Weddingbee Blog

I converted to a different religion because I wanted my fiance and I to raise a family in the same faith.

Gosh, all I did was learn to play bridge. Badly.

I’ve got one coworker learning Polish, and a friend from college learning Hindi. Particularly for the latter, it was really tough for her to get the family to accept her before they saw that she was really making that kind of effort. They’re all fluent in English, so there wasn’t a language barrier, they were just unsure how this whole white daughter-in-law thing was going to work out. I wouldn’t say everyone’s the best of friends now, but the Hindi classes did make a noticeable difference in their attitudes toward her.

p.s. I also used it to learn German for my German FI & his family…I am still learning. It’s hard, but worth it…again - post it’s everywhere!

i’ve been looking at korean language cd/classes for myself and been wondering about the pimsleur. thanks for the post!

doesn’t mr. e’s parents speak mandarin? most cantonese speakers (older ones) usually speak mandarin b/c that’s the offical language and all. i’m sure they’ll love you even more now that you want to learn their language. good luck!

Tofu - Mr.E’s dad speaks a TINY bit of Mandarin, but not fluently. His Mom doesn’t speak it much at all. It doesn’t help that MY Mandarin absolutely SUCKS, haha. (I speak Taiwanese halfway decently, but not great either)

Miss E-
Yeah same here. I’ve found Taiwanese sites in Chinese - which doesn’t help me much. LOL. Thanks anyway. I may just HAVE to take a trip to Taiwan. Anyone wanna come along?

Good luck on the Cantonese!!

My fiance got the same exact program and has been listening to it. Like you, he got kinda tired of sitting around the table for dinner with my family and don’t have a clue what is going on. I thought it was the sweetest thing (he has zero chinese/asian background). He said it really helps a lot that he can try the phrases out on me after he learns them so I can correct him / give him more background about how and when to use the words he learned. He’s doing very well, I think. It’s not a program intended that will teach you to really carry a conversation, but it’s a great starting point. He really impressed my family (and they love him for trying so hard.) More than anything I REALLY appreciate his efforts to fit in better with my family and ultimately make me happier. He also learned to play ma-jong and played several games (rounds) with my family including my mother and my grandmother. They refuse to stop telling people how their white future (grand)son-in-law is able to play ma-jong with them, and pretty well too!

DUDE! my husband has and listens to pimsleur’s cantonese cd’s (i’m cantonese, he’s 3G JA). he listens to them while he’s driving to work and while we’re in the car together. i 2nd mary’s suggestion abt getting TVB too (directv channel 450 and 451). since moving outta my parents place i was losing my cantonese and got my husband to order TVB for me. so we watch together and i translate - hard btw when they’re yapping away a mile/min.

but def get the cd’s and try practicing when you have alone time! it’ll be a good start!

i wasn’t a big fan of pimsleur for french, because like someone else said, after the first (very basic) cd, you have to buy the whole set. it’s sort of a teaser and if you know the basics you won’t learn much. if you want to spend a little more $$ (and how can you put a price on love? ;-)) everyone who’s tried it says that keystone (is that the name?), the ones you see in the mall kiosks and advertised all over the place, is great, although its very interactive and you have to work while you listen.