http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak Mandarin Chinese Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:24:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-6572 Chris Gongsun 公孙海 Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:32:40 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-6572 Writing more difficult than reading? If you include Chinese word-processing within the scope of writing, surely writing Chinese must be much easier than reading Chinese. This is because the Chinese you know is a much smaller entity than the Chinese you don't know. For example, the works of Shakespeare are so much gooble-dee-gook to me but I have an Edinburgh university degree that required me to write essays in English to quite a high standard. Writing more difficult than reading? If you include Chinese word-processing within the scope of writing, surely writing Chinese must be much easier than reading Chinese. This is because the Chinese you know is a much smaller entity than the Chinese you don’t know. For example, the works of Shakespeare are so much gooble-dee-gook to me but I have an Edinburgh university degree that required me to write essays in English to quite a high standard.

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-6366 Kevin Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:25:37 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-6366 Chinese can also be called 华语。 Chinese can also be called 华语。

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-1125 Ben Wed, 15 Aug 2007 02:50:05 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-1125 There is, in fact, a 5th "tone" if you want to call it that. The Chinese normally call it qing1 sheng1. Certain syllables (especially the second one when repeating the same syllable twice) get deemphasized. However, it's much more of a northern thing than a southern one. I live in Fuzhou, so this is not so common, but in the north when somebody says 看看, for example, the first kan will be the 4th tone, but the second one will be deemphasized. In the south, they sound pretty much the same. There is, in fact, a 5th “tone” if you want to call it that. The Chinese normally call it qing1 sheng1. Certain syllables (especially the second one when repeating the same syllable twice) get deemphasized. However, it’s much more of a northern thing than a southern one. I live in Fuzhou, so this is not so common, but in the north when somebody says 看看, for example, the first kan will be the 4th tone, but the second one will be deemphasized. In the south, they sound pretty much the same.

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-19 Joel Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:37:17 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-19 sorry... that's "hear" your opinion. =) Geez, I can't write in English either! sorry… that’s “hear” your opinion. =) Geez, I can’t write in English either!

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-20 Joel Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:36:26 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-20 We just recently met with Martin Symonds, the linguist who's lived in Taiwan/China for 30 years and who produces the "Chinese Made Easier" series and some other Mandarin learning stuff. He grades the difficulty of Mandarin a different way, which I blogged about <a href="http://chinahopelive.net/2007/06/19/learning-mandarin-realistic-expectations" rel="nofollow"><strong>Learning Mandarin: Realistic Expectations</strong></a>. I'd be glad to ear your opinion on that. We just recently met with Martin Symonds, the linguist who’s lived in Taiwan/China for 30 years and who produces the “Chinese Made Easier” series and some other Mandarin learning stuff. He grades the difficulty of Mandarin a different way, which I blogged about Learning Mandarin: Realistic Expectations. I’d be glad to ear your opinion on that.

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-13 Beirne Sat, 26 May 2007 17:17:18 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-13 This is an excellent breakdown of what is and isn't hard in Chinese. I'll add one more Con to the grammar section, though, and that is definite and indefinite nouns. The Pros section correctly says that there aren't articles. The hard part, though, is that you have to indicate whether a noun is definite or not by word order. For example, a noun at the beginning of the sentence is generally definite, as is the the noun following 把. I'm sure there are more rules but those are the two I can think of. I know this is word order, but since the article was a Pro I figured this would be a good matching con. This is an excellent breakdown of what is and isn’t hard in Chinese. I’ll add one more Con to the grammar section, though, and that is definite and indefinite nouns. The Pros section correctly says that there aren’t articles. The hard part, though, is that you have to indicate whether a noun is definite or not by word order. For example, a noun at the beginning of the sentence is generally definite, as is the the noun following 把. I’m sure there are more rules but those are the two I can think of. I know this is word order, but since the article was a Pro I figured this would be a good matching con.

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-12 Ian 何溢恩 Sun, 17 Dec 2006 07:53:28 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-12 Great assessment of the whole thing! I especially like the “now you can say anything in Chinese” point, it’s very true. I’d like to mention something about reading and writing Chinese though… I too thought it was unfair and incredibly hard until I started trying to teach the rules of English phonics to Chinese kids and found how much rote memorization ESL students have to do to spell our words. We don’t think about it as adults because of the way frequent reading naturally helps us absorb everything about spelling and phonics. In the same sense, the good news about Chinese is that once you reach an advanced level and can leave the textbook to brave the wide world of reading material, repeated contact with new words in a meaningful context ensures that you soak the language in the same way you learn new words in your native language. Additionally, there comes a point when more than half the new words you encounter are made of characters you already know. As for writing, just like English, the more frequent the reading the easier it is to remember how a word is written. So don’t be too intimidated! Like a lot of things, your progress in reading Chinese will increase exponentially the deeper you go. Great assessment of the whole thing! I especially like the “now you can say anything in Chinese” point, it’s very true.
I’d like to mention something about reading and writing Chinese though… I too thought it was unfair and incredibly hard until I started trying to teach the rules of English phonics to Chinese kids and found how much rote memorization ESL students have to do to spell our words. We don’t think about it as adults because of the way frequent reading naturally helps us absorb everything about spelling and phonics. In the same sense, the good news about Chinese is that once you reach an advanced level and can leave the textbook to brave the wide world of reading material, repeated contact with new words in a meaningful context ensures that you soak the language in the same way you learn new words in your native language. Additionally, there comes a point when more than half the new words you encounter are made of characters you already know. As for writing, just like English, the more frequent the reading the easier it is to remember how a word is written. So don’t be too intimidated! Like a lot of things, your progress in reading Chinese will increase exponentially the deeper you go.

]]> http://laowaichinese.net/how-hard-is-chinese-to-learn-really.htm#comment-11 Ingo Tue, 12 Dec 2006 23:22:03 +0000 http://laowaichinese.net/?p=10#comment-11 Thanks for hinting at "reduced forms" - I always wondered why chinese like to drop endings when learning german or english. Thanks for hinting at “reduced forms” - I always wondered why chinese like to drop endings when learning german or english.

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