Learning Mandarin on a time budget

[shearerp]

I have a girlfriend who is native Chinese but speaks fluent English; we are both working on PhD's in the sciences in the US. We are planning on getting married! I would like to learn some Chinese so that I can better connect with her family when they visit the US (and when I eventually visit China).

However, I've read that learning Chinese is a serious commitment of time and energy. I don't know if this is something I'm ready for - my research work is pretty demanding of me right now. I need to figure out how much time I must invest to reach my goal, and whether that amount of work is practical at this point in my career. I can't spend too much time on one hand; but on the other hand, if I spend too little, I'm concerned my effort will be ineffective.

So my question is: how much time (hours per week) do you think I would need to spend learning Chinese, in order to be able to carry on a simple conversation with her family when they visit this April (4 months away)? And if that's not feasible, what if I want to converse with them in a year, or two years?

Graduate school is very demanding and I need to know what I'm dealing with here, so I can set a reachable goal in balance with the rest of my life. Thank you so much!

[sebhk]

IMHO the best to find out what you are dealing with and how much time you need is to give it a try for a week or two and see how it goes. Everyone learns languages slightly differently and nobody here will be able to estimate how much time per week you would have to spend to achieve your goal.

I learned Mandarin while I was working on my Ph.D. and was able to have simple conversations with my native speaking girlfriend and her family in less than 3 months. I had a text book that I used for self-study for an hour or so every other day, and apart from that tried out what I learned on my girlfriend and other Mandarin speakers.

[renzhe]

However, I've read that learning Chinese is a serious commitment of time and energy. I don't know if this is something I'm ready for - my research work is pretty demanding of me right now. I need to figure out how much time I must invest to reach my goal, and whether that amount of work is practical at this point in my career. I can't spend too much time on one hand; but on the other hand, if I spend too little, I'm concerned my effort will be ineffective.

You're right, it is a serious commitment.

But if it's any consolation, it's doable. I did it in a similar situation.

It is possible that you'll be able to communicate at a basic level with your in-laws in April (greet them, ask some typical polite questions, etc, leave a good impression). It is also possible that you'll be able to have a more fulfilling conversation with them in two years. Chinese is not really difficult, but there's lots to learn, and it takes time and determination. Progress is steady, but slow.

Sounds like you are seriously interested in learning your girlfriend's language and culture. It's impossible to give hard numbers, but if you dedicate, say, 30-45 minutes per day to some sort of Chinese-learning activity, and a couple of hours on the weekends, and you keep it up for a couple of years while following a reasonable program, you can arrive at a level where you can understand stuff and communicate at an intermediate level. From then on, you can watch movies, listen to things, read books, and use all sorts of other, more interesting resources, which will also introduce the culture to you.

Good luck.

[TomC]

I was also in the same position as you, wondering how long it would take and how much effort would be required.

Firstly, I would recommend buying a good book for theory and reading that leisurely. For me, personally i use ChinesePod, and there short lessons are very effective and well taught. Time is also not an issue as each lesson only lasts 10-15 minutes and offers a fair bit of vocabulary.

Try to speak a little with your girlfriend, and no doubt she will be more than happy to help you, as it's a big effort you would be making.

I have been learning for around 6 months and find it very rewarding when you can converse and understand others. If you dedicate a few hours a week you will definitely start to pick it up eventually.

[sebhk]

You're right, it is a serious commitment.

I think it does not have to be. If you are truly motivated and study Chinese on your own, it is very easy to adjust the amount you spend on Chinese depending on how busy you are with other things. Also, it is no problem to take a complete break for a longer period of time to, say, prepare for quals or finish one's Ph.D. thesis.

[amandagmu]

So, I've been in the same position as you regarding both German and Spanish: I'm living full-time in Berlin (when not in Beijing) and my in-laws (in Spain) don't speak a lick of English. Meanwhile I'm working on my PhD (now ABD) and in Beijing back in Chinese again. I did a once a week class in Spanish last Spring (like 2 hours Wednesday evening), and I spent a month in July in Berlin learning German (4 times per week x 2-3 hours x 4 weeks), BOTH times while really busy - TAing, taking seminar classes and writing term papers, proposals for $, and writing exam statements to pass the PhD exams ETC.

With that said, I would say it depends on how much experience you have learning languages (I speak Chinese and am fluent in French, so Spanish is quite easy for me while German grammar is most certainly NOT), and if you are a self-learner or need some motivation or other people. If you find yourself so swamped that finding 30-45 minutes of self-learning is going to become difficult - I know how that goes - then what I recommend is ChinesePod (listen to it on your commute or while at the gym-- I did this a lot when I was super busy!) + find a group to meet with once a week at a reasonable time that fits your schedule, maybe an adult education class with a Chinese teacher. My husband likes to practice Spanish with me, but we're both busy, and we can obviously only speak a little bit since his English is much better, so I find speaking to one's partner often leads to a lot more in English no matter what ones does... last summer, after the spring course in Spanish, I could speak very slowly and a bit to my in-laws, but in reality the conversations were very trite. I know how I learn: a few months in an intensive course. I plan to do this after my diss is done or in the final stages.

[rezaf]

Sometimes it's better not to understand what your Chinese in-laws are saying especially when it comes to dowery.