Learning Chinese

howthe

howthe

howthe

Associate
Joined
27 Nov 2008
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328
Hi,

I was bored at work today and got chatting to one of the girls who can speak about 5 different languages. I said I would like to learn Chinese and she said it was easy once you got a grasp of the basics (maybe for someone fluent in it!). She has bet me £50 that within 3 months I should have enough knowledge to be able to hold a basic conversation and should be able to read it quite well.

I know some basic Polish and German so I am not too sure how well I will pick up Chinese.

Anyone speak it? Anyone any decent links for online resources or suggestions on books/learning material?
 
It depends how easily you pick it up naturally, how enthusiastic you are (therefore how much time you'll put into it) and how much you practice. I started learning Thai in March which I'd say is probably a bit easier than mandarin, thought it does still have 5 tones. Practice a lot and in 3 months you could easily hold a basic conversation.

Edit - I picked up written thai very quickly (which is abnormal as most people learn that last) and that helps a lot with the speaking, because it has a logical writing-sound system. I don't know about Chinese though.
 
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I've just started learning Chinese, and the learning curve is steep. Speaking is probably more easy than reading/writing, especially if you only learn pinyin and not the characters. Although I suppose I'm at a slight advantage as my girlfriend is teaching me Chinese, and she is Chinese herself - I only really teach myself the characters as she is teaching me all the pronounciation and vocabulary!

Incidentally if you have a Nintendo DS there is a game that teaches you Chinese (My Chinese Coach) - it's a good little game for reinforcing things like writing characters and memorising phrases.
 
Chinese isn't that difficult to learn how to speak, if you can sort out pitches. Learning to read and write it on the other hand....
 
if she speaks it fluently it'll make learning it a lot easier. i've had a few friends who have spoken mandarin

MW
 
Raymond Lin said:
3 months to conversational level? I think it's possible if you live there but not a couple of hours lesson a day.
Click to expand...
I think with 1hr a day, you could learn any language (to hold a basic, childlike, "isn't the weather bad, what are you doing this weekend?" type conversation) within 3 months.

I'm learning Japanese with 3hrs a week, 30 weeks a year.
 
I reckon you could do it and win the bet. Just get yourself the two sets of CDs - Michel Thomas Method Mandarin Chinese with Dr Harold Goodman. Foundation (8 hours) and Advanced (5 hours) with Vocab Builder coming at end of July. I thoroughly recommend it. I can speak basic phrases now and this is the only method I've seen to use a highly memorable tone system. Dr Goodman invented it himself (he's filed the patent) and it ensures you remember the word and its tone. He has with him a native Chinese speaker, who provides excellent input and two students are learning the language with you from scratch.

Have a look at
http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/TitlesList/30125/Mandarin_Chinese.htm

The prices on the site are RRP - they are much cheaper on your usual Internet book/DVD/game shopping sites.

As for reading, I'm afraid not. There are about 3000 characters you'd need for newspapers. I have a book which teaches the first 800 and again is simply brilliant in the method it uses so you can remember the characters, words and tones. It's called "Learning Chinese Characters, volume 1" by Alison Matthews.
 
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Depends on what Chinese you are learning. Cantonese is very difficult for those who speak western languages as getting the accent/sounds right is very difficult. Other forms of Chinese are reasonbly easy to learn I believe, such as Mandarin.
 
also look at http://chinesepod.com/

They do a daily podcast from shanghai, teaching english speakers Mandarin. They cover all the levels from beginner to advanced. They released an audio torrent over a year ago which had about 500 lessons, each about 10 - 15 mins long. Very easy to get into.
 
meghatronic said:
I think with 1hr a day, you could learn any language (to hold a basic, childlike, "isn't the weather bad, what are you doing this weekend?" type conversation) within 3 months.

I'm learning Japanese with 3hrs a week, 30 weeks a year.
Click to expand...

i am still not sure about that, and i can speak 2 chinese dialect and english, 3 months it would be very rough, you might be able to say simple sentences but conversational is debatable.
 
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