Many people seem to think that learning Chinese is only done by learning and memorizing characters. Although learning Characters is one of the eventual goals, the early stages of Mandarin Chinese involve Pinyin - the most commonly used Romanized system of Mandarin Chinese.
An example would 'China'. In simplified character format, it is written 中国. You might be wondering how the hell to pronounce this! This is where Pinyin comes to the rescue. 中国 is written Zhōngguó. It's not all simple, but at least it helps to know there is another side to learning Chinese! For more info, check Pinyin Info
Thursday, 26 February 2009
How to start learning!
When it comes to learning another language, your main options are to either teach yourself or to enrol in a class. If you are thinking about following the class route, check with a local university or college for classes. Generally speaking, they will be held as an evening course and will cost in the region of £150-200 for around 25 lessons. If you're going to teach yourself, having a decent book (and accompanying CD) and some time to spend are important. For beginners, a book/CD set worth getting is Kan Qian's Colloquial Chinese: A Complete Language Course. For a slightly more advanced series, try the Teach Yourself Chinese [With 2 CDs] (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill)) (Paperback).
Which route you follow is a personal decision - chose which is best for you. But regardless, you need to consider wheter you have the drive and determination - without it, you can lose your focus and initial interest. Having a purpose will help to keep your drive and determination. Purposes vary, but an example would be the goal of becoming an interpretor, or to teach English (or your own native tongue) in China. Although not a necessity, knowing someone who speaks the language you are learning, in this case, Mandarin Chinese, can be a real benefit. It is easy to develop bad habits when it comes to pronouncing words. If left unchecked, these habits can hinder your later progress. So knowing a native speaker who is willing to give you some advice is a really useful!
Which route you follow is a personal decision - chose which is best for you. But regardless, you need to consider wheter you have the drive and determination - without it, you can lose your focus and initial interest. Having a purpose will help to keep your drive and determination. Purposes vary, but an example would be the goal of becoming an interpretor, or to teach English (or your own native tongue) in China. Although not a necessity, knowing someone who speaks the language you are learning, in this case, Mandarin Chinese, can be a real benefit. It is easy to develop bad habits when it comes to pronouncing words. If left unchecked, these habits can hinder your later progress. So knowing a native speaker who is willing to give you some advice is a really useful!
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