扎克伯格的普通话究竟有多好？

Fortunately, the Chinese know how hard their language is – which is why efforts like Zuckerberg’s are applauded. I have lost count of the number of times that my dismal Chinese has been praised and complimented, by everyone from taxi drivers to government officials.

After decades (or in the Chinese mind, centuries) of arrogant foreigners arriving in China and not bothering to learn the language, it is a mark of respect to have a go.

Sadly, as you make progress, the novelty wears off. After seven years here, those who once praised and encouraged me now chide me for getting a tone wrong. I suppose it is a sign of progress to be corrected, rather than simply to win patronising praise, but I miss the old days.

The foolish old man who moved the mountains

There is a Chinese folk tale that sums up the effort required to struggle with Mandarin. A man in his nineties began picking up stones in order to level two huge mountains. When told he was an idiot, given the scale of the task and the time he had left, he simply said: “Certainly I cannot do it. But when I die, there will be my children to carry on the work, and the children will have grandchildren, and the grandchildren will again have children. So my children and grandchildren are endless, while the mountains cannot grow bigger in size. Why can’t they be levelled some day?”

You cannot catch a cub without venturing to the tiger’s den

For British schoolchildren, there is no short cut. The popular “Chineasy” pictogram cards are charming, but not a magic bullet. You may learn to recognise a few Chinese pictograms, but they do not teach pronunciation and the sea of non-pictographic characters stretches to the horizon.

The best way to shorten the slog is the most straightforward. While children will not pick up much Mandarin in English classrooms, it may open their minds to visit China. And here, if they can find a place to immerse themselves, they have a good chance of learning the language.
有朋自远方来不亦乐乎

幸运的是，中国人知道汉语是多么的难学，这也是为什么扎克伯格的努力获得了一致好评，我已经记不清有多少次，我憋足的汉语得到了人们的好评和赞扬，从出租车司机到政府官员。

在傲慢的外国人踏入中国的几十年（或者在中国人看来是几个世纪）不学汉语后，学习汉语也是一种值得发扬下去的对中国的尊重。

可悲的是，当你取得进步时，新奇感就会消退。在中国待了7年后，当初那些表扬并鼓励我的人们开始指责我音调不对，我把这当做一个需要改正以取得进步的标志，而不是简单的想赢得屈尊俯就的表扬，但不可否认，我怀念从前的日子。

愚公移山

中国有个寓言故事可以用来说明学习普通话需要同其做坚定不移的斗争。一位老人在90岁时开始搬运石头以夷平两座大山，考虑到这一巨大工程耗费的时间之久，而他所剩的时间无几，人们说他太傻，他说：“我死了有儿子，儿子死了还有孙子，孙子过后还有曾孙子，子子孙孙无穷无尽，而山又不会增大，为什么就不会夷平呢？”

不入虎穴焉得虎子

对于英国学生来说，学习汉语没有捷径。“简易中文”卡片是充满魅力，但它毕竟不是一颗神奇的子弹，你可能会记住几个汉字的象形图，但它不会教会你发音，并且非象形文字的海洋已经延伸到地平线了。

缩短学习汉语这一艰难过程的最好方法也是最直接的方法。当孩子们不再在英语课堂里学习普通话，这可能反而会激发他们想来中国游玩的好奇心。到了中国之后，如果他们找到了一个自己迷恋的地方，他们就会有个学习语言的良好机会。