Mom was right

What's that old saying? "We grow too soon old and too late smart"? I hate to say it, but Mom was right after all. When I was young, she sat me down and said, "Calvin, I want to teach you Chinese, because it's important." I did learn characters from her, and I have vivid audio recollections of her excellent Beijing Mandarin. But I didn't learn as much as I should have.

Well, she was right. The good news is that having spent four months in Beijing, I can say my Chinese has improved markedly. Even more interestingly, it has improved more since I returned to the US. Better late than never, I always say. If you have a chance to learn Chinese, do so. It can only help you in your career.