Learning a language? Head down to the harbor.
Today I decided to see if I could board a freighter on the Huangpu River to practice my Chinese with some sailors. I rode my bike south until I arrived at what seemed to be an off-loading point for a variety of ships and then I just rode right in through the front gate. Nobody tried to stop me, so I got right up next to a rather large ship and began snapping photos along the river bank. As I hoped, within a few minutes a sailor on one of the ships noticed the out of place foreigner and, when I asked with my best Chinese, he invited me on board. For the next two hours I enjoyed wonderful conversation over a nice meal with a half dozen Chinese sailors.
I highly recommend boarding unfamiliar sailing vessels at least once a month as part of any language learning routine. Sailors are generally bored and always looking for someone new to talk to. By their very nature they are endowed with a seemingly infinite reserves of patience. And they usually have some pretty amusing stories. Language learning takes courage, and this is probably the easiest way to prove to yourself that you've got it.
Click for a satelite image of the exact section of the Huangpu River where I typically go on board these ships.
posted by Ryan Petersen @ 9:30 PM
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