Learning Chinese?

[Brunellus]

So I picked up an English translation of Lo Guanzhong's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" the other day, and have been hooked. While I know that the chinese language is not ready for the desktop, the thought has entered my mind that I might want to try learning Chinese. Since this is a pretty multi-lingual community, I wanted to ask what tips, if any, you can offer to someone might be about to study the Chinese language?

[ComplexNumber]

learn to think visually . seriously.
although i can't speak mandarin or cantonese, i have heard from many that they are difficult to learn....especially for someone whose native language is alphabetic such as english.

[lucia_engel]

learn to think visually . seriously.
although i can't speak mandarin or cantonese, i have heard from many that they are difficult to learn....especially for someone whose native language is alphabetic such as english.

That's very true. I'm a native Cantonese speaker and I can imagine how hard it'd be to learn the language if I wasn't born a Chinese. The best advice would be to learn Mandarin (first) since it's easier to pronounce. Learning simplified Chinese would also be a LOT easier than traditional, but a simplified Chinese character doesn't have the same logical form as a traditional character.

And do take classes, it's helpful to learn the history of the language at the same time.

Good Luck.

[robotzu]

My mother language is Chinese. I'm sure if you have learned some Chinese, you will find it very interesting. It has a very long history...

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Language

[robotzu]

If you want to learn Chinese. I'm glad to answer your questions about Chinese. But..my English is not very good. (Now I'm in Grade 2 in a senior high school in China and I'm living in a small town near Shanghai.)

[ComplexNumber]

i think its a good idea to learn a chinese langauage. i'm absolutely certain that in the next 10-20 years, either india or china will be the number 1 superpower and where all the jobs are.

[drucer]

where all the jobs are.

I too am afraid something like that will happen. Read this book.

http://tinyurl.com/yxucf6

[matthew]

As someone who has learned 3 languages beyond my native tongue let me give a small amount of language learning advice:

1. Find a native speaker to teach you the accent, otherwise you will always sound like a foreigner.

2. Concentrate on communication first. Learn simple things like greetings, civilities, phrase book style stuff. Learn to say them well and understand them when said. Build from that foundation...everything can be learned in a language far more easily if it is done with help from relationships with native speakers...these things give a foundation for those relationships where later you can ask "how do I write X?" or "how do you pronounce this word?" or "how can I express this thought?"

3. Books are valuable, but they should be your secondary sources, not your primary sources...start with people and your listening, speaking, reading, and writing conprehension will grow much more quickly and will be more easily understood by others.

4. The same thing as #3 applies to grammar. Learn how things are said/written naturally first, then go back and learn the rules to help you make sense of what you have learned. This is a little more difficult for westerners who are accustomed to seeing something in a book, learning a rule about it, and then practicing the rule ad nauseum, but you will find in the long run you actually save time via this method.

I haven't learned Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, any variety) or any tonal language whose writing system is character based. I have learned Arabic, though, so I have some experience learning a new system of writing, pronunciation and grammar that is very different from any of the European style languages. Learning a language that is this different takes commitment and desire, but I'm convinced it can be done by anyone willing to put in some time and effort.

Oh! The most important rule of all (zeroth rule?)...

0. Learn to laugh at yourself as you make mistakes. It will happen. Swallow your pride. It's easier on the ego if you have a sense of humor about it and can laugh with everyone around you when you try to tell a kind hostess that she was well cooked when you meant to say she cooked a fine meal. I've learned at least a dozen really bad words in Arabic by accidently saying them while trying to say something appropriate and innocent that happened to be very similar...being able to laugh and ask people to help you say/write things correctly will save you a lot of hassle in the long term at the small cost of momentary humility.

[fuscia]

good luck. i never even made it to "hello world".

[matthew]

good luck. i never even made it to "hello world".

from Babelfish:

你好世界