WTF Did You Just Call Me? (China Edition)
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"What do you call somebody from Xi'an? Xi'anian? Xi'aner? Xi'anese?"
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Anna Hartley is an Australian writer.
She has lived in Paris and Beijing since 2011.
Her work has been published in The Washington Post, France 24, Forbes Travel Guide, The Houston Chronicle, The New Zealand Herald, The Vancouver Sun, the Beijinger, and Babbel Magazine.
How To Prepare For Your Year Traveling Abroad
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Once I started jotting down ideas for this article, I couldn’t stop. It turns out that over the years, I’ve learned a lot about living abroad and what that does to a person.
Read MoreHow Knowing A Second Language Helped Me Learn A Third
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I never expected to move to China, nor begin to learn Mandarin. Yet while the language may be totally unfamiliar, the process of learning a language from scratch is not. I wrote about how already speaking French has helped me to tackle this third language for Babbel Magazine, which is the official online publication of one of the worlds largest online language learning resources.
Read MorePublic Speaking In Your Non-Native Language
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How comfortable would you feel speaking your second language… on national television?
This is a question I got to answer recently, when I was asked to appear on a well-known French travel show, Echappées Belles.
Read MoreHey You! Yes, You: Meet Bianca, a linguistic gymnast
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I met Bianca in the boxing gym, but in real life she is a translator and interpreter. She has been in France for 10 years now, and has built a strong and successful business. I’m fascinated and impressed by the way she has completely mastered the language, and the mental gymnastics she performs every single working day.
In exchange for Thai takeaway, Bianca let me grill her on the ins and outs of her fascinating job.
Read MoreHow I overcame my fears and spoke French on national TV
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Speaking French is not a simple matter of flicking a switch and carrying on with life. It is inextricably related to feelings of legitimacy, falsehood, belonging and alienation. It is associated with anger and frustration, inadequacy, stupidity, and triumph. It is related to who and what I am, my place in the world around me and a constant negotiation and re-negotiation of meaning, intention and power.
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