This article offers 10 reasons why learning Chinese makes sense. It’s directed at home business owners, so it’s probably not the reasons why you or I would choose to study the language. Here they are:
1. Because the world is changing
2. Because everyone else is doing it
3. To stay competitive
4. Global supply chains
5. Manufacturing
6. Because the Chinese market is the largest consumer market in the world
7. Because your career may depend on it
8. Because 1.2 billion people speak Chinese
9. Beijing 2008 Olympics
10. Because it’s not as hard as you think
How about making our own list? Let’s hear your reasons. Why should anyone learn Chinese?
Ken Carroll
> 2. Because everyone else is doing it
Why follow the crowd? How about jump off the bridge because everyone else is?
> 8. Because 1.2 billion people speak Chinese
Why not learn Hindi? You are not going to speak to 1.2 billion people from China and especially most of them have no purchasing power or money.
> 9. Beijing 2008 Olympics
Ridiculous. Why didn’t anyone learn Greek in the last olympics? I’m certainly not going to spend 2000-3000 hours to learn a language to use it for a mere 17 or so days next year.
1. Because it’s a lot of fun.
2. Because it’s dead easy, despite what everyone tells you.
3. Because learning a new language gives you a new set of tools, a new way of thinking, and a chance to talk to people you never would have been able to otherwise.
4. Because seriously, it’s a lot of fun.
Milan….
Why don’t you skip go to the toilet? 6 billion people does.
Ken..
I have for many years admire old people, who still is going strong into their eighties.
What is the use of being retired. For me, in a not so distant future, not having your thought and mind engaged.
I decided for many years ago that I should pick up an other language, to keep my brain going. I had no idea that it was going to be Chinese mandarin.
All other points from 1 to 10 is for me only a bonus.
Brendan,
Can you describe the fun? This might be an interesting direction - shared practices on how to have fun learning Chinese!
Ken Carroll
Ken, it’s the most frequently asked question, though hardly ever comes up if you learn Spanish, German, etc. not to say anything about English…
A much more relevant question would be why learn (an)other language(s), and I would then have a similar answer to Brendan point 3 above.
Yv
I’m learning both Chinese and Korean at present, although my Korean skills are still at the elementary level. It’s very interesting and stimulating for me, I’m Japanese, to learn them simultaneously because the three languages, including Japanese, have a lot of things in common with each other.
The Japanese language had been greatly influenced by Chinese and Korean for a long time, and Japanese also to some extent influenced the two neighboring languages in modern ages. Learning the two East Asian languages makes me feel the history of cultural exchanges between the three countries.
想学习汉语的朋友加我MSN：yy17900706@hotmail.com
want to study chinese people,catch me
I normally tell people that I actually wanted to take up self-flagellation, but the store was all out of whips.
(but actually I pretty much agree with Brendan)
Changye ,you are great.I’m learning english at present.很想认识你呵呵^_^
我现在很郁闷，我能看懂你们的话，但是自己叙述不来。。。。很想一个正在学汉语的人交朋友。。这样互相学习不是很好吗？大家都留下MSN啊。。。。。
I suppose part of the fun was from the intellectual challenge of it at first — back when I was in the “Dude, they write with little squiggly pictures!” phase. That - and the weirdness of the language being tonal - helped get me through the initial period of first- and second-year Chinese, which in retrospect was pretty lucky, since it’s pretty hard to have fun with a beginner vocabulary.
After that, I started
downloading(er, purchasing legally) syrupy Mandopop songs on the recommendations of Chinese friends, listening to them, and trying to puzzle out the lyrics with the help of a dictionary. This was kind of fun, because it meant that I got to see the language at work outside of a textbook, and I got to pick up all kinds of useful vocabulary like “my heart is rent totally asunder” and “hysteria” and - from the rage-punk of He Yong - “we eat our consciences and sh*t out our thoughts.” I suppose this worked somewhat on the Chinesepod model, since I loaded this stuff onto my MP3 player and listened to it all the time. It was particularly useful as a way of keeping myself motivated, since at the time my Chinese wasn’t up to reading anything much more complicated than song lyrics. It was nice to have some real-life input that was more-or-less understandable. (And I’ll confess to having had a bit of a thing for Faye Wong, as well. Yow.)After that, I moved to Harbin, and the rest is history, I guess. From there on out, it was all about real-life interactions.
(I also wrote a fairly tongue-in-cheek piece about learning by imitation in Chinese, entitled 跟着学. It’s up on my Chinese blog. I’d translate it, but then it probably wouldn’t be all that funny in English.)
Goulniky has a point here.
But there is indeed a significant fun factor involved. It has several facets:
1. The decryption game. You need to solve a serious riddle here. Catch the banter (without purchased transcripts) and decode all hyroglyphs. And much unlike other riddles, e.g. the lonely numbers of 数独 (thanks for that word Bazza!!), it brings along real world value.
2. Depth. All those connotations - on character level, on word level, on phrase level. The stories behind the Chengyu (keep up the good work, Anne!). It is all connected and resonates harmoniously.
3. Directness. The language is so concrete it sometimes borders at the comic realm. Just last week I discovered “distorting mirror” - 哈哈镜 hā hā jìng. Pure Duckburg slang.
I never liked learning foreign languages.
But miraculously I love learning Chinese.
Because it’s fun.
Why?
Others are solving crossword puzzles. I decode the Chinese characters, words, sentences, and get a lot of insight into a culture that is so different to the European culture.
It is some type of looking behind the horizon…
hanyu_xuesheng
Along with studying Chinese, one of my great passions over the past few years has been long distance running. I haven’t really thought about it until now but there are some similarities between these two interests in terms of my reasons for doing them. I’m in the midst of training for a marathon, so here are a few more points about studying Chinese that come out of my current running mentality (not in any order of importance):
1) Discipline and fitness — it’s good to stick to things, and studying Chinese keeps your brain sharp.
2) the challenge — I like the difficulty factor of Chinese. I’m not sure I can totally agree with Brendon on this one. True, for a beginner it might not be as hard as you think. But is learning Chinese ‘dead easy’? I suppose it depends on your perspective, but I think Chinese is hard on many levels (at least it is for me). Running a marathon is not as hard as you’d think, but don’t kid yourself.
3) Because we’re all human. I don’t know if this really makes sense, but bear with me. There’s nothing quite like the sound of thousands of shoes on the pavement at 6 AM on race day. It’s human power in a basic, primitive form. It’s about people doing things together and not just chasing dollars. If you learn Chinese you can talk to people, and gain insights into different ways of thinking. You can better understand what it is to be human (mmm…. that’s seriously deep).
4) travel — it gives you a good reason to go on vacations.
5) self-esteem and ego — Running and learning Chinese are both unquestionably ‘good’ things to do, and people will admire your dedication (I suppose some will just think you’re weird). On the whole, though, these pursuits build confidence….. i think so anyways… right??
Because you might be able to put off the day that you will need to wear adult diapers (murderous intent aside).
Oh - and because you are not Martian.
From an extraterrestrial point of view, we are all speaking the same language (Homosapiensese, say), just different dialects. It seems churlish not to make the effort to speak to the neighbours.
ashow,
你在这里跟大家聊一聊吧。过年快到了，放心多一点！
Don’t be afraid to write, in English or Chinese!
1. Because I like to argue. Chinese people argue a lot.
2. I like ordering the ’specials’ in a Chinese restaurant.
3. There are a lot of Chinese movies to watch.
4. So that a billion people can’t talk behind my back.
5. A bunch of those billion people are kinda hot.
我也困惑自己的英语.在中国内地.大家开始学习 德语 日语.我却连英语还拿不下.
谁可以帮帮我.我可以拿中文教学交换.
联系邮箱hongyang1118@gmail.com.
Why I started
1. Because I needed to complete non-computing units for university
2. Taiwan seemed fun when I visited a friend
Why I’m doing it now
1. My girlfriend is Chinese.
2. Its the easiest way to get a long term Visa
3. Kunming without any Chinese would suck
4. It gives me something to think about other than computers
5. One more step towards world domination.. .I mean peace… World Peace… yay
Brendan,
I’m amazed at your writing. In earlier days how did you edit, correct your writing? Did you have a tutor, proofreader? Was it just reading over time and then writing, with the writing eventually getting better? Or did you do explicit editing, re-writes to improve? Any ideas much appreciated.
wt.euler,
我觉得你的评论就是spam.
Brendan’s story is realllly funny.
I’m glad he’s all prepped from the movie-method of learning Chinese for situations when his girlfriend says she’s expecting and when his dad dies! Go read it yourself!
http://www.bokane.org/chinese/.....enzhe-xue/
LOL,Cpod should do a podcast video version.
spam.??
why??
学习中文. 我觉得你要不断的去要拼音. 这个和写一样重要
PS.为什么说我的是垃圾邮件?
This is a really good question, and recently I’ve been struggling with it on a personal basis. 11 months ago after stumbling across CPOD and becoming enamored with it, I made a commitment to: Study Chinese for 1/2 hour per day for the next year. As this year comes to a close, I’m searching (hopelessly so far) for compelling reasons and objectives for continuing. The author doesn’t help:
1. Because the world is changing.
Yes, it always is changing. So? In the late 1980’s, Japan was the country of the future and Japanese was becoming the language of business. Somehow most of us are still alive and well despite not having learned Japanese.
2. Because everyone else is doing it.
If so, then why in a recent CPOD poll was the #1 barrier to making better progress listed as: inability to find a conversation partner?
3. To stay competitive.
There are plenty of English speakers in China and elsewhere. Companies are finding it much more efficient to hire locally, when possible, rather than to send ex-pats overseas.
4. Global supply chains.
See #3.
5. Manufacturing.
Any Chinese company looking to sell overseas is building English speaking capability internally. Also, see #3.
6. Because the Chinese market is the largest consumer market in the world.
Yes, in terms of numbers today (probably to be superceded by India in the coming decades), but not in terms of purchasing power. Plus, see #3.
7. Because your career may depend on it.
There are many other educational needs that it depends on more: understanding new technologies, new business processes, new strategies, new industries, etc.
8. Because 1.2 billion people speak Chinese.
How many people does one have a need or desire to communicate with? English speakers already have the necessary language skills to communicate with just about everyone in western Europe, the South Pacific, the US, the UK and many other countries – but, how many of these people do we communicate with on a regular basis?
9. Beijing 2008 Olympics.
The author was stretching to hard to extend the list to 10. His business venture and income just so happen to depend on: teaching the Chinese language.
10. Because it’s not as hard as you think.
Wrong. The language is diabolically difficult and time consuming to learn for those of us who are not language- savants. What is the opportunity cost of investing in learning this language versus the other potential uses of one’s time?
ashow,
你在这里跟大家聊一聊吧。过年快到了，放心多一点！
no.no 过年是动词(V) 是新年表示名词. 新年快到了. 表示中国春节.
Because it’s fun. Learning what many Westerners may view as “diabolically difficult” is pure pleasure. The truth is out there. 学中文比较容易。
When searching for foreign language study tips to help with my Chinese studies, I briefly looked at some English as a Second Language web sites. Talk about a diabolical language!
Hi, because it’s fun and easier than you may think. Because i’m spanish, i speak english and being able to deal in chinese i could make serious improvements in my prof. life.
Here’s some reasons NOT to learn Chinese:
1. Because its a waste of time. If you are already a fluent English speaker, you already have an advantage since English is accepted internationally as the essential language to know.
2. Because its of no practical use, unless you happen to be one of the few foreigners living and conducting business in China.
3. Because most Chinese movies come with English sub-titles or dubbing.
4. Because foreign (Western) minds are not geared for tonal languages. We have evolved into a distinct evolutionary mono-tonal branch.
5. Because Chinese people will just laugh at you or take great offense if you screw up the meaning of a word. Not a very good way to promote cultural harmony and world peace.
6. Because Jesus didn’t create the Leaning Tower of Babel for no reason.
Next time: less Dick, more Clever.
Congratulations though: You’re the first example I’ve come across of someone who is ignorant of both biblical myths and evolution.
Glad you liked it, Lantian. That was a fairly early piece — my later stuff is funnier and better written, I think — 别了费城 is the one I’m most satisfied with. I’ve used all of the tactics you mentioned — at that time, I was writing after doing lots of reading and then submitting it to a merciless tutor once a week. These days I’m writing more or less on my own, though I’ll still bounce things off of Chinese friends to make sure that I don’t sound too weird.
Incidentally, I think there is still a video out there of me doing a version this at a Beida speech competition a few years ago, but hopefully it hasn’t made it way online. It’s pretty cringeworthy.
Prez Life: I can follow most of your arguments. I know it sounds like heresy in this community, but like you I also think economic motivs are not robust enough to seriously carry you all the way to a reasonable foundation of Chinese. Cost/benefit ratio questionable. And as a cronic pessimist I am also highly sceptic regarding the current China hype. Parts of what we are seeing right now might turn out to be a flash in the pan, backed by an underrated Yuan and a stampeding herd of blind investors.
But look back at what you got in those 11 months. Wasn’t it fun (see above)?
And didn’t the language and the accompanying cultural insights that you get here open up a complete new world? Utterly different from whatever you would have learned if you just followed economic reasoning and purely invested your time in studying those “new” technologies or “new” business processes. Which aren’t new anymore next year, by the way.
I am deeply convinced that delving into a foreign language has a thorougher impact than neatly arranging prepackaged business & technology information in the fixed shelfes of the mental frameworks we slowly built up between the age of 1 and 30. It rearranges the framework itsself.
By the way: The days that China was a locked up country far in the distance, are over. It is not an adventure trip to the other side of the world anymore. You have it right “at your fingertips” - there are 100s of millons of knowledgable men and women out there who are not in command of the English language. Lots of those have something to say. Just open the browser.
敦禮, USA and China are already economically tight and have both strong “imperialist” attitudes with the rest of the world.
I hope you don’t restrict your furur-peaceful-global-village to this two contries and this two languages because my predictions would be really bad in this case.
…
But Ken’s decision to open a spanish podcast may contribute to ease people’s minds.
1. Tones (also works for Vietnamese and heaps of others, but Chinese is one of them)
2. A logographic language that’s somewhat more useful than Egyptian or Sumerian (also Japanese).
3. A new outlook on viewing things from a language perspective(most languages, but see also Navaho, !Xõô, Inuktitut, Warlpiri).
4. It’s Chinese. Why have an excuse?
Speaking Chinese is a lot of fun. But if your Chinese business counterpart can speak your native tongue, it would be wiser for you to negotiate in your own language rather than Chinese. Why not take “home advantage” even in foreign countries. A bit off topic.
>8. Because 1.2 billion people speak Chinese
I doubt that number as only 60% of Chinese speak mandarin.
Why learn Chinese?
11. Why not?
12. Because I can.
Hi wt.euler,
因为我们在这里的题目是“为什么我要学中文：十个理由”，不过你只过来丢了你的名字跟邮件地址，没有说什么，没有加你的想法，所以就像垃圾。这里不是一位广告站。对不对？
不过我也觉得也知道你真想学和合作。谢谢你帮助我改正我的句。“新年快到了.”！欢迎你跟大家一边说英语一边学中文！
Why do you think people should study Chinese? Are they the same reasons as why to study English?
—
The number one reason to study Chinese? Because Chinesepod comes to you daily to make each day a little more fun and interesting!
Always a verb? - 多次我听说‘过年你不回家吗？’我听错了吗？百分之百就是动词吗？
- I have a Chinese fiance.
- There are Chinese speakers _everywhere_ not just in China.
- I like to eat Chinese food. I like to learn about Chinese culture.
- It is a way of showing respect for Chinese culture.
- I have a thirst for knowledge.
- Because few westerners can.
- Because many people say I can’t.
- It’s a great feeling reading a hanzi.
- It’s a great feeling understanding a sentence, or even a few words, that you couldn’t understand before.
- It is fun.
- There seems to be a great demend for native English speakers who can also speak Chinese.
- It is easier than ever to learn Chinese, due to simplified hanzi, pinyin, internet learning and podcasts.
- It is not that hard.
This article is just following the hype.
First, with globalization (I hate that word- as if international trade hasn’t been going on for hundreds of years) points 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are actually reasons not to learn the language in a . The ridiculously long time needed to learn the language well enough to do business is much better spent developing a network including Chinese/English speakers, both within and outside the company.
A friend of a friend doing business in Hong Kong found that after 10 years of writing Chinese, it’s easier and cheaper to hire a bilingual to interpret Chinese docs better than she can.
The idea that ‘everybody’ is learning Chinese is laughable. Speaking for the US, past fads with Japanese and Spanish have not exactly led to an assimulated multi-lingual environment.
That one needs to learn Chinese to enjoy the Olympics and that it’s not hard to learn are just goofy.
Hmmm. The Leaning Tower of Babel. Is that like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon 5?
I overlooked this:
>It’s directed at home business owners,
For a USA (or wherever), it’s pointless to learn Mandarin for business purposes.
1. you need to speak the language of the BUYERS, not the suppliers.
2. if you buy from China, those ALL speak English
From a business point for people not in China it makes no sense at all to learn Mandarin. And even if, the chance that you will ever use it in a business transaction is near zero.
>- I have a Chinese fiance.
And she doesn’t speak English? If so, I am sure SHE wants to learn English and has no interest in you speaking Chinese.
>- It is fun.
Now THAT’S a valid and good point!
Fox,
having a Chinese girlfriend/fiance/wife is the *absolute* killer reason to learn the language even if she speaks your native tongue perfectly.
It is a matter of fairness and respect to learn her language. Just as she had to learn yours. She will definately appreciate it, even if it means tedious work for her.
Besides that: you are leveling a strategic discrepancy if you are able to follow the discussion between your wife and her friends and family.
Best regards from a learner happily married to a Chinese woman.
So you can impress your boss by being the only person in your workplace that can speak Chinese, and hopefully cadge a business trip to China.
敦禮, I wasn’t speaking about french in my first response to you. I was implicitly speaking about spanish not learned in the US.
I don’t want to be misunderstood on this important subject because I love americans values (I worked in california few years ago) and I also think it’s really important for the futur to learn chinese and chinese culture.
But I just don’t understand why most north americans look down on latinos and latin America. Why they look down on spanish language and spanish culture. It’s not dirty.
In my opinion, if there’s a bi-lingualism objective in the US it should be english-spanish instead of english-chinese.
For the sake of american society, in most part of the US people should be able to understand and speak to their neighbours.
PS: My lack of proficiency in spanish will of course benefit from the futur spanish podcast
sorry. Mr.Lantian ..
我想您道歉. 我没能发表有意义的评论是我的错误.
请您原谅.
过年 . 不同语境 不同词性. 过年你不回家吗？ 表示名词(n.) 这里是正确的.
我不是专业的.请您谅解. 您还是咨询下老师 关于这个词语的表达吧.好吗?
可以教受我些学习英语的信念吗? 朋友.
0. Because I want to communicate with Chinese people. (No most do not speak English)
11. Because I want to consume the wealth of Chinese literature. modern media. (No most of it is not translated)
Because I wanted to go study in a foreign country (non English speaking) and I was interested in Chinese culture.
[I really really really think that all people, especially US citizens, should spend at least 3 months, if not more, in a very foreign place in which they are a minority. One will never view ones life and culture in the same way.]
Besides, it has much more cachet than almost any other language, IMHO.
P.S. Bazza writes: “So you can impress your boss by being the only person in your workplace that can speak Chinese” LOL! I work for a computer company, and believe me, there are many (native) Chinese speakers here!
13. Speaking Mandarin simply makes life MUCH easier for those who travel frequently in China. I particular don’t like being looked after like a little child, where somebody holds your hand, arranges meals, brings you to the bus, gets you a place to sleep, and generally treats you like a brain damaged moron.
I’m sorry if this is off topic a little, but I was heartened to see the bloggers saying how easy Chinese is. I am starting to get a bad attitude toward the constant rant, even by experts, that Chinese is “so hard” and the fault placed on the characters. I have a new answer to comments like this: Orthography is not destiny, and mastering a writing system is not equivalent to learning a language. I was a Russian major in school and am now trying to master basic Korean as well, and I have to say that if I had known how easy Chinese was, even the written side, I would have never majored in Russian, and Korean is a beast to learn, so what if the alphabet is “easy”? Chinese grammar is very similar to English and rather straightforward as languages go, and the words don’t change very much either written or spoken. So all I have to memorize is characters. That’s way better than having to memorize 25 pages of spelling rules, pre endings, verb levels and verbal phrases, etc. right after I learn the alphabet before I can even get to my first grammar lesson. I never had this kind of trouble with Chinese, though I’ve had it with most of the other non-European languages I studied because everything is so complicated. So here’s my addition to the list of ten reasons why to learn Chinese: No grammar, no inflection, all pretty little pictures. What more can you possibly ask for? Thanks for putting up with my aggravation.
because it is there….
Jeffrey, I guess there aren’t many Chinese people in my area, either that or my boss is a bit racist.
1- Because it’s fun
2- Because people are so much more impressed than if you speak French (Spanish, Italian, German…)
3- So that I can one day understand all the comments in this blog
Because Chinese girls are the fittest on the planet.
… that’s why I learnt to speak Thai: an utterly useless language… never made me a penny, but it got me layed more times than Grandma’s dining room table.
TQ,
Maybe you can work on your English spelling next. I’m not sure if it’ll get you laid, but it might help you to earn your first penny. If you fail I could donate one.
Ken Carroll
I learn Chinese because living in a country (Taiwan) and not at least trying to learn the language is rather ignorant, in my eyes.
Have had an “interesting” experience, being the only foreigner in my company: People usually try to avoid speaking to me at all costs.
Can’t say it helps my language learning, but it sure gives me more paid
“spare time”.
To all you Chinese learners out there I want to say: You do not know much (next to nothing, I’d say) about a people and the country they live in until you have worked there, with the people - then, and only then, you REALLY get below the surface.
because of a girl (L)
1. It’s challenging but not difficult. I think a key in my own learning was to stop looking for similarities to English. Once I accepted this was something completely new and different, it was somehow easier. I think English is a much more difficult language to learn with the poor fit between spelling and pronunciation alone. I mean, how do you pronounce “-ough”? Thought/though/bough/tough/trough….jeez! Learning the pinyin system is a breeze compared to that.
2. The shock factor！ I love to watch Chinese people’s reactions when they hear 中文 coming out of my 大鼻子 mouth!
3. The benefit to my career. I’ve been an English as a Second Language teacher for many years, and the experience of having learned Chinese and lived in China & Taiwan for two years has made me a much more empathetic and effective teacher. When I’ve had Chinese students, the knowledge that we share a common language provided an emotional safety net for them — not that we spoke a lot of Chinese in ESL class, but they knew that if they ever had a problem in school, there was someone who could help them communicate.
4. I have to disagree with a poster above — Clever Dick, I believe — who said that Chinese people laugh at foreigners who try to learn Chinese. In my experience, nothing could be farther from the truth. Chinese people are incredibly welcoming and encouraging toward us 外国朋友 in our linguistic endeavors. Even if you know little more than 你好 and 谢谢, people are very kind and will frequently compliment you.
In Taiwan, I once made a terribly embarrassing language mistake. A non-Chinese speaking co-worker needed to see a doctor for a 便秘 problem. I went with her, and in filling out the registration sheet I mistakenly wrote “便蜜“ （蜜 meaning sweet/honey). The office staff definitely had a little smirk when I handed in the paper but no one laughed at me — although I’m sure they roared with laughter when they got home. It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized my mistake. 哎哟，不好意思！I wouldn’t walk down the street past the doctor’s office for weeks. haha
Anyway, learning Chinese has been, and still is, an extremely worthwhile experience for me. Finding ChinesePod a few weeks ago has been a great boost to my enthusiasm and diligence! 谢谢中Pod!
I agree with the points that Ken has made but this is coming from someone who is interested not only in business in China, but its culture as well. Unfortunately not everyone is. I’ve heard people say ‘why do we need to learn chinese when there are so many Chinese people who speak good english?’ This may be true but there’s a big point that these people who think this are missing: culture. What these people forget is that despite how advanced your second language may be, you can never get away from the cultural difference, you can translate/interpret almost perfectly (I say almost cos there’s no such thing as a perfect translation) but how can you transfer one’s cultural knowledge and way of thinking? I think without a long history of living and more importantly experiencing the culture of where your language is from then it is almost impossible. Therefore we DO need fluent chinese speakers who are native english speakers!
>that Chinese people laugh at foreigners who try to learn Chinese.
I never ever never had that situation. Never. It’s more like, I say “nihao” and the local is puzzled with amazement by my Mandarin knowledge.
> It’s more like, I say “nihao” and the local is puzzled with
> amazement by my Mandarin knowledge.
I’ll second Fox there. One of the (many) joys of traveling around China (and Taiwan and Japan) is that (by and large) Asian’s expectations of Westerners doing Asian things are so low that it doesn’t much to impress them. Not like the French, were unless you have a near-perfect accent they disdain you, I’ve found most Chinese respond pretty positively to my butchering their language. Even using chopsticks earns me points. It really takes a lot of the stress out of traveling!
[Although I have noticed a difference recently. When I was in Taiwan 17 years ago, my speaking Mandarin really impressed everyone, they were really happy to see me speak it and I could do no wrong (even though I did). Now, in both Taiwan and China, while they cut me a lot of slack, their surprise and excitement is gone. Any long-termers out there notice anything similar? Is there now enough Westerners speaking Mandarin that they are used to it? I mean, in the US, we don’t excited by Chinese speaking perfect English!]
Jeff
P.S. Bazza, no Chinese in your company? What industry do you work in?
I’ll Agree with fox as well. I’ve had arguments with taxi drivers and you say Hi and the place you want to go. You get a lot of “You speak Chinese very well” Telling them they can’t say that because all you said is 你好 leads to rather strange argument where your telling him he’s wrong in Chinese thus proving that he is in fact correct （to a degree).
Some other favourites of mine” are ohh you can use chopsticks! but can you pick up these oil coated peanuts?… WOW you can do that too. can you take a peanut from my chopsticks? (Note: the trick with this one is to twist the peanut out not to try and pull it out)
Another great one is when toasting with some if that person is older than you or your boss or something then you chink your glass’ together with your glass lower than theirs. If the person sees you doing this as a matter of respect you will get a nod of approval. If the actual social standings between you and the other person are in question you can end up in this funny “I’ll put my glass lower than yours” fight pretty much until your both down to the table which is where it ends in laughter and a careful toast making sure your both perfectly equal.
LOL, the ol’ chopstick question makes me laugh.
A good reply: I think I can handle chopsticks better then you fork & knife.
But my usual reply is “I’ll try”. If my host brings me fork & knife then I order the waitress to give fork & knife to everyone on the table.
From Steve Kaufmann’s book, a comment by an US visitor to Japan during a dinner with Japanese guest: “we were very poor then, but we always could afford fork & knife”
新年好! 各位中文大侠们!
Happy new year to every Chinese-master here!
“I think I can handle chopsticks better than your fork & knife.”
That’s a good one. How would you say that?
我筷子用得比你叉子和刀子用得好。(correct?)
過年快到了–It is right expression which means New Year is coming and is the same as 新年快到了. Here, 過年 is a noun.
On the other hand, the 過 of 過年 could be a verb in meaning of crossing through.
There are lots of preparation works such as shopping or cleaning prior to the Chinese New Year, family gathering and friends and relatives greeting afterward.
過年快到了 has sort of an implication of the whole process coming soon. People use the phrase all the time. Now, it is a common and correct expression as 新年快到了.
Anna
“I think I can handle chopsticks better than your fork & knife.”
我筷子用得比你叉子和刀子用得好.
To Mark
You may say so. My suggestion is the following to be more straightforward and the same usage as English.
我用筷子比你用叉子和刀子 更/還 好.
What do you think?
Anna
This is interesting blog subject and I thought I throw in my perspective.
I have very deep love hate relationship with this language and still have not fully decided whether it’s worth it. I’ve studied for over 5 years now, second major in college, a semester at Beida, a semester at Qinghua IUP. I have currently moved to Shanghai to work as the director for a large manufacturing and trading company that has its China rep office in Shanghai… though my work experience in the industry was as much a part of the position as the language. But here is where I get anxious.. very anxious.
As far as any person of non-Chinese background that I have personally met face to face, I speak the best Mandarin of any westerner I have ever run into, in business or in school with the exception of two people… one a 65 years old former u.s. embassy director and second a former professor of mine who is also a professional translator for not just big business, but also subtitles in many of those blockbuster movies we love coming out of China these days. I say this about my Chinese NOT to boast, I do NOT speak a natively fluent Chinese (studying Spanish and meeting people who have truly mastered Spanish has taught me what the words natively fluent really mean). I DO speak it well, amazing well for what the Chinese are used to hearing from Western mouths.. that is to say.. enough to say anything and understand anything in standard Mandarin, knowledge of well over 3000 characters and far far more words, more important than this.. enough to really be getting close to complete pronunciation control over the tones and accents, enough to read 90% of any newspaper article, enough to use chengyus regularly..
But if true mastery is the goal (by this I mean the mastery that we as Americans expect when people in our country are talking to us, and especially when doing business) I am worried about the feasibility of this or, perhaps, if not the feasibility, just the worthwhile-ness of learning to speak Chinese. It’s too late for me to turn around, I am already committed. The opportunity cost ventured is already very high… but what about those not 5 years down the road?
Why learn Chinese?… Is it worth it.. is it even truly possible for non-Chinese background foreigners to truly KNOW Chinese and TRULY SPEAK IT..: to speak it to the degree that if one is on the telephone, a Chinese person would not know the difference other than maybe a faint accent. Some might say that’s simply too high a goal to set and not really necessary, if even possible, especially when taking it up after early childhood. But remember now that almost every Chinese who lives abroad and also a Huge number who just live here in China, can make exactly that claim about English. The lovely Jenny is a great example of this. But is the reverse of this really possible??? After over five years I know it’s possible… sadly, very sadly, not for everyone I think, especially not for those who can’t wrap themselves around the tones… and I have seen many like this that I know will never ‘get it,’ but continue studying anyway. There is something really admirable about their persistence even as it worries me they are wasting their time. The tones and a knack for the accent are truly indispensable at the higher levels. I also know five years is not enough for mastery and even if you have language talent. In other words this is not Spanish.
According to some on this post Chinese is an easy language… and on the surface IT IS. But Chinese reminds me of an old saying… and I hate to be a sayings guy but I guess living in China rubs off on you. The saying is by Alexander Pope and it describes the language even if it is far from being a Chinese saying itself:
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
A little study will make you happy and success will seam all but inevitable. Early successes will be that way for those who have really pushed through. For those who then continued further after this language, I think they will agree with me, however, that the “this is an easy language” idea is very shallow. Yeah, if you want chat a way with some Chinese and really impress foreigners and without doubt impress Chinese themselves that can be done, that first step into Chinese is easy. It takes time and there are inititial hurdles, but most anyone can do it. Intermediate level is harder with many plateaus, but given time they are also slowly conquered. And in this process you can do a hell of a lot of impressing people.
YET I return to the fact which most are afraid to face. There is a big difference between speaking a language and REALLY speaking a language that I don’t think most westerners.. especially Americans like myself understand. Many Westerners I have met claim to speak Chinese and many of those people have devoted endless hours to studying the language, I’ve known some that have studied for over 10 years, one for over 25 years (a scholar at Stanford University who knows more about reading Ancient Chinese and technical Chinese than 99.99% of Chinese and he is a white guy of German descent). Many of those people definitely write Chinese far better than I…. better than I might ever write, or plan to be able to write. Hell they write better than most Chinese, but the truth is their spoken is still anything but fluent.
Is Chinese worth studying? Or better put, are the language intricacies inherent in Chinese worth the time… worth the opportunity cost? Is the language even possible to overcome? I think it is, though as far as real face to face evidence of this, sadly I have not truly seen much if any of it. I’ve been to six different provinces and met hundreds of people trying to learn, I studied at China’s top two universities with all different levels… but the real thing? Sure there’s Dashan and a few others on TV now and then that are really really good… but there numbers are depressingly small. Is Chinese worth studying? My answer is spit.
1.) Chinese has helped me get a very high paying job even by western standards especially for someone my age and even more so when I calculate the reduced cost of living in China along with the benefits of an expat package. I know this point might sound shallow, but its real and regardless of whether my lofty goals come true or not, I should be thankful for what Chinese has already helped make possible.
2.) Chinese has helped me meet great people and understand myself more in the process.
3.) Chinese has brought me contact with an amazingly deep culture and people and has taught me many things personally along the way.
On the other side though,
1.) It’s a huge investment, with an uncertain payoff in terms of language success. That is to say I don’t think everyone can learn Chinese. You can either master the tones, or you can’t. And complex grammar and phraseology, especially written, is no cake walk.
2.) As far as business goes… though I love to use it in meetings sometimes its more advantageous for me to make them use English. English is expected in high-level business and as one post said, why give up the home court advantage. Besides I have to do business in many provinces and I don’t care if they promise not to speak the local dialect, in many places what they consider putonghua, with their accent and even tones, is anything but standard.
3.)…. Well I guess I could come up with a third but I don’t want too. I like to play devil’s advocate now and again, but I’m already a believer in Chinese and its 5 years too late to turn back.
Is Chinese worth studying? Yes… It’s a bitter struggle though.. the adventurous student is so easily drawn in by hope and ambition to do something different, something great, only in the end to be swallowed up in an endless horizon of characters and unending shifts of phrase.. the complexity of this language (which conversely is best described in its tricks of brevity and even simplicity) hold its true beauty, uniqueness, and history. Yet it also its curse, making it not just hard for foreigners to master, but also as I have discovered, occasionally causing Chinese themselves to miscomprehend eachother; but who said the best hopes and dreams were easy anyway.
Back to the question about speaking Mandarin in Taiwan. When I was there on vacation in 2005, I walked into a temple, had a camera malfunction, and started asking about postcards of the place when I didn’t see them in the giftshop. When the doorman heard my small attempts at speaking Chinese, he was so excited to have a Westerner in his temple speaking Chinese, complemented me far out of proportion to my skills, and ran into his quarters, proudly bringing me a prize I shall always treasure: his own photo of the sculptures on the temple roof with an airplane flying so low you would have thought it was part of the temple design. He spent hours hanging around the temple, I suppose with not much to do, waiting for a plane getting ready to land at the airport nearby to just hit the right angle vis a vis the rooftop decorations to snap the photo. All I paid for it was a few words in Mandarin, and it was better than the few musty postcards they eventually scrounged up.
I just thought of another reason to add to your list, though not early enough to make it into my previous comment. When I was in Cairo afew years back, I remember the same overreaction to me when I said “thank you” in Arabic after a transaction. The man I was talking to suddenly looked so excited, nearly teared up and said in an awed voice, “You speak Arabic.” Well, not really. But the reaction showed me not to underestimate the power of taking an interest in another person’s culture. No matter how widespread English may be among people from the non-native parts of the world, it means something to them that you take the time to learn their language and appreciate their culture, that in your mind your own culture isn’t the center of the universe and that they exist and have value too.
Tim,
I don’t know anything about your Chinese skills but your English is certainly eloquent
Yeah, I hesitated to even start reading such as long post as Tim’s but it’s indeed quite relevant and worth reflecting upon
Yv
Tim seems to speak here as a professional user of chinese. He’s looking for perfection and his work depends on it.
I’m a cusual user of chinese really far from perfection but I don’t care as my work and credibility don’t depend on it.
I would never compare a Golf pro and a cusual golf player.
The Golf pro works hard to get and keep high skill for the game.
The casual player try to improve his golf’s skill but mostly enjoy spending a good time with his friends and walking outside.
That’s different worlds.
Regarding Tim’s (interesting!) post I agree with Bayun.
For myself the degree of perfection that Tim strives for will forever remain a daydream, and there will always be a strong 洋腔洋调 left. Different league. But that is not the point for me. Right now there are just too many interesting people who I cannot freely communicate with when I am in China. In my experience even rudimentary language skills can rise the fun factor 10-fold.
I would be happy if one day (in a Galaxy far, far away?) I could approximate the level I achieved in English, which also comes with an abundance of mistakes and a strong Kraut accent.
If I had to weight the pros and cons from Tims post I would come to the conclusion that it was definately worth it for him.
By the way: Tim, do you still learn new stuff from the podcasts here?
Thanks for all the negativity Tim. In the back of my mind, I always suspected that the majority of Western speakers are wasting their time studying Chinese. Only a select talented few like Tim and Da Shan who were lucky enough to be endowed with the “correct” genetics will ever succeed. I wonder how many of us CPOD subscribers are now having second thoughts about re-newing.
Tim’s fatal logical flaw (at least from my point of view):
That so many Chinese people speak such good English. By the standards that some people seem to apply to foreigners learning Chinese they certainly do not. Jenny has excellent English, but is obviously not native sounding and sounds like a Chinese person speaking English. There are still a few words that she pronounces strangley and occaisionally she uses an idomatic expression slighly off key. Not only that I could pick any one of a number of guys from my office and launch into a conversation of deliberitly twisted and idiomatic English, with recent UK cultural references that even someone of Jenny type calibre would find next to impossible to follow (this is not to take anything away from Jenny, I wish that my Chinese could be so good in the far future). I am sorry to say that most Europeans are not fluent in English by the types of standard that seem to be applied to Mandarin (Scandanavians maybe hitting nearest the mark).
It is a language, I want to communicate in it, I bet many Chinese people who use Mandarin on a daily basis are not fluent by the standards Tim is apiring to.
My definition of fluent, is the point where a normal native Mandarin speaker doesn’t have to think too hard to understand what I am trying to convey and doesn’t have to think to hard to dumb his speech down for me. Now if a highly educated, cultural Mandarin speaker wants to talk in an educated manner then I will always be stumped. Likewise many foreign speakers of English if the boot were on the other foot, and many Chinese Mandarin speakers who learnt it on top of their native dialects (I have this from the horse’s mouth, and Tim alludes to this also).
So my native dialect is English, I will learn Mandarin well enough for sound communication with a vast majority of Chinese people and if anybody doesn’t like it then stuff them………
grrrr…. snarl…. gnash…..
I am sorry, chris(mandarin_student), I feel compelled to defend Jenny. I find her English truly remarkable…in fact she must be the “Dashan” of English if there is such a thing. If anything, she has a slight Australian or maybe Canadian accent (to my ear) when she says things like “zed” for the letter of the alphabet that people in the U.S. call “zee”. Other than that, if one didn’t know that she is native Chinese it would be almost impossible to peg her national origin. As far as Tim is concerned, his frustrations are not isolated. I think it has to do as much with culture as it does with language. Check out John Pasden’s thoughts in his latest Sinosplice blog about CNY. I live in a country that is not my native land. I am ninety-five percent fluent in the language. I will probably never be 100 percent fluent even if I live one hundred years (or “Sto Lat” as my older relatives used to say in Polish). There is just too much culture to absorb in one lifetime. I, myself, am frustrated trying to explain English phrases to non-English speakers. For example, take the phrase “Bring me a pizza and step on it”. Try explaining it to a non-English speaker. It will be a real challenge. New phrases crop up on an almost daily basis. Recently, a NASA woman astronaut drove 900 miles from Houston to Miami wearing an adult diaper because she was in a big hurry and didn’t want to stop to pee. That gave birth to the phrase “diaper drive” as in “You better diaper drive on up there and see what the problem is”. No matter what language you are trying to learn, unless you are in-country for about ten years (and very shameless, cool and “edgy”), you will always be about a half step behind. It’s not a bad thing either. It’s just reality. Accent, choice of words, and word order don’t really matter as long as you can get your point across. I share your enthusiasm, Chris. “Good enough” will never be really “good enough” for people like you and me, but if we do our best than that’s the best we can do
Tim, the last time I was moved by such an extant, I downed a gallon of prune juice. Just go ahead and speak what’s really on your mind. Seriously, I like the fact that Tim speaks what’s on his mind. Obviously I don’t agree with my boy, but let him speak his peace. I know he’s a cocky little chiwawa, but that’s what makes him so interesting. I’d rather listen to the pompus ramblings of a Tim, than the same old “Please encourage me because I suck at Mandarin” whiners that need encouragement every night and day.
Before you judge me, and if you really knew me you would quickly, let me throw my cards on the table. I live in the decadent world of New Orleans, and down here people have their own flavor for butchering the English language. It’s common to hear phrases such as: “How’s your momma and dem, Da’aint no more dawling, and Dats da way we do it.” You might be wondering why in the hell I’m commenting on this, frankely, I don’t know. But a point I was trying to make is that even in the good ole USA, people struggle with the English language. They can improve if they want to, and so can the speakers of Mandarin. Oh, by the way, Jenny, your English is fine.
I’ll leave you with this for the picture minded people, such as myself. A friend of mine bought a crappy house that was practically destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. This is what he did:
1) Removed the trash ( started to practice Mandarin).
Paved the driveway (Didn’t give up, even when he was tired)
2) Removed the sheetrock (practiced Mandarin 1 hour every day)
3) Cut the grass (bought some books)
4) Fixed the broken windows (bought some CD’s)
5) Fixed the broken doors (subscribed to something like Chinesepod)
6) Replaced the sheetrock (practiced with fluent speakers)
7) Replaced the roof (Stayed motivated by surrounded himself with anything Chinese)
9) Put his house for sale (His characters and writing improved)
10) Sold his house (His focus was always on the outcome. Never how it looked in the beginning)
11) He bought another crappy house (He repeated the process)
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Bible). If you think you will never be the best Chinese speaker in the world, you’re right. If you think you will eventually be a better Chinese speaker than Jenny, you’re right. YOU WILL ALWAYS CONFORM TO YOUR FOCUS, IN ANYTHING THAT YOU PURSUE IN LIFE. Most people, “Hop on the bus gus, or make a new plan Stan,” because they don’t take the time to let it grow. If you plant seeds on Monday, you’re not going to have a harvest on Tuesday.
Man I’m smart. Can’t help it. Little bit of Tim done rubbed off on me.
like it.
I know I will never be mistaken for a native speaker–I’ll be lucky if I ever feel comfortable enough to get past vocalizing “excuse me, please, and thank you”–but I look forward to being able to be polite when I finally make my grand trip to China.
2. If I ever run into Andy Lau here in California, I want to be able to say hello properly. In the meantime, it would be nice to be able to sing along with his Mandarin songs and have some idea what I’m singing.
3. Movie subtitles are not enough sometimes. It wasn’t until after my first several C-pod lessons that I could finally tell whether it was “I’ve chosen” (the subtitle) or “you’ve chosen” (the actual line) in Infernal Affairs. (My smattering of French has also been useful in this way.) We AR’s care about these things!
4. When the Gouren take over, I want to know what they’re saying so that I may rise quickly through the ranks of the Resistance.
Given the level of mastery I’ll never attain, I’m sure you could make a case for my efforts being a waste of time. But I waste a lot more time on crossword puzzles and sudoku. Studying Mandarin, especially using Chinesepod, gives me a good brain workout, in addition to the above benefits.
Sometimes a little knowledge is just fine.
Miss Mann
FLICKERING LIGHT - Hi Tim,
I think you’re a bit burned out, I see the signs. Not just with the Chinese, but maybe work, living overseas, etc. Whatever it takes to gain some distance and perspective might help to regain the passion you have for Chinese.
About some of what you said,
“But if true mastery is the goal (by this I mean the mastery that we as Americans expect when people in our country are talking to us, and especially when doing business)”. Yah, I think that’s wrong. It’s one of the hangups of being Americans.
I don’t know if one can lose ‘the accent’, I’m not sure one has the right. I can tell Jimmy Carter is a peanut farmer, Kennedy grew up with means, and it seems fair to me that a Chinese person can tell if one is from Harbin, Hangzhou or Houston.
Personally I am also struggling with ‘accent’, should I speak with a Dongbei lilt, or a Shenzhen melody, neither really is ‘me’. I haven’t put the years or childhood into either place to say it’s mine.
You weren’t a missionary child that grew up in Hebei, you grew up in a place that wasn’t China. Fortunately/unfortunately humans are wired to be able to tell. Five-years, and only a couple in China–yah you’re not gonna fool anyone. That’s why the DaShans, and others who are able to mimic accents are deemed a bit freaky.
So what I’m saying is you’re pretty normal, and we luv ya. (To quote Bob in Mexico if I can give out a grande hola to him.) Why study Chinese? Love, faith, cause the mountain is there. Enjoy the hike, you got skills that pay the bills.
I’m with Bob Mrotek and Lantian on this one.
If someone is studying Mandarin because they think it will make them more money they are not being realistic. You could become a chartered financial analyst with less work and time than it takes
to become a good Mandarin speaker and CFAs make big bucks. Or, if you spent your Mandarin study time knitting sweaters instead and selling them, you would be further ahead financially.
The thought occurs to me that you could maybe knit sweaters while you do Cpod lessons. Maybe I will try that sometime.
I listen to and imitate language recordings while I drive (about an hour a day). I listen to recordings while I run (about seven hours a week). There is no opportunity cost that I can see in doing this. (This isn’t of course the only time I put in to studying)
I know nothing of the difficulties of learning to read and write Chinese, but, silly old me, I persist in thinking that the difficulties in learning to speak it are somewhat overrated. The language yields to the right study methods.
Anyone who has read past Cpod posts will be aware that people agree to disagree on what those study methods are. But you can always try out different ways for yourself and see what seems to work. I would only suggest you pay most attention to people who have shown the ability to learn one or more foreign languages quickly and well. Be very skeptical of anyone who claims to have the answers but hasn’t demonstrated them in his or her own language learning.
If you study a language like Spanish, your progress will certainly be quicker in the beginning. But some of this is deceptive. To really master the language, you have to master a mass of verb endings in many tenses, and be able to correctly substitute direct and indirect pronouns etc. In my experience, few of the people who think they speak Spanish have done this. They may impress their friends, but the native speakers know.
With Mandarin, you should expect progress to be very very slow in the beginning. It might take you a ridiculous amount of time to learn to accurately pronounce and understand a single sentence without looking at the pinyin. But if you continue learning sentences, and listening to speech, you will find a slow acceleration in your learning time taking place. Eventually it gets easy, and you can just concentrate on learning vocabulary and expressions. You might even overtake your Spanish learning friend who is still struggling with past compound subjunctive tenses.
Here is one more reason to study Mandarin. A few months ago, I talked with a high school teacher. When I told him I was studying Mandarin, he said “Isn’t Mandarin a kind of crude and primitive language? “
!!!!!!!!
Well no.
I can’t imagine anyone studying Mandarin making a fool of himself by uttering such a dumb and ignorant statement.
Clarification!
Jenny speaks excellent English! However I think almost every English person I know would identify her as Asian and most likely Chinese immediately. I hope you don’t mind me point this out.
I am beginning to think that because of our position next to Europe (hence identifying many European versions of accented English), our own large set of internal accents etc. etc. Many English people may be very finely tuned to hearing differneces in spoken English. I have even gone so far as to ask a few questions of guy from Newzealand I work with and this seems to be the case. He was actually very shocked when he first heard some guys speaking in fairly strong regional British accent (in all his life life it had never occurred to him that he may listen to someone speak English and not understand).
Now this just proves my point, I imagine I am the most picky, pedantic, sensitive English language accent detector on this forum (probably not but hey go with it). Should you really worry If I tell you you do not speak English like a native? of course not! Now imagine that there is a whole bunch of Chinese versions of me hanging around, should you really worry if they tell you don’t sound like a native? of course not!
Sadly some of the Chinese versions of me do not seem to be Chinese at all, they seem to be Westerner’s who have reached some mythical level.
Now back to reality, just becasue I can almost always immediately tell when an English speaker is not a native does not mean that I do not have the utmost admiration for them. I do not expect them to (who am I to impose such a high standard?).
BTW Bob, just a little gentle reminder that you identified a Scottish accent as Irish
开玩笑 
Hey maybe I am oversensitive :O I am going to set up a few audio tests. See what other English people thing about a few voices.
I must agree with Tim. I would love to talk on the phone, and not be identified as American. To achieve such a high level of ability in chinese, that the only tell that I am not native is the color of my skin. Reasonable [probably not]? Do-able [also unlikely]? Worthwhile [most def]?
In both of my professions, music and dentistry, we [as a profession] are called to continue to refine our skills. This requires hours of focused concentration, years of devotion, continuing education, and a commitment to excellence. Problems arise when one loses sight of this commitment, and becomes satisfied [complacent] with his ability. Skills become less refined, and progress is haulted [skills may begin to receed, even]. I believe this is true with language as well [both native and second languages].
There is also a major cultural component. Asians will always be viewed as foreign in America, and Americans will always be viewed as foreign in Asia. We can however, command respect from the general population through our language ability. Excuse the following generalization, please… I’m not able to tell if a student of chinese descent is american-born, or international untill they speak to me [usually in either language].
To the topic of this thread –
My desire to speak chinese, began as a hope to communicate with my wife’s parents. I have set goals for myself [to be able to read a newspaper], and they have been helpful in measuring my progress. I understand that this is a life-long learning process. Delayed gratification compounded with self-criticism is not a new concept for me. I’m in this for the long haul. However…
I also agree with many of the other comments. I have enjoyed many great moments from very small gestures. Any learning is great. Casual, intense, short-lived, life-long… all good. Learning another’s language shows great respect, even if it is only one phrase.
Best,
db
Hi,
I think the reasons why someone should learn chinese makes sense. Give me a few resources on the internet fgrom where I can get started ( both writing a pronounciation ).
Chris(mandarin_student) says:
Jenny speaks excellent English! However I think almost every English person I know would identify her as Asian and most likely Chinese immediately. I hope you don’t mind me point this out.
Yes, that is very true. I think I have only noticed one problem with her English (apart from her usage of Australian idiom
and that is her non-distinct ‘n’s, which show up especially when she pronounces John’s name on some of the lessons.
I wonder if she also does not distinguish between ‘n’ and ‘m’ properly. I have seen Mandarin speakers speaking words that end in ‘m’ leave their lips apart as if they are saying ‘n’ rather than closing their lips, which IS required for ‘m’.
Hello Ken Carroll: I am Sunny, the english editor in CUROO. Curoo is a quite new website focused on China’s business market. We are going to publish a free english e-magazine and there is a chinnel on learning chinese. So we want to introduce some learning experiences from chinses learners just like you. Could you grant permission for us to release your article titled ‘why learn chinese’on our e-magazine?
Thanks! Best wishes!
look forward to your reply!
Hi ChinesePod,
I’m newbie from Vietnam.
Thank you for excellent works. The lessons are very practical, clear, and easy to understand. I feel boosted up in learning Chinese.
First, I do it simply for entertainment (historical novels like San Gou Shi, Xi You Ji; wuxia, and films). I want to capable of reading and hearing the original versons one day, not through translation or subtitles; although vietnamese is very close to chinese (90% acquired from chinese). I believe that English and other western languages can only translate 60% of the original, e.g Ken talked about flowers and flying things in “chinesepod_A0005″, and many more. For me this is very interesting and imagining.
Second, besides the popular english, chinese is the closest (my teacher at high school said if i came back to Tang dynasty, i couldn’t have problem in conversation with people there). i can hear many cantonese words sound very close to vietnamese today. And i understand more about my language.
Third, I’ll feel more interesting and enjoyable when visit Hue, Hoi An, and many other historic places in my country; and of course in visiting China in the future.
Another one is… Jenny’s voice is so sweet, and she’s very beautiful ^^ .
Just a comment on the Tone No.4:
i feel not easy on this one (i understand the instructions, and the other tones are fine). when i try the tone4, it sounds funny, and i feel it makes me lose weight. overweight newbie please try this one. So i decided just repeat after you. I don’t know if this good or not, because i don’t take any chinese course, just bought some books and find in the Net.
Please anyone give me some hints. Xiexie ni.