copywriters

If you want to type fast in a specific language, you should probably stick with one of its dedicated layouts (Good luck learning French AZERTY ;) )

People with keyboards without NumPad

You cannot type numbers in the alphanumeric section of this layout, so numeric keypad is a must.

In what languages can I write with this?

The layout was created, so that it is fairly easy to type in: English, Czech, Slovak, Portuguese, German, Spanish, French (It even has the ligatures æ and œ. The cœur of my sœur rejoices.), Romanian, Polish, Hungarian and Esperanto.

But I discovered many more languages are covered by what I fit in, so you can also type in Italian (with their lack of diacritics and special characters, not much of a hard task), Breton, Catalan, Croatian, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Indonesian, Irish (if you don't require the obsolete dot above—ponc séimhithe), Norwegian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Swedish and Welsh.

I have been testing it for a while. Because I was trying to fit in many alphabets, it's a compromise. However, I found out it is very comfortable to type in English, German, Portuguese and if you do not insist on the correct punctuation, even Spanish. French, Czech and Slovak are a bit clumsier. French because of the proximity of the key for the acute accent and the letter e, Slovak and Czech due to the frequency of the accented characters. Maybe, I'll find a way to optimize it in the future. I haven't tested the rest of the languages thoroughly yet.

And in which I can't?

I tried to add Lithuanian, Latvian, Icelandic and Turkish, but I would have to sacrifice either logic of the dead-key combinations or their ergonomics. Sorry guys!

Details (for typography nerds only)

Here is the list of all the possible dead-key combinations (not including their capitalisations):

• ° (circle above): ů, å (used in Czech and Nordic languages)
• ~ (tilde): ñ, ã, õ (Spanish, Portuguese and Estonian)
• ´ (acute accent): á, é, í, ó, ú, ĺ, ŕ, ś, ć, ź, ń, ẃ (w is a Welsh vowel)
• ^ (circumflex): â, ê. î, ô, û, ĉ, ĝ, ĵ, ĥ, ŝ, ŷ, ŵ (mostly in French, Portuguese and Esperanto)
• ¨ (diaresis ): ä, ö, ü, ï, ë
• ˝ (double acute accent): ő, ű (Hungarian)
• ¸ (cedilla): ç, ș, ț, ą, ę (this group is a mixture of characters with cedilla, comma below and ogonek) 
• ˇ (caron): č, ď, ě, ľ, ň, ř, š, ť, ž, ă, ŭ (another mixed goup—characters with caron and two last ones with a breve)
• ` (grave accent): à, è, ì, ò, ù, ẁ
• · (middot): ł, ż, œ, æ, đ, ø (this is a dead-key category of characters that did not fit elsewhere)

Some notes

• I tried to prioritize the languages I can write in. So it is possible to type in Hungarian (which I can't speak nor write in it), but the dead-key for the double acute accent is under number 6, so not as easy to access as other accents.
• Circumflex and (^) and the backtick/grave accent (`) are twice on the keyboard, but I left it that way to keep the layout as close to the original US-English layout as possible
• Don't use the Romanian ș (s with a comma below) as Turkish ş (s with cedilla), they are two distinct graphemes

Pangrams are fun in all languages

I tested the layout typing pangrams. Pangrams are sentences containing all the characters of a given orthography of some language, or at least all the accentuated characters that use to be problematic in typography or on the web. Some of the pangrams I used are worth sharing :)

Catalan

«Dóna amor que seràs feliç!». Això, il·lús company geniüt, ja és un lluït rètol blavís d’onze kWh.
“Give love and you’ll be happy!”. This, ingenuous fellow with bad temper, is already in a blue sign of 11kWh.

Croatian

Gojazni đačić s biciklom drži hmelj i finu vatu u džepu nošnje.
The overweight little schoolboy with a bike is holding hops and fine cotton in the pocket of his attire.

Czech

Příliš žluťoučký kůň úpěl ďábelské ódy.
Unduly yellowish horse was groaning devilish odes.

Danish

Høj bly gom vandt fræk sexquiz på wc.
Tall shy groom won dirty sex quiz on W.C.

Esperanto

Laŭ Ludoviko Zamenhof bongustas freŝa ĉeĥa manĝaĵo kun spicoj.
According to Ludwig Zamenhof, fresh Czech food with spices tastes good.

Estonian

Põdur Zagrebi tšellomängija-följetonist Ciqo külmetas kehvas garaažis.
Ill-healthy cellist-feuilletonist Ciqo from Zagreb was being cold in a poor garage.

Finnish

Fahrenheit ja Celsius yrjösivät Åsan backgammon-peliin, Volkswagenissa, daiquirin ja ZX81:n yhteisvaikutuksesta.
Fahrenheit and Celsius threw up on Åsa’s Backgammon board, in a Volkswagen, due to the coeffect of daiquiri and a ZX81.

German

Victor jagt zwölf Boxkämpfer quer über den großen Sylter Deich.
Victor chases twelve boxers across the great dam of Sylt.

Hungarian

Árvíztűrő tükörfúrógép
A flood-resistant mirror drill (what a language!)

Italian

Quel vituperabile xenofobo zelante assaggia il whisky ed esclama: alleluja!
That blameworthy, zealous xenophobe tastes his whisky and exclaims: Alleluja!

Polish

Dość gróźb fuzją, klnę, pych i małżeństw!
“Enough of these threats with the shotgun,” swear I, “haughtinesses and marriages!”

Portuguese

À noite, vovô Kowalsky vê o ímã cair no pé do pingüim queixoso e vovó põe açúcar no chá de tâmaras do jabuti feliz.
At night, grandpa Kowalsky sees the magnet falling on the complaining penguin’s foot and grandma puts sugar in the happy tortoise’s date tea.

Romanian

Bând whisky, jazologul șprițuit vomă fix în tequila.
Drinking whisky, the drunken jazzman threw up right in the tequila.

Serbian

Fin džip, gluh jež i čvrst konjić dođoše bez moljca.
A nice jeep, a deaf hedgehog and a tough horse came without a moth.

Slovak

Kŕdeľ šťastných ďatľov učí pri ústí Váhu mĺkveho koňa obhrýzať kôru a žrať čerstvé mäso.
A flock of happy woodpeckers by the mouth of the river Váh is teaching a silent horse to nibble on bark and feed on fresh meat.

Slovenian

Piškur molče grabi fižol z dna cezijeve hoste.
Lambry silently grasps beans from the bottom of caesium forest.

Spanish

Benjamín pidió una bebida de kiwi y fresa; Noé, sin vergüenza, la más exquisita champaña del menú.
Benjamin ordered a kiwi and strawberry beverage; Noah, without shame, the most exquisite champagne on the menu.

Swedish

Yxskaftbud, ge vår WC-zonmö IQ-hjälp.
Axe handle courier, give our WC zone maiden IQ help.

End of my French Mission

I am writing this post from Hamburg again. Do you want to know how my French mission ended up? Watch the video ;) (French and English subtitles available)

France was an interesting experience. New friendships, some cultural shocks, a bunch of places checked on my "to visit" list. Hard beginnings that turned into another place where I feel at home. Many stories to tell and I will tell them when I meet you (yes you!). I am happy I went there and I left with precious memories. So many people I miss (you guys know who I am talking about :) ).

By the way, I did not say goodbye to la francophonie altogether, I keep reading books (also) in French, my best mate here in Hamburg is from Paris, so there is no way this "mission end" would be a total break up with the French language. Aaand, traditionally, here is a map of the countries in which I can, after the last year, make myself understood.

French-speaking world

Au revoir ! ;)

Toulouse

So what's the city like? The French call it "La Ville Rose". But to me, it seemed always more orange, than pink. The buildings are built of a reddish stone or bricks and even the new business buildings keep onto that style. With its bricks, it reminds of the industrial British cities like Manchester.

What to see there? Is it very touristic?

The most important monument is undoubtedly the town hall built in the 1750's—"Le Capitol". If you walk on the Stree of Alsace-Lorraine, you notice a clock with a clock face divided in 24 instead of the classic 12 segments. Garonne, on of the four big French rivers flows through the city and shapes its form and character. Unlike in many other European cities, where the riverfront is the most touristic area, the riverside in Toulouse is quite calm. It's not as shiny and reconstructed as in Bordeaux, for example. In Toulouse, this is the place of picnics, talking, eating and drinking on a grass in front of the river. Especially in the late spring, it is full of students. Toulouse is not a city for tourists, it is a city of student parties. And of course, as a student city, it is relatively empty during the summer.

The Capitol

A special clock. Still not as special as the one in Brno ;)

Garonne riverside with Pont Neuf in the background.
If you need to know something about France: The oldest bridge
in the city is always called "The New Bridge"

Canal du Midi, an artificial waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean sea, built in the 17th century, is another significant element of the city. It is used everyday by lots of runners and bikers. It's pretty, but walking there during a summer night is a bit scary, because of the big amount of rats that live on the slopes and eat out of the garbage cans. And for some reason, you can always find lots of hookers around there after dark, half of which are male transvestites.

The size of the city and its future

Even though Toulouse is the fourth biggest city in France, you don't have that feeling when you are in the center. The buildings of the historic core are rather small. On the other hand, the city with its suburbs spans over a big area. The city is the fastest growing city in France and in several decades, in can overtake Marseilles and Lyon and become the second biggest after Paris, if the rates of growth remain constant. It's a French and European center of aeronautics. If you want to piss off a Toulousain, you just tell him that if you took away Airbus and the universities, there would be about 10 inhabitants left in the city. But you cannot make them angry with that, because they would agree, laughing. Airbus creates a lot of jobs here. Toulouse is the only construction site of Airbus, where they produce the giant A380.

Canal du Midi

The Bridge "St. Pierre"

The surroundings

You can go to "Cité d'Espace"—an amusement park dedicated to space. Just after an hour and half of driving, you get to Carcassonne—an amazing castle-town that inspired the famous board game. Its towers are impressive. On the top of that, everything is close. You want to surf? There is Biarritz at the Atlantic coast. You want to swim in a warm sea without big waves? Narbonne and Perpignan on the Mediterranean await you. You want to ski? Pyrenees are two hours from there. You are into wine and beautiful villages? Go for a trip to Périgord for a weekend.

There are some places that are good to visit. Like Paris. And then cities, which don't lie on the top of your "to see" lists, but might be better places to live or study.

1. My first appartement. It looked like a house of the Addams Family (its inhabitants were equally creepy, but less nice), I left after a week

2. My second apprtement—a studio. Was cool, but expensive

3. The third and final appartement. Cool flatmates.

C. The Capitol
S. Escalier de St. Pierre—place where the beer is cheep and drinking people below the age of 19 abundant

P. Prarier des Filtres—cool for picnics. Lots of concerts in the summer
L. Huge, beautiful library
N. Jean Jaurès—main night life zone, bars, clubs... 

Image sources:
http://www.ensiacet.fr/fr/vie-etudiante/vie-a-toulouse.html
http://www.isae.fr/en/node/1641
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulouse_Horloge_24_heures_pour_Wikimedia_Commons.jpg