|
 |
Mandarin Chinese really so hard? | ||
Tags: Difficulty | Mandarin | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Halcyon Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6242 days ago 35 posts - 37 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese | Message 17 of 36 24 October 2007 at 7:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
For me, the tones and pronunciation were very easy to pick up. Speaking is easy for me, especially considering my level. Stringing sentences together, or reading passages out loud, etc., are things that make people like me sound like they know what the hell they're saying :) because of the tones.
Being in an international university in Beijing, I'd have to say that there are a small amount of foreigners learning the language that sound pretty terrible even after years of staying here (even if they had first started learning in their own countries), despite being able to read and write well. Most foreigners here are okay with speaking though, where you can obviously tell they're foreign and not fully fluent but can express themselves without having to really repeat certain words. The small percentage, I'd guess maybe 10% sound pretty bad until much later (read: years) if they continue living in China, and an even smaller percentage just sound ridiculously flawless. I think that it really really really (read: really) helps if you listen to the language a lot before you even start to learn. Radio recordings and stuff like that never helped me, I could never pay much attention to the stories and dictations they do on the radios so often here; I just turn it into background noise (but maybe that's the point?) but cartoons are a lot of fun as background noise. People say just being around Chinese people all the time and avoiding other foreigners is the way to go - I have to say I DISAGREE. I don't have very many Chinese friends, but my pronunciation is probably my strongest suit in Mandarin. Why? I think it's because in class and around my school I can hear other foreigners speaking Chinese - I can hear their mistakes, and I try to never repeat them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6555 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 18 of 36 24 October 2007 at 8:14am | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's an interesting point. Of course, when they say that, most people mean to avoid foreigners who don't speak Chinese. But there is value in hearing foreign speakers of your target language so you can note the mistakes they make and make mental notes to avoid the same. I do this when I hear foreigners speaking Japanese. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6059 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 19 of 36 24 October 2007 at 3:37pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
I felt Mandarin's difficulties were understated on another board.
But I think it is self-defeating to think too much in terms of how hard a language is - it is like planning to fail, or else limiting yourself to the "easy" ones. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6337 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 20 of 36 25 October 2007 at 5:31am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Stop impersonating a native Spanish speaker. Good Luck 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ChrisWebb Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6050 days ago 181 posts - 190 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean | Message 21 of 36 25 October 2007 at 6:17am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I dont think it would be possible for me to agree with a statement more. There is little to be gained by any prolonged discussion of how hard a language is. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6681 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 22 of 36 25 October 2007 at 7:27am | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's a valid point, but it can work the other way around too. I find that thinking of Mandarin as _the_ Everest in language learning helps boost motivation and can provide a certain amount of consolation when the going gets rough and you feel like you have too little progress, or none at all, to show for your latest installment of strenuous efforts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6437 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto | Message 23 of 36 25 October 2007 at 11:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I agree with this. Thinking that all my languages as difficult (whether they really "are" according to the rankings) makes me much more likely to stick with them, because I don't expect progress instantaneously and thus, won't be disappointed when the gains are gradual (as they probably always will be, and that's okay!). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| furyou_gaijin Senior Member Japan Joined 6173 days ago 540 posts - 631 votes Speaks: Latin* | Message 24 of 36 29 October 2007 at 9:56am | IP Logged | ||||||||
...and miss lots of other mistakes that they make, too, and reinforce your belief that that is the correct way of speaking the target language. People tend to imitate whatever they hear - why consciously expose yourself to substandard input? 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
