I write this week's newsletter while sitting in the transfer lounge at South Korea's Incheon Airport.

Welcome to the newsletter;)

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(Working on Apple Podcasts!)

It's a travel week for me as I decided to take the plunge and visit the fam for a week. A lot of people have asked why only for a week and it largely comes down to timing and money: that is to say, I have the money and the time so I can make it work, jet lag be damned!

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This week's videos:

1. Chinese: 中文检查11月16日2024年
2. Russian: Should I be reading while travelling?
3. English: Beard care 101 (Comments from the channel)
4. Short: Why is it EASIER to buy a TEXTBOOK than an APP?!
5. EXTRA: Travelling week, what do you want?!

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I figured since I was leaving China for a week and it's been a month since my last language check, I'd make a new one. This one was recorded from the Beijing Capital International Airport T2 just before my flight to Korea. It's about six minutes long and I don't think I stumble too bad in it, though I did have trouble getting the date right BECAUSE I was trying to get the DAY first, then month, then year, though in English I'd usually say MONTH DAY YEAR.

Which do you use? I know file naming schemes can cause some consternation among conversationalists, but I usually go with the three-letter abbreviation, then the day, then the year. Eg, Nov 16, 2024. It's always made sense to me because there can be no confusion over which number is which, unlike the 11/16/2024 or 16/11/2024 methodology.

Anyway, naming schemes aside, the other word I couldn't remember was "to take off", 起飞 (qǐfēi), which I think I was saying jifei, which is something else. Oops. I hope YouTube doesn't 批评 (pīpíng) me too badly!

Video is here.

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Like what you're reading?

(Or think I need to work on my language skillz?)

BUY ME A COFFEE!

Thank you for your support!

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I suppose it's a dilemma that a lot of travellers, language learners, and expats face: should I try to maintain my study schedule while travelling?

Welp, in regard to Russian, I'm not bringing any books with me for my one week in Canada, though I may still try to keep the 20-minutes in the morning practice.

The one thing I could do on this trip is research a few more Ukrainian books instead, as my family still has quite a few lying around from when we were kids. However, I'd be wary to try to study both Russian and Ukrainian at once. I tried that last year (2023) and it didn't really work too well.

That being said, I know that many kids in modern Ukraine grow up learning and speaking both, so maybe it's something that is completely doable and can be worked into my schedule?

What do you think, should you study two similar languages at once? What about bringing study materials with you when you travel? What's your game plan?

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Interesting comment from the YouTube channel, an inquisition in regard to beard care:

我不是对你的胡子和你的外国人身份表示意见, 如有冒犯, 在此对你道歉

我是想说很多个不巧才可能是导致这次被警察盘察, 这也只是我的个人猜测, 当然, 这也不代表警察可以对你粗鲁对待, 

事实上做为一个女人, 我对你的长胡子有点好奇, 在日常生活中, 比如吃饭, 会不会容易弄脏, 脏了需要什么产品护理. 看上去保养得很好, 会不会像头发一样容易打结, 睡觉的时候, 长胡子是在被子外面还是在里面, 会不会像头发一样容易被身体压到等等.

这些只是我脑子里想的, 平常不敢问的, 你也无需回答.

I have no intention of commenting on your beard or your status as a foreigner; if anything came across as offensive, I apologize. I just wanted to suggest that perhaps a series of coincidences led to the police questioning you, though that’s just my personal guess. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the police should treat you rudely.

As a woman, I’m actually a bit curious about your long beard. In daily life, for instance, when you eat, is it easy for food to get on it? If it does, are there specific products you use to keep it clean? It looks very well-maintained; does it get tangled like hair? When you sleep, is your beard outside or inside the blanket? And does it ever get pressed under your body like hair?

These are just thoughts that crossed my mind—questions I wouldn’t normally dare to ask. You don’t need to answer them, of course.

My Response:

I need to re-iterate, the passport, the beard and the camera incident were all separate.

As for your very interesting questions, I can respond:

1) Yes, when I eat food can drop on it, especially salad and burger dressings, which can be annoying. Milk products are the worst and generally make me want to just go shower instead of just using a napkin. As the beard's gotten longer, I tie it up to get it out of the way while eating. 

2) I use regular shampoo to clean it whenever I wash my hair, and yes, I even condition is once a week. After washing, I also usually put coconut oil in it (same with the hair) as that seems to help tame dryness and prevent it from looking really bushman-like. Regular coconut oil from the store, nothing special.

3) The texture of the hair is very different from head hair so it doesn't get tangled in the same way but it still does get split ends and can knot some times. Since I "think" with my beard more than my hair, it tends to stay straight and doesn't knot too much.

4) I wasn't aware while sleeping there was a choice between inside or outside the blanket while sleeping, but I do tie it up to keep it out of the way, much like you would do with longer hair. If I didn't, it would get caught if I tried to move and would be distracting while sleeping.

5) I'm not sure what you mean by "pressed under my body like hair", possibly this is while sleeping and, yes, it would. Hence the tying it up.

Overall, one of the reasons I grew it out was because I was turning older and wanted to take my youth with me. However, the joke has gotten old (like me) and now the beard is borderline getting in the way. It doesn't take as much to care or wash it as head hair does, but I do have to be careful while cooking or around spinning fans. I don't want to be in the news for those types of things.

That being said, I encourage all men to try to grow out a beard at least once in their life, as long as they can go before they have to shave it (ie, gf or wife holds a paper and a razor in each hand and says pick one.) This would be the second big beard I've grown and it's almost sad in a way because every day it becomes the longest and, well, tougher to beat later on in life.

For those wondering, I've been growing it for almost three years.

I hope that answers your questions? My apologies for not writing this in Chinese as I think a GTranslate version of this would be better than me trying to authentically write in Chinese.

Let me know if you have any other questions! :D

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Only one YouTube Short posted this week: Why is it EASIER to buy a TEXTBOOK rather than an APP?!

The question is simple: why do we find it so difficult to commit to purchasing an APP when it's so easy to walk through a bookstore (or even online) and purchase yet another textbook in our target language?

In this Short, I ask whether books are simply better at being repurposed compared to an APP. Books can be used as paperweights, can be resold, and, possibly most importantly, can be written in, underlined, marked up and USED to learn the language, while APPs tend to be a little more "stand-off-ish", that is to say, the APP can only do APP things: audio, keyboard switching, portability, etc.

Which do you prefer? A textbook or an APP for your language studies? Have you ever compared how many you have of each?

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Finally, it is a travel week for me, Steve, so that means my language studies may take a back seat. However, as the YouTube channel has developed over the last few years, I still try to post from wherever I go. I think this is an interesting (and advantageous) aspect of the life I lead when it comes to learning languages: they aren't just textbook studies, they are real-world applications.

Although posting YT Shorts is a touch easier, I may also try to post one or two longer form videos throughout the week. There are a few topics I've been mulling over in my mind as of late: can language and culture be separated? And, what is the reality of being an expat? These are two subjects I think I'll try to cover in upcoming videos, either while I'm outside of China or once I'm back in.

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We'll leave it there for this week! I hope you are well and keeping warm in the late autumn / early winter days of the Northern Hemisphere. One challenge that can arise while travelling between China and Canada is the difference in temperatures: Beijing, though cold and windy, is not as cold as central Canada by any stretch of the imagination. It begs the question: how do you prepare for changes in temperature across continents??

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Suggestions? Get in touch! We'd love to hear from you! You can email us here or follow us on YouTube and post a comment, we'll get back to you!

Thanks for reading and let us know if there's anything we can help you with!

-Steve

YOUTUBE

PS - If you're transferring through South Korea, the transfer lounge DOES offer showers for $6 USD. Not bad I think, especially if you're gearing up for a nine hour flight!