How Much Mandarin Do I Need To Know Before Starting School?

[Lizabeth]

I hope that this will not sound silly to you all...

I plan to study Mandarin in Fall of this year, and so far I have been accepted to Peking, Tsinghua and Fudan. I am excited about coming, but I saw something about taking a test to determine our level of fluency. Also, in browsing through the forums, I see that many people are entering the Chinese language programs already know some Mandarin.

I know absolutely NO Mandarin. Nothing. Therefore, I am wondering if these university courses start from the basics -- and by basics I mean alphabet, numbers, etc. Otherwise, I may have to delay my plans.

Thanks for reading -- I hope you can help me out!

L

[anonymoose]

The test is to determine what class to put you in. If you have no prior experience in mandarin, you will be put in the beginners class.

[dali3927]

No worries, I believe every University language programs has beginner level, if you has no mandarin at all, you will be beginner class.

I have friends who were moved to China after they married, his wife only speaks nihao when she came to Beijing, now she can talk many things in Chinese after one semester Chinese study in BLCU.

so have fun learning Chinese.

[GreenArrow45]

Maybe looking at a few things and doing some listening would be beneficial before getting there, but, you're definitely in a good position where you are. It is actually going to be a lot harder for those of your classmates who have already gone through the tones etc and potentially face a couple months of reviewing things they already know rather than getting to new material. I say this because, you're all paying the same amount of course, yet I would guess you're going to see more progress (from the course) than those people.

In short, you should be A OK! B)

[simonlaing]

Perhaps learning how to say some basic phrases might be good to do before you go. Also try to learn how to read and write some basic characters like 女人洗手间 , it will help you to know which restroom go to and will prepare you for thu intense studying you will have to do once you start studying full time. They don't say "chinese is the hardest language in the world" for nothing.

Everyone is a beginner at one point, but prepare yourself.

have fun,

simon:)

[jbradfor]

As others have said, if there were no language requirements when you applied, they must have a beginners class, so you'll be put in there. It's seriously unlikely you will learn enough on your own in the next 4-ish months to place into a higher class.

However, you might want to learn more about the cultural aspects, in particular living in modern China. There's a whole sub-forum here on that.

Therefore, I am wondering if these university courses start from the basics -- and by basics I mean alphabet, numbers, etc.

Well, there is one thing you should learn now: Chinese has no alphabet

[XiaoXi]

Personally I would want to delay it a bit. 1. Because if you don't even know how to say the basic 'syllables' and the four tones of mandarin at least to a basic level then you may waste quite a bit of time even getting that sorted. Also you may find that the lowest class is not quite that low so they may not exactly cover the basic tones for very long or at all. 2. The biggest problem may not be in the lesson, but outside the lesson. Unless you have very good friends there who speak both Chinese and English to help you, you will find a lot of things in daily life extremely difficult and your Chinese won't be good enough to sort anything yourself for a while.

It may depend on the university but in mine, I'm in E ban (out of A-F, F being the worst) and people in E are not terrible, most have had perhaps 2 or more years at university studying Chinese. F ban is notably easier of course but I can't imagine its that basic since in E ban from the outset you're reading Characters with no pinyin. All the classes are taught solely in spoken Chinese too, no English. But that's just my school, others may vary.

[Shi Tong]

Well, there is one thing you should learn now: Chinese has no alphabet

IMO, that's a bit misleading and also a bit scary for the OP.. ;)

There is a Chinese "alphabet", but mainly it's used to help with foreigners to learn pronunciation and is called "pinyin", (拼音 pīn​yīn​ phonetic writing / pinyin (Chinese romanization))

You would certainly do well to get some pinyin under your belt before you go, or try to learn some simple pronunciation before starting out.

In pinyin, all of the pronunciation is explained, and to know how to say all of the sounds is a really big bonus, plus, if you can get your head around tones to start with, this will give you the building blocks for Chinese and basically allow you to learn (how to speak and listen to) the language. Of course, it's easier to learn all of these sounds with a native or very fluent speaker, so you may still have to wait for that. Though I would say that familiarising yourself with these things might make it easier to get your head around things to start with.

For example, knowing that every "zi" or "Chinese character" has only one syllable is very useful to know, and you may want to remember that before you start.

Lots of little tidbits of knowledge help like that

[rezaf]

Don't rush anything. Just go there and start from the beginners class. It's difficult to learn the basic stuff on your own and you'll be wasting your time. However in class you will learn it much faster. This language is really difficult and it will take you many years to become comfortable in using it, so being 2 months ahead of the class won't change anything.

[anonymoose]

I disagree with the previous post. I was going to say in my original reply that doing some preparatory work would be beneficial to you, but decided not to since that wasn't what you were asking about, but since other people have given their opinion, I'll give mine also.

Why is it that people studying Chinese in China tend to get way ahead of those studying abroad? Obviously because here one is in the environment that exposes one to the language every day. But...as an absolute beginner, you won't be able to derive much benefit from it, because you won't be able to have a conversation with anyone in Chinese anyway, and you won't be able to read anything around you. The time when you can get most out of actually being in China is when you're at a level that allows you to engage with the outside world. So the sooner you get to this level, the better, otherwise you may as well just study in your home country.

If you had unlimited time to study Chinese, then it wouldn't make a big difference whether you start before or after you arrive in China. But if you know you will only be there for a fixed time (one year, or two years, or whatever), it seems a shame to waste valuable potential learning time just sitting in a classroom learning pinyin and basic pronunciation which is something you could prepare for on your own. You could also learn a few of the most basic characters, such as numbers, personal pronouns, a few basic verbs, and so on.

Anyway, this is just my personal opinion, based on having self-studied for a while, and then turning up in China. After a year of working in China (not attending classes), my Chinese improved vastly, simply because I was able to use what I knew right from the day I stepped of the plane there.

[rezaf]

Self study is only good after the beginners level. I'm not saying that it's bad but it is unnecessary because what she can do in 2 months on her own, she will learn in 2 or 3 weeks in a class with a teacher who can correct her. The first thing that I have learned in China is that one can not learn Chinese with a limited time. I have seen lots of students who skipped the beginners levels and rushed everything when they started learning in order to pass their HSK and start university but after a few years their Chinese never got better from a certain level and most of them still have a lot of pronunciation mistakes because they didn't spend enough time in the first level repeating words after a teacher and having the teacher correct them.

[nazreal]

My two cents:

I think China and studying there will be like going to any country where you just don't know the lingo - it'll be hard but not impossible. If you have the motivation and inspiration to study then I say go for it!

Before I go anywhere on holiday where I don't know the language I just get a guide book and try and learn a few phrases like 'hello' and 'thank you' and usually, although scary, it's a start!

So I say, GO! (cos I'm going to Tsinghua in Autumn term to study too and just have an awesome time ^_^

nazreal

[Lizabeth]

There are a lot of interesting points here...Thanks all for the help!

[rezaf]

I also suggest that you start reading about the Chinese culture and history untill you come here for studying Chinese. As for studying Chinese I suggest that you take one step at a time and master the basic things that you will learn in the beginner's class. After a year or so you will probably feel that there is not much difference between going to class and studying on your own(especially with the horible textbooks they have here), but untill then stick to your school's program.

[mrJChan]

Hi, congratulations on getting into those schools!

If you have some free time this summer before the semester starts, I would advise you to find a tutor or join a Mandarin language class to get you acquainted with the language; even if it's only the basics. I feel that if you do have the time, the sooner the better in getting started.

If you do decide to go Tsinghua, see you there