Why I started to learn Chinese as an adult

Jane Zhang
November 8, 2024
3 min read

Early in my learning journey, I practiced writing Chinese characters to build my vocabulary in this notebook.

What started it all: translating graphic novels

As a Chinese-Canadian, I’ve always been interested in connecting with my heritage. However, the spark started in my early adulthood.

In the summer of 2013, I had two months off and lots of time to spend. Learning Chinese has been an ongoing interest, so I got creative with learning it. Growing up, I read a lot of graphic novels and stumbled upon a forum on Manga Updates where scanlation groups put can recruit people to help translate series to English.

Screenshot of Manga Updates’ recruitment board. https://www.mangaupdates.com/forum/bvljirt/recruitment

I eventually found a scanlation group I was interested in joining. A scanlation group translates several graphic novel series at a time and have opening roles in:

Raw providers: Find the images of the graphic novels in its original language
Cleaner: They are proficient in Photoshop and will remove all the text on the pages to insert the translated ones
Translator: Translate from the original language to English
Typesetter: On Photoshop, they add the translated text to the pages
Redrawer: Sometimes, a redrawer is needed to address more complex editing. For example, special effects are usually drawn in rather than typed into speech bubbles
Quality Assurance: Makes sure the translation makes sense and would read well to native English speakers

After joining one of these translation groups, I translated a couple of chapters and it was like solving a puzzle. Prior to this, I never read Chinese for the sake of understanding. My vocabulary was very limited, so I read exclusively in English. But for the first time, I sought to understand Chinese. Each new character was its own rabbit hole. I’d take the time to look up the characters, define it, and try to understand its composition.

Like a secret game quest you stumble upon, a newfound challenge unlocked, and I began my journey to learn Chinese as a young adult in my early 20’s. Although at this point, I was treating this as a hobby.

An Indigenous cultural exchange program

Photo credit: https://indigenousyouthroots.ca/. I wish I had photos I could share here, but it was so long ago that I couldn’t find them (despite looking through all my hard drives!). My exchange looked similar to this, we were often outdoors and spoke to many Indigenous community members.

In 2015, I visited Manitoulin Island as part of the Canadian Roots Exchange program, which aims to strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youths. One of the recurring themes on the exchange was the importance of reviving and teaching Indigenous languages to future generations. Language and culture interweaved to form the fabric of one’s identity. What does it mean to reclaim one’s Indigenous roots and what does that look like?

The trip prompted me to think deeply about the role language played in my identity as a Chinese Canadian. I wondered about the generations that would come after me and how I could help my children and children’s children retain their heritage.

Learning Chinese was no longer a hobby–it felt like a lifelong mission. I was committed to learning the language to the best of my ability that was within reason. It wasn’t realistic for me to immerse myself in the language by living in China nor did I need to speak Chinese for daily life.

It’s been more than 10 years since I started to seriously learn the language and although there were many bumps and interruptions along the way (I took many breaks throughout the years), I have kept up with it to this day.

I’m excited to share what I’ve learned so far on this blog and help heritage speakers gain new appreciation and perspective of their cultural roots.

Where are you in your learning journey?

Comment below and let me know why you’re interested in learning Chinese.