Steve, I have been challenged by Friedemann. He came to my blog with his false ideas about language learning and having seen my first attempt at conversing in Chinese, he came to the conclusion that I can’t possibly understand anything of the dramas that I’m watching just because I don’t know some words that he deems are basic and frequent, which I think he got from his textbook studies. Just because he learned those words early on and they have been relevant to him, he seems to think they are some kind of marker of whether a person knows anything of a language or not. He’s got all these wild and crazy ideas.
So he’s decided to challenge me to see if I can tell him what is being said in a TV show. Obviously, he thinks I’m bluffing and he wants to call my bluff. He wants to meet up on Skype for his challenge. I guess he thinks I’ll refuse his challenge. But how do I know if he’ll be fair or not? He doesn’t seem like a very reasonable guy. I mean, he can’t think outside of his own paradigm. And he’s so set on seeing me fail that he’s put this challenge out there.
I don’t know what’s in it for him. I don’t see why he cares so much. What’s his motivation? Is he the kind of person that enjoys making other people fail? He seems really bent on being right.
Is there something I should know about this guy before answering his request? I’m scared, Steve. What should I do? Should I be worried?