When You Don’t Use DuoLingo To Practice Chinese
There’s a good reason I haven’t tried again
Living in Northern Michigan, you don’t get many opportunities to practice Chinese. Most people either never left the state, or are learning Spanish. When you approach people and say you know Chinese, they look at you like you’re an alien. You’re likely the first person they met who knows a language so obscure up North.
How does one practice? Well, telemarketers won’t leave me alone, so when they call, I start speaking Chinese. So far, I haven’t had anyone answer back. They get confused and hang up. Their loss, I guess. We could’ve had a great conversation.
I know what you’re thinking. “Why don’t you use Duolingo?” I had one once. And then something happened, and I couldn’t get my information back.
It’s been over a year. I’m not sure I know if I can at this point, and I’m still upset about it.
It All Started On A Kayak Trip
My home is next to a river. On nice summer days, my boyfriend and I will go kayaking around the area. Sometimes, the kids come with us. If we’re down a river, they’ll want to join.
I didn’t keep my phone in my car like I usually do. I took it with me instead.
When we came back from the trip, I noticed the bag I had stuff in was soaked. My wallet and my phone had the worst of them. I couldn’t turn my phone on again.
After a few days, I bought a new phone, and I tried to get back onto Duolingo. All of my data disappeared. I’ve been so mad I haven’t tried to go on Duolingo since.
Nothing Says Good Practice Like Messing With People
Like any former expat, I don’t want my Chinese to disappear. I studied the language since I was 19! What kind of a person would I be if I let myself throw 16 years of studies out the window?
So I answer telemarketers, but there’s a catch. I don’t answer every call right away. Some of these unknown numbers are robocalls. It’s more fun to listen to the confused salespeople try to figure out what to do next.
Sometimes, I wish I’d get a salesperson who knows Chinese to answer one of my calls. Then I could have a real practice session. It hasn’t happened yet. Instead, they hang up after I say two sentences. But they make sure I can speak English before hanging up.
My Data From Duolingo Isn’t Coming Back
It’s been over a year since that fateful kayak trip, and I don’t see any data coming back from that any time soon.
Maybe one day, I’ll try it again. If messing with telemarketers gets old, maybe. Until then, I’ll keep having fun messing with these people. It makes phone calls more fun.
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