getting the tones

I try to learn a new word every week, emphasis on try... learning Chinese is not an easy task. There are so many tones. The word for stop I learned quite quickly after arriving seeing as taxis not always know where they are going. But then I found out that the same word for "stop" also means, "listen" just in a slightly different tone. I now do believe that all westerners are tone deaf and its almost impossible for a native Chinese to speak English properly. But I keep trying and the bear workers appreciate it. So far I know the words for ... yes.. "stop", "listen" (still cant keep them apart), "foreigner"(useful to know when someone is talking about you, even though you never know what they are saying so making it only more frustrating you don’t speak the language) "hello", "how are you" "black bear" (off coarse.. this was crucial to learn to be able to get home from the city) "80 yuan" (also crucial to know as this is our going price for taxi's taking us home from town) "good job" (very useful to keep your bear workers smiling) "happy weekend" or actually weekend happy. No wonder they have so many odd translations into English. "not a problem" (also a very nice one to know, even though all the bear workers can say "no problem" in perfect English.) "I am cold" not to be used until very much later in the year but I have forgotten to say, "I am hot", learned on the same night and would be so much more useful at the present. "small" or "little" also have forgotten which one of the two I keep saying and "beer" that’s just because one of the cats here has that name. And then there are all the words and sentences I have learned and repeated to myself a hundred times over and just within 2 minutes completely forgotten!! I am ashamed to say that I still don’t know my numbers, but that is mainly because all the bear workers know their numbers in English. But to make up for it I have learned, purely by accident I must add, the word for "breasts"!!! As I was trying to explain to the bear workers via my translator that it would be me calling in a certain bear, she got slightly confused and asked again and I am saying "no, no it will be me.. me, me..." She started giggling and so I found out that mimi thus means 'breasts'. Another word is learned… so many more to go….!