New paper
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/hey/story/0,4136,36210,00.html

Hello everyone, I'm Cai Jianya

Tanya Chua recalls when she couldn't say her name in
Mandarin... Now, she's the Speak Mandarin Campaign
ambassador

TANYA Chua recalls that her Mandarin was once so
'rusty', she couldn't even introduce herself properly
on TV.

It was the then-rookie singer's first TV interview, and
she botched it up.

'All I had to say was 'Hello everyone, I'm Cai Jianya
(her Chinese name), but I just couldn't do it properly!'
said Tanya, sounding embarrassed.

The singer, who's been appointed the ambassador for this
year's Speak Mandarin Campaign, was recalling the language
gaffes she made when she was starting out in Taiwan.

And the simple sentence took her countless NGs (no-good
takes) before the director finally said okay.

Even then, Tanya's nightmare was far from over.

FLUBBING HER LINES

For a laugh, the show's producers decided to broadcast
the interview, together with all her previous NGs, and
Tanya was shown flubbing her lines over and over again.

According to Tanya, her Mandarin wasn't as bad as is
popularly believed.

'It was just very rusty from lack of use,' she said.

'I used to excel in Chinese back in school. And, in
primary school, my Chinese was even better than my
English.'

However, Tanya stopped using Mandarin once she got into
a polytechnic.

It was only years later, when she was trying to break
into the Taiwan market as a singer, that she realised
what an asset the language could be.

'When I first got to Taiwan, I found myself unable to
communicate with people. I couldn't speak properly. I
couldn't find the words to express myself.

A LOT OF BOO-BOOS

'I also made a lot of boo-boos, because I tried to
translate my thoughts from English into Mandarin, and
they just didn't come out right.'

Fortunately, immersion in the language and culture helped.

Tanya now speaks Mandarin with ease, and has even started
writing her own lyrics.

She said: 'I still have trouble with the proverbs, though.
Either I use them in the wrong context, or I get the words
jumbled up.

'But, hey, at least I'm using proverbs!'