Yesterday I had my last English lesson with my students and we finished up by having power point presentations. Everyone gave a 5 minute presentation on subjects like 5G, Stray Dogs, Nantong City and of course Spring Festival. I was most impressed with them, even although the content is simple by the standards of a native speaker, but then again I have come across so called native English speakers that can not string a sentence together.

This year I want to be able to give a speech in Chinese and so I will have to really begin to study. I can engage in simple conversation, but to stand up in front of an audience and give a speech in Chinese is absolutley terrifying for me at the moment. Doing it in English is a doddle, even if I’m called apon at the last moment I can usually string a few words together. But if I can manage to have the confidence of my students to stand up in front of their peers and also their bosses, who gave them a great deal of praise by the way, then I will have achieved on of my goals for 2019.

Reading Chinese is also next to impossible for me at the moment and the only place I have any idea is at the restuarant when I look at the menu, at least I can usually tell what is on offer, but the other problem is I don’t know how to say the words……………..it’s such a difficult and challenging language.

Mind you this is where the phone comes into its own because I can scan the menu and it will give me a translation almost instantly. It’s not always correct but it will at least it will tell me if I’m eating innards or rump.

所以今年我需要让我的中文达到一个水平，我也可以阅读我刚刚写的内容，当然还有能力在没有谷歌帮助的情况下完成所有这些……….