Mandarin And Me

To be frank, I was from a Chinese primary school. And at that time, my Mandarin was quite good. yeah yeah yeah, so I did score an A in my UPSR, but that was like wot, 7 years ago? Fast forward to secondary school. Ended up in some newly formed smart school, which wasn't remotely smart. (Was referring to the students, not the school), and knowing more people from English educated backgrounds. This changed me a lot. Back in primary school, it was 99% Mandarin, 1% English/BM. Here, in secondary school, its the total opposite. Well, not really, more like 90% English, 2% BM, 8% Mandarin. Darn. And due to that, I mingled more with those from SK backgrounds that those who are Chinese educated. Well, I still can mix well with the Chinese educated ones, as I still can speak some Mandarin. So I take it as my advantage. LOL. Anyway, my parents kinda forced me to relearn Mandarin in secondary school, claiming that they did not want my 6 years of Chinese education to be wasted. Yeah right. Reluctantly, I took up Mandarin, from Form 1 all the way till form 5. Results? None too satisfying. Did not fail, but gosh was it boring. Tell me to write an essay or read a Chinese newspaper, chances are, I might have some difficulties. Heck, even using XunLei is kinda hard. Should I or should I not learn Mandarin? I guess I might need to. The Chinese market is growing at a very fast rate, and if my Mandarin continues to suck, there goes my future. Yeah. Looks like I need to read some more Mandarin words. Last week, my sister SMS-ed me in Mandarin. Took me ages to decipher what those words were saying. I can see where is this going...