Becoming literate

We learn to read, not only because we decipher the alphabetic code, but because we see print all around us. Chinese characters are not alphabetic, but a certain logic connects the symbols. This writing system is even more daunting to Westerners than the spoken language.
But when you're here, you begin to know what things say. It's all about context. My own children recognized the Burger King and MacDonald's logos before they turned two; the same process is happening with me.

Trying to pound this stuff into my head is totally counterproductive.
What helps is to leave my room with all its English materials and relate to what is around me. I take along the Lonely Planet Guide to Mandarin Chinese and a notebook.















My room is on the Fourth Floor, as the characters indicate.