Why am I learning Chinese? A Chinese friend recently asked me why I was learning Chinese. I thought about it a bit, and this was my reply: I am a pensioner, I live on my retirement earnings and work part-time. This gives me a lot of freedom to do and be precisely what I want. This includes working my way through my "bucket list", the list of things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" (a euphemism for dying). For instance, last year I ran away to sea, and spent three months as the only passenger on a large container ship. I travelled from China to South Africa, and then to South America's east coast, and then all the way back. It was fascinating and I loved it. My next major project is to live and work in China for a year. To do this, I am studying the teaching of English as a second language, and also Chinese language and culture. I study at RMIT University in Melbourne, and online, here on italki.com and other places. My motivation for learning Chinese is made up of a number of things. I strongly believe in lifelong learning. I believe that intensive and continued learning keeps my mind young and agile. I've been a programmer and worked with computers all my life. I've been able to absorb and manipulate the highly rational and orderly knowledge systems that characterise computing. If you like, I believe I am good at absorbing artificial languages, such as those used in computing. However, I suspect that "natural" languages, such as Chinese, require a totally different type of learning. I want to see if I am capable of learning a major human language, even though I am over sixty, and have never been fully fluent in any human language beyond my native English. Also, I am fascinated by China, both for it's future and it's amazing history. I have good friends in China, and want to continue visiting and exploring China. I believe that having at least a limited ability to speak and read Chinese will allow me to get closer to the "real" China and Chinese people. I also believe that the 21st century is the Chinese century, and that Chinese affairs are very important for Australia's present and future. So I want to understand China better, and feel that having access to it's language is essential to achieve this. I'm not starry-eyed about China. I understand that there are many issues facing China and it's leadership. This is a big part of why I want to be able to speak and read Chinese: so I can get closer to the sources of information and analysis of China's current affairs.