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Is Mandarin Really More Difficult? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6769 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 41 of 47 24 March 2010 at 3:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I know quite a bit more than the joyo kanji and I can't go a few pages in a novel without having to look up a
kanji. I think most Japanese people, just like others, learn vocabulary (including kanji) through exposure and immersion, rather than just what they are forced to learn in class. If you grow up reading Japanese books and manga, you will probably know 3,000+ characters. If you're interested in literature and haiku, you'll know even more. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7182 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 42 of 47 24 March 2010 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Just came back from a meal there was a Korean girl (sorry woman 30 years old) there who
spoke excellent Chinese. I posed some of the questions about Korean that have been asked on this forum. About Hanzi, she said there would be no need to learn it at all for studying Korean. She said now all the general population know is the basics. She's been in China for 12 years learning Chinese. Her opinion was Chinese was very difficult. I asked why she said again because of the writing. She said spend a year in Korea and you'll be able to write you'll not be forgetting how to spell simple words. However, Chinese (for her) was difficult because of the hanzi. So many that it's easy to forget how to write certain characters. So like I said Chinese (if you're going to learn to write) is difficult for everybody not just us gringos like myself. Interestingly enough I asked her about the transparency between Korean and Mandarin. She saw little, which surprised me. Although with Taiwanese/Minnanhua she said she often hears words that she recognizes. Interesting, because Taiwanese is much closer to ancient Chinese when I suppose China was in control of Korea. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6703 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 43 of 47 24 March 2010 at 6:20pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but when I was playing with Taiwanese and then tried to look at Japanese, there were things between those languages that were similar as well. It seems that Mandarin has really changed much more than the southern dialects, especially in the fact that it has lost a lot of the finals that give the Korean and Japanese words their shape. I keep thinking it's a pity I didn't get more into Taiwanese while I was there because it seems like it would help with vocab in J&K more than just Mandarin. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7182 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 44 of 47 25 March 2010 at 10:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, people in Minnan and Taiwan often say Japanese vocabulary is easy for them. I know
some speakers of Taiwanese have sometimes been mistaken for Japanese in the North of China. Definitely the tonal quality of the language sounds more similar. I'm in a good position to learn Minnanhua / Taiwanese living here in Xiamen but honestly I doubt I'll put in much effort beyond learning a few pleasantries and swear words, because it would take time away from my other language projects and most people speak Mandarin here too. Still I guess if I was ever to learn ancient Chinese I would make a stab at Taiwanese. I hear the old poetry actually rhymes with Taiwanese pronunciation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6471 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 45 of 47 15 January 2012 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | ||
Source: minutes-a-day-are-marketing">StudyMoreChinese.com Edited by Sprachprofi on 15 January 2012 at 4:53pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| lindseylbb Bilingual Triglot Groupie ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4933 days ago 92 posts - 126 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, Cantonese*, English Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 46 of 47 16 January 2012 at 3:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I read this on the Economist: Chinese don't say please and thank you that often, this is because in their speaking language, they assume others could catch their tone and meaning. Some Canadian universities had done a research on the brain of tonal speakers, people who speak and listen to tonal language have to activate their right and left brains, while the non tonal speakers effortless used just one side of the brain.-------so the point is there is tones behind tones. WOW. Can you recognize or distinguish them? Those perhaps slightly changed mood behind tones? Edited by lindseylbb on 16 January 2012 at 3:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6551 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 47 of 47 17 January 2012 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | ||
If you're talking about mainlanders, I disagree. I believe it's their culture. It's the same reason why it's ok to push someone out of your way, get in the elevator when someone is trying to get out, make as much noise as you want in any situation, etc. Culture is one more thing that makes mainland Mandarin hard, IMO. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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