do you mind if I sit here ?   no , of course not . Go ahead .   don't I know you ?   yes , now that you mention it , I think we had a chemistry class together in high school .   you're right ! How are you ? It's been a long time !   What did you do after high school ?   I went straight to university afterwards . What about you ?   I took a year off to go travelling .   that sounds exciting . Where did you go ?   I went all over the world . It was the best year of my life . Where did you go to school ?   I went to a small school in Connecticut . It has a very good reputation for its languages department .   Oh , did you study a foreign language ?   yes , I got a grant to study Chinese .   that's a very difficult language to learn , isn't it ?   it is , but it's very rewarding .   so you can speak Chinese ?   I can , but not as well as I'd like to . I'll be studying Chinese until the day I die !   I think most languages take a lifetime to learn well . 