Hello! My name is Scotty. I lived in China for 4 years, but my Chinese is horrid! I know survival Chinese. For example, Wo Yao ..... Xie Xie.... counting things, and a few food/dishes names. I do not mind starting at the beginning, it might help with my confidence in speaking Chinese! haha But the nature of my question is this... While living in different cities/provinces ( I was an ESL English Teacher) I found myself really lost in many ways because of Local Dialects. This made it really difficult, and really made my confidence low. How can a person adapt their Mandarin Chinese ability to local dialects? Second Question: Whilst living in China, I was an English Teacher. It made it difficult to practice my Chinese because everyone wants to practice their English, hence why my Chinese ability is poor. I have no real confidence in speaking Chinese to meet new people in China, and Chinese people might feel the same way about their English ability. So, where to begin? Thank you, Scotty