14 minutes ago, Duvel said:we are now translating recipes and I am getting both some practical value as well as an intrinsic motivation to continue ...
That is almost how I started learning putonghua (Mandarin).
I arrived in China 21 years ago unable to speak a word.of any Chinese language or dialect. I was also the only foreigner in the city, so it was an "in at the deep end" experience. After learning numbers and a few choice cuss words (as you do), I decided that my priority was eating. So, instead of pointing hopefully at other people's meals and demanding the same, I decided to learn food language (menus, ingredients, common dishes etc), both spoken and written. Progress was slow and I remember the utter joy the day I finally looked at a menu and realised I could read it! I was sitting at a table alone giggling with delight, much to the confusion of other customers and staff.
Later, in Liuzhou, a city with more foreigners, I was commissioned by some restaurants to translate their menus (usually paid in meals) which hoped to attract foreign customers with their loaded wallets (all foreigners are impossibly rich in most Chinese minds). Translating recipes came later.
I think that experience gave me the confidence to expand my Chinese in other fields later (to the point I now speak three forms although Mandarin is the strongest). Funny how your dinner can make you learn all sorts of apparently unrelated stuff.
