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Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5480 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 1 of 57 28 October 2010 at 5:56am | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe this is old news already, but I enjoyed this article by David Moser, called "Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard". It's a fun read for any other students of Chinese out there.
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| seldnar Senior Member United States Joined 6919 days ago 189 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek | Message 3 of 57 28 October 2010 at 11:10am | IP Logged | ||
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I love that article. And having studied Chinese at a graduate school level I can testify
to everything he says. I have a good laugh every time I read it. The article was one of many honoring linguist John D. Francis and was published in a samizdat journal edited by Victor Mair, a noted sinologist. The article should not discourage anyone from studying Chinese. To say studying Chinese is worthwhile would be understatement. But it is a humorous look at all the trials we students go through. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jasoninchina Senior Member China Joined 5018 days ago 221 posts - 306 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Italian | Message 4 of 57 28 October 2010 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I found myself nodding in agreement quite often while reading this article. Some days I feel like learning Mandarin is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Fortunately, the sense of accomplishment is quite fulfilling.
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| boon Diglot Groupie Ireland Joined 5946 days ago 91 posts - 177 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Mandarin, Latin | Message 5 of 57 01 November 2010 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't speak Chinese but this part of the article caught my eye:
To avoid losing face here, you could just quote some Beowulf in the original Old English. If your friend gives you a blank look you can say "Oh, I thought you knew English." 18 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5480 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 6 of 57 01 November 2010 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ha, great idea, boon! And one that would work very well... I took a few glances at Beowulf once and gave up pretty fast.
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| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6259 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 7 of 57 03 November 2010 at 8:33am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd say go with Chaucer rather than Beowulf. Easier to remember (so you'll be able to actually say it when you need to) and still incomprehensible when spoken aloud. :)
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| TheBB Pentaglot Newbie Switzerland sam.math.ethz.ch/~efRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5029 days ago 9 posts - 23 votes Speaks: Danish, Norwegian*, English, German, Swedish Studies: Russian, Swiss-German | Message 8 of 57 03 November 2010 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Here's another reason. Is that true? :P
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