cintiaghimel Posted January 6, 2007 at 06:44 PM Report Posted January 6, 2007 at 06:44 PM Hello, guys and girls. I'm new to this forum and so far it has been very useful to me. I'm brazilian and I'm trying to learn mandarin chinese by myself. A friend of mine gave me some material which he brought from the U.S. and I'm really confident about learning the language. These are the books I have now : Chinese for dummies; Chinese beginners dictionary (Oxford); Berlitz's chinese phrasebook, Teach yourself series: Chinese and the Complete Idiot's Guide to Chinese. So, here's the question: Is it possible to learn it at least for having some simple conversation with a native speaker without going to a regular school? Thanks in advance. Quote
IndhuRen Posted January 7, 2007 at 01:51 PM Report Posted January 7, 2007 at 01:51 PM I have heard that it is best to learn a language on your own. Ofcourse you also need a native speaker around to correct your pronouncialtion mistakes. You could also look for some other material for your practice. I would recommend Pimsleur, Colloquial Chinese by Kan Qian. There are plenty of websites from where you could download these things:wink: Quote
Strawberries513 Posted January 9, 2007 at 02:46 AM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 02:46 AM Welcome to the Mandarin language! Its alot of fun but get ready for a hell of alot of pain. Anyway, it is definitly possible to learn Mandarin through self-study. That is what I am doing because my high school doesnt have Mandarin . But it would help alot if you visited China a few times later in your study. Immersion is important!! Good luck Quote
SJLongPants Posted January 9, 2007 at 06:11 AM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 06:11 AM Yes welcome to the wonderful world of Mandarin! Everything they've said above is true/correct 100%. I have 17 years of immersion learning so I consider myself a pretty good source from a California boy. I tried to pick it up 6 months before I left to go there, and was both dissappointed and amazed at what I had learned; it IS a lot of fun. question: Is it possible to learn it at least for having some simple conversation with a native speaker without going to a regular school?Yes and no. How serious will you apply yourself, and to what extent do you expect to converse..... at this point, with a patient Chinese speaking friend is where you can truly learn. Having them correct your pronounciation, and practicing everyday will you improve. You really do get what you put into it.Don't be dissappointed if it doesn't come quickly, it took me 6 months to become conversational living there [ and I think I'm smart ] Keep us updated on your progress... Quote
cvkai Posted January 9, 2007 at 07:38 AM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 07:38 AM Hello Cintia! I'm Brazilian too. Nice to see more Brazilian studying Chinese. Once that you posted this thread on "Speaking and Listening" forum, I believe that you want to focus on conversation, instead of writing or reading. So, I would recommend you to listen to Chinese Podcasts (Chinesepod, Chinese Learn Online, Melnyk, etc). If you search for "Podcasts" you will find some threads that talk about this subject. I also recommend Pimsleur and FSI Language Courses - Chinese. I think that you can learn Pinyin with FSI (and there are also other sites about Pinyin, you can find them here on Chinese-forums), and then start listening to those podcasts that I mentioned. I don't know where do you live. But in Curitiba, most of Chinese people speak Cantonese, but you can find some Taiwanese people, and they helped me when I was learning Chinese in Brazil. Good luck! Boa sorte! Quote
flameproof Posted January 9, 2007 at 08:16 AM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 08:16 AM I don't agree that you need a native speaker. However, you need audio to listen to! That is a MUST. The books are not to useful. Keep them as reference. Quote
watergrass Posted January 9, 2007 at 03:42 PM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 03:42 PM Hi Cinti, Do you speak Spanish as well? I've learned Spanish for a couple of months and stopped. I wanna pick it up again. It'll be great if we can do language-exchange. I'm a Chinese native-speaker and I'm now in USA (east coast). -watergrass Quote
griz326 Posted January 9, 2007 at 05:39 PM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 05:39 PM The earlier recommendation: Colloquial Chinese by Kan Qian. Amazon has two books and a tape for sale. Which book is better? Must you follow along in the book as you listen to the tapes? Or is Colloquial Chinese like the listen/speak/no book required design of Pimsleur? So far I favor the listen/speak/no book approach and would like to add another listen/speak class to my daily routine. I am making progress, but it is slow going. Additional recommendations of the listen/speak/no book design will be appreciated here. Quote
ziyi star Posted January 9, 2007 at 05:57 PM Report Posted January 9, 2007 at 05:57 PM hi watergrass, i'm a native spanish speaker so if you need help to pick up the language just ask me and i'll be glad to help you Quote
watergrass Posted January 10, 2007 at 02:43 PM Report Posted January 10, 2007 at 02:43 PM hi ziyi star, nice to get you! My email is : pretty_yigo@yahoo.com waiting for your email!~~~ -watergrass Quote
ziyi star Posted January 10, 2007 at 07:38 PM Report Posted January 10, 2007 at 07:38 PM hey watergrass i'll email you right away i'm new here too, and talking with a friend who learn chinese i believe that studying everyday and listening to audio recordings (conversations, courses, etc) you can learn a lot. so if you're consistent in the study and really want to learn you'll make it. good luck! Quote
laowai1980 Posted January 11, 2007 at 09:51 AM Report Posted January 11, 2007 at 09:51 AM Basically, learning the language by yourself is the only way. Teachers are there to guide, correct mistakes and to ask them questions. With a great forum like this you can ask questions here, as well as post your doubts and have mistakes corrected. So now that there is Internet at our disposal, you can learn any language without leaving your chair. I've been learning a few languages all by myself prior to taking Chinese. I can assure you that all you need is good motivation/interest in languages and a lot of spare time on your hands, and you can do it. Right now I am working on my Mandarin, accumulating vocabulary, some grammar and characters, I can see it going, maybe not as fast as I'd like to, but I'll get there, all it takes is constantly moving. If you have a Chinese friend around, don't hesitate to talk to him/her in Chinese, that'll help make yourself fluent. For written Chinese all you need is Internet, there is an ocean of info, all depends on how hard you work. Just my $0.02. Quote
cintiaghimel Posted January 15, 2007 at 01:51 AM Author Report Posted January 15, 2007 at 01:51 AM Thank you all for the support!! I'm really excited with that which makes me think that I'm gonna make it, once I can't seem to be very very interested in something for more than say 3 weeks, but now it's different! Yesterday I watched "house of the flying daggers" and I was so proud to understand whenever somebody said "shi" "bu" "wo ai ta" and so on... Quote
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