Anyone else learning Mandarin Chinese?

[Bubbled]

I've been learning Mandarin Chinese in school for almost 3 years. I'm one of 7 people in my school who are going to be the first non native people to take the Chinese GCSE (exams you take when you are 16 in the UK) within our school. Surprisingly some of us are predicted to get Bs, As and A*s. Although the GCSE is still very much geared toward native speakers.

Although I found the first year really hard and overwhelming as there is so much to take in which is so different. Now, its not too bad. Its just a case of learning and remembering the characters and getting used to the word order.

I would really recommend learning it if you can, especially if you can have a native teacher. I've enjoyed it so much and means I've been able to speak with some of my Chinese friends and understand much more about Chinese culture. =] Although I still need to work on the tones.

Anyone else learning Mandarin Chinese?
What do you think is the hardest part?
Any resources you would recommend?

[Scruffymonkey125]

I have razz ive only had 2 years of highschool though. I think the hardest part is the lack of veb tense and how you have to use measure words to specify the item in question.

[PAnZuRiEL]

Measure words aren't so hard. We have them in English as well. It's just that English nouns are divided between count(able) and uncountable (or non-count or mass) nouns, whereas all nouns in Chinese are of the latter variety.

It's no different from "a cup of sugar" etc.

I've only been learning Mandarin for a year, and I'm finding the written language far easier than the spoken. Mandarin phonology is a pain in the a** for native English speakers.

[Xelvin]

...
As first, i tought your thread title was saying ''Anyone Else Eating Mandarin Cheese?''. But i was wrong.

[Sakura Latte]

I plan on learning Mandarin Chinese (because it's the only Chinese dialect taught at my community college) next year, either while I'm taking Japanese 3 or after I finish Japanese 4 (it ends there--it doesn't go further than that. If I want to continue on to Japanese 5, I'll have to take it at a 4-year university).

Because I'm Vietnamese and our language also uses different tones, the spoken language wouldn't be too hard for me. Also, I read that 70% of Vietnamese words were derived from Chinese, so it would be fun knowing what those derived words are. xD

[Bluerobin555]

PAnZuRiEL

I've only been learning Mandarin for a year, and I'm finding the written language far easier than the spoken. Mandarin phonology is a pain in the a** for native English speakers.

yep it's hilarious when americans speak chinese! sorry not racist or anything. i'm chinese but i still go to chinese school to learn more... it's boring.

[JelloMcMello]

I'm actually suppose to take mandarin for my college credits.. but I think i'll be switching ot Korean. I did however take 3 years of it in high school and let me tell you this.. I FORGOT 80% of it and i'm chinese myself... I find it really hard to learn the language if you aren't dedicated to learn it/ use it in everyday language. I'm basically brainwashed out of my own native language T.T. I can barely speak chinese to my mom lol. its really sad.

Reading chinese without pinyin is also a pain in a butt because most of the words are pretty much, you know it or u don't. meaning u have ot MEMORIZE the word or else theres no other way to read it. at least for english theres alphabets to help read the word.. but chinese.. u can't read the stroke order for help.

[0okie Cookie]

I'm not taking up Mandarin Classes but I will be once I go to College. :]

[PAnZuRiEL]

Bluerobin555

PAnZuRiEL

I've only been learning Mandarin for a year, and I'm finding the written language far easier than the spoken. Mandarin phonology is a pain in the a** for native English speakers.

yep it's hilarious when americans speak chinese! sorry not racist or anything. i'm chinese but i still go to chinese school to learn more... it's boring.

I have heard, though, that Mandarin is even harder for native Cantonese speakers than it is for native English speakers.

[An Unknown Kunoichi]

PAnZuRiEL

Bluerobin555

PAnZuRiEL

I've only been learning Mandarin for a year, and I'm finding the written language far easier than the spoken. Mandarin phonology is a pain in the a** for native English speakers.

yep it's hilarious when americans speak chinese! sorry not racist or anything. i'm chinese but i still go to chinese school to learn more... it's boring.

I have heard, though, that Mandarin is even harder for native Cantonese speakers than it is for native English speakers.

Mm.. I think that's more based on opinion. Though it is kinda true.

[Jade Gray]

I'm learning chinese, but im only on the second level.

2nd tone is STILL a pain in the a**.

[An Unknown Kunoichi]

Jade Gray

I'm learning chinese, but im only on the second level.

2nd tone is STILL a pain in the a**.

What is second tone, may I ask?

[nemora_ren]

Hmm, my native language I guess is actually English, although I probably first spoke Cantonese when I was like 3 years old before I spoke English, but then my parents switched to using English because they wanted me to do well in school. So I stopped speaking Cantonese and now I understand more than I can speak, although I still can speak a little.

A few years ago, I started learning Mandarin. I actually found that learning Cantonese through Chinese school as I grew up (stuck with it for 7 years, so only reached something like middle school proficiency) made learning Mandarin easier. For me, it's also interesting to see the differences between the languages as well as the similarities. But I also think my foundation through learning Cantonese while I was young made it easier to remember and study chinese characters. For example, some things I learned in chinese school are not taught in the college courses I took, such as how to determine the radicals for characters, how the words are formed, etc.

I personally find reading a lot easier than speaking, but part of it is probably because I don't bother to practice speaking much. Reading just takes memorization and that comes relatively easy for me. In general, I'm probably rather lazy with my Mandarin studies, and I don't think I gain as much as I could if I were to really study. It's all relative though; it you're really determined to study a language, it'll get easier as you understand the language more and more.

[Screams of Passion]

This is my first year learning it. The teacher sucks because he only lived in China for a year and doesnt even know the language fluently. The sounding of the words is too much and the Hanzi is like no usage for me! I rather take spanish at this point! evil

[Bubbled]

PAnZuRiEL

Measure words aren't so hard. We have them in English as well. It's just that English nouns are divided between count(able) and uncountable (or non-count or mass) nouns, whereas all nouns in Chinese are of the latter variety.

It's no different from "a cup of sugar" etc.

I've only been learning Mandarin for a year, and I'm finding the written language far easier than the spoken. Mandarin phonology is a pain in the a** for native English speakers.

The tones I find really hard. I can do them if our teacher says the word and we repeat. But otherwise I'm stuck. Luckily for our GCSE oral exam there aren't too many marks to lose on tones and its more about understanding and attempting a reply!

@ Screams of Passion: That sucks. Our teacher lived in China all her life and only came over recently. Before coming over to England she used to teach English in Chinese schools for 7 years. Shes really good but her teaching style is very different to other teachers.