How long time did it take for you ?

[ruidianren2]

I would like to ask those of you who feels that you have mastered Chinese, how long time it took for you to reach that point where you all of a sudden realized that "you understood".

That you where able to have a conversation with a native understanding everything he says and being able to express your self without any problems. Being able to fully enjoy Chinese music/movies/books etc.

How many years of studying did it take you to get there ?

[Koneko]

There is no definite answer to your question.

Not only does it depend on one's interest, passion towards the language, diligence, intelligence, adaptation, etc. Environment also plays a very important role in language acquisition. Out of all these factors, I personally think that the environment is the most crucial one.

Eg.

One might take 10 years to master Chinese if he does it outside China.

But he might only need 2~3 years to reach that point if he does it in China.

You see, that person will either survive or die in China. If he wants to survive, he will have to change and speak the local language. If he resists to change, he will definitely find it very hard to get along with local people.

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change

I am Darwinist.

K.

[ruidianren2]

Thanks for your reply, Koneko, but you misunderstood my question.

I did not ask how long time it takes or how long it would take for me, but how long time it took for you guys. I know that the time it takes is different for everyone and I was hoping to get allot of different answers.

[Koneko]

Ah, for native speakers?! But the following lines look like it's designed for non-native speakers.

That you where able to have a conversation with a native understanding everything he says and being able to express your self without any problems.

For my case, I think it probably took me 12 months since I was delivered to this world from my Mum's womb. This thing just came naturally, I "understood" my parents without any difficulties.

Then, another 12 ~ 24 months, I could enjoy Chinese music (kiddie's music of course), cartoons and fairytales.

K.

[ruidianren2]

No, not for native speakers (why would they study Chinese )

I am asking how long it took for the reader (you, among others) to reach the point where they felt that they where proficient enough to do the things I wrote in the first post...

[leosmith]

That you where able to have a conversation with a native understanding everything he says and being able to express your self without any problems. Being able to fully enjoy Chinese music/movies/books etc.

For my case, I think it probably took me 12 months since I was delivered to this world from my Mum's womb. This thing just came naturally, I "understood" my parents without any difficulties.

You were an exceptional child, in that case.

I'm just a beginner, so I can't answer this question, but it's an interesting topic to me, so I hope others will.

[simonlaing]

Hi Ruidian ren,

Your questions was

"That you where able to have a conversation with a native understanding everything he says and being able to express your self without any problems. Being able to fully enjoy Chinese music/movies/books etc."

I lived in china for 5 years the last 2 years I was studying Chinese full time while teaching english part time. I am now doing a joint masters in Chinese and Business in Leeds University. One thing you learn about describing your ability in China is to be humble about your level or fear the citing of four syllable tang dynasty proverbs.

Also because Chinese is such a difficult level you can split it into advanced level of speaking, advanced level of reading and or advanced level of writing.

I think hit the advanced level of speaking somewhere in the 4 th year of staying in China. It was small things like chatting with the Old arhu (violin) beggar in the street about the health of his Cancer stricken wife. Or being able to have meaningful 2 hour conversations with people on the train on the way to Shanghai about the medical tools manufacturing market or the best way to cook Suan cai yu, a black pepper boiled fish dish. I can talk easily to Old men who play chess downstairs with strong accents or to the University students with standard putonghua that I played baseball with. (And be able to explain the proper posture for fielding a ground ball.)

Also towards the end of the 5 th year, picking up junky magazines in bus terminals and understanding 95% of the stories while reading. Things like that give me confidence. Or meeting students from Guangzhou and Honk kong in Leeds and have them say my pronunciation is better than theirs. is pretty cool.

I still have trouble with writing and can type pinyin style much faster than I can write. One of my courses is straight dictation from the radio which takes lots of preparation. (Though some Chinese young people are forgetting how to write rare characters since they use the computer so much. )

I am almost finish my 6th year of Chinese language contact.. (The last three having been full time studying. ) But I see my self as continue to study Chinese for at least another 2-3 years learning technical vocabulary and improving my writing skills.

Though I agree with the previous poster that Chinese is a difficult language that you should have a passion for or masochistic drive for a challenge to see it through to the end.

Also one important learning method that really helped me turn the corner was to learn to write characters as 3-4 radicals instead of 5-10 strokes. It was worth the effort to learn the radicals.

Good luck,

have fun,

Simon:)

P.S. if you need help check out my start up website www.chinesetutor.net