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Chinese - Mandarin or Cantonese? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 9 of 23 11 September 2011 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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is there much point in learning Chinese if you do not want to live in china soon?
The environmental conditions that expats complain of really turn me off. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 10 of 23 11 September 2011 at 1:26am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, mainland has terrible pollution, so I am not sure I will continue my studies.
However, if it is useful for future business or if conditions improve down the road I might reconsider giving it up. I always wanted to learn an asian language and I thought mandarin was the logical choice, but with the scare stories from expats I am not sure if it will ever change. I consider learning Cantonese for hk, but I read that the situation there is nearly as bad, I guess, i will look into learning another Asian language and return to mandarin in the future. What is my best option, Korean? Edited by aquablue on 11 September 2011 at 1:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5415 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 11 of 23 11 September 2011 at 1:50am | IP Logged | ||
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There are "scare stories" from expats all around the world. I've read expats complaining bitterly about Japan and South Korea as well, so maybe you should steer clear of those as well. And since you're an American, you'll probably want to steer clear of regions known for anti-Americanism, such as Europe, Latin America, and the Muslim world. And surely living conditions are even worse in India, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa than China.
So I guess you should just stay right where you are, eh? Translation: China is a massive country, and if it's good enough for 1.3 billion people to have a decent life expectancy (above most regions outside of the West, East Asia, and pockets of Latin America), then it's hardly a reason worth considering NOT learning the language. Not to mention Taiwan—a country with a population larger than Australia. As for Cantonese, Hong Kong has one of the very highest life expectancies in the world—higher than that of Norway, Switzerland, or France. And Cantonese-speaking Macau (pop: 545,000) has an even higher life expectancy—ranking second worldwide, just behind Monaco (pop: 36,000). 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 12 of 23 11 September 2011 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
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A fallacy to relate air pollution to le since the pollution has only become severe in the last 15 or 20 years,
and effects are usually seen years after people are exposed for long periods. Also life expectancy has nothing to do with quality of life. Anyway air pollution is a huge problem in china and it turns me off living there. Check out the hk expat board to see how awful the situation is. Edited by aquablue on 11 September 2011 at 2:08am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5415 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 13 of 23 11 September 2011 at 2:17am | IP Logged | ||
It might have something to do with the fact that China releases 1/3 the CO2 emissions the U.S. does—per capita—but China ranks no. 20 on the Happy Planet Index, while the U.S. ranks no. 114...
The point is, all countries have their pros and cons. You're more likely to be accepted as "one of the people" in large and multi-ethnic China than in small and ethnically homogenous South Korea. Edited by nway on 11 September 2011 at 2:18am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 14 of 23 11 September 2011 at 2:57am | IP Logged | ||
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Btw, I live in USA but I'm a euro.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 15 of 23 11 September 2011 at 3:03am | IP Logged | ||
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The major con in china is also a health issue, huge difference.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6294 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin | Message 16 of 23 11 September 2011 at 4:37am | IP Logged | ||
Do you really trust air you can't see? ;-) 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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