Why Chinese?

[Kasrkraw]

I've had a really passive interest for several years now, but what really sparked my interest was my current girlfriend. She knows some Chinese and studied abroad in China for a semester and her stories (and hearing her speak it) made me want to try to pick up at least a minimal understanding of the language. This interest has been reinforced by my experiences at work (we communicate with suppliers in China frequently). I don't really know how far I will get as I have always been more of a mathy/hands on person than a language person.

[Annie nan]

Can I say that I am learning Chinese simply because I fall in love with a Chinese girl, she is beautiful and she speaks beautiful Chinese. She is making me crazy and I wanna know more about her, I wanna tell her in her own language how much I love her and how beautiful she is to my eye. My Chinese teacher from <admin edit: gratuitous mention of school name removed> is so kind to help me with my problem, I am on the way, my girl.

[Andrew78]

Hello,

 

as I said in my first post, I'm italian and live in Italy. English is not my native language. I learned it 15 years ago. Since I like very much to learn foreign languages, now I wanted to learn a language completely different from my own, so, I decided to learn chinese. I thought also about arabian, but I don't like that culture, whereas China and chinese culture fascinate me.

[edd]

I'm a bit of a nerd and got my first taste of china through historical videos games as a kid. I always thought their culture was pretty fascinating too and through high school and college I tried to read up on Chinese religions, arts, and philosophies.

I wish I could say that I want to learn Chinese because I'm studying ancient Chinese texts or something but I'm really learning it in hopes of living there in the next few years. The cheap prices on electronics and mega cities like Beijing and Shenzhen sound great! A big, manufacturing city in China seems like an awesome place to do programming!

When I was in college I got my first taste of Mandarin through one of my friends that took a Chinese class. He used to eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria everyday cramming 汉子 from a copy of his PCR. I was pretty thankful at the time that my Spanish homework was watching soap operas and news .

I've been studying Mandarin for about a month and am still getting my curriculum figured out. So far it's been fun to learn!

[Flickserve]

Started really studying Mandarin about a year ago. Since I stuck it out for this long, it looks like I am here for the long haul and make a meaningful contribution.

I am a British Born Chinese having grown up in London. That theoretically makes me a heritage learner. When I was small, various relatives were around and I must have spoken some Cantonese that time (I just can't remember speaking it though).

My father, in his wisdom, sent me to Chinese school which I think was the very first Mandarin teaching Chinese school in London or England. Back in the 80's, there was very little Mandarin spoken in London. Any Chinese contact would be in Cantonese or Hakka dialect. With the lack of a Chinese environment, lack of interesting stimuli and really no connection with Chinese language, I entered University only speaking a few words of Cantonese, a basic understanding of pinyin and tones and able to say "wo ai zhongguo"

I did drop into a BBC group of friends whose knowledge of Cantonese/Hakka vastly exceeded my own (like dividing any number by zero) and that got me a little interested in the language. We all went on a trip to HK one summer, had a great time (they did all the talking) and I got back to UK without anymore Chinese! I returned to HK the next year without the friends as part of my course. This time, I was on my own. I managed again to have a great time using only English but now being exposed to a bit more bilingual conversations and Cantopop karaoke, my interest opened up a bit. However, I never really thought about taking lessons to 'improve speaking Cantonese'. That year, the seeds of an idea to return to HK were planted especially with 1997 coming up and a chance to be witnessing history.

The crunch came in Manchester. I was asked to translate for a Chinese person. Well, that was a complete failure and lucky his BBC kids turned up to help out. Later, I created a list of questions related to my work and went to my Uncle in Manchester to drill me in being able to ask those questions. Whether I would be able to understand the answers was a completely different matter. There were more Chinese around Manchester than in Leeds so the need was greater to speak a bit of Cantonese.

I went back to London and dropped into a British Taiwanese group. There they taught me a few basic words of Mandarin. But then I left to work in HK.

This time, HK was different. I was there to work, had a Chinese face, a Chinese name, couldn't communicate and received a reverse racialism from some people for being in this position (not my fault though!). This is the time that I found immersion doesn't work for me. Everyday, 7 days a week, I was surrounded by Cantonese conversation but 4 months later, I still could not form sentences. In a bit of desperation, I decided to look for Cantonese classes (everybody in HK was learning Mandarin in preparation for the handover!). I figured if I failed one-on-one classes, then I really couldn't learn a language at all. It was there I was introduced to Sydney Lau's books which were excellent. I would record a class on tape, review at home on the weekend. I would take the book to work and ask colleagues, how to say this that or the other and be able to reinforce my listening skills. I took 10 sessions and that kick-started my Cantonese learning. I did try another group Cantonese class which reinforced my belief that a group of learners at different levels are very ineffective at learning together.

I made a long term work career in HK and my Cantonese has improved. I still sound like a BBC speaking Cantonese but somehow, much more closer in correct pronunciation than an English person who has learnt Cantonese as a 2nd language.

Mandarin was always at the back of my mind. A busy work schedule and kids made it one of those things I would like to do but need to tick off on the list. I did manage a few private lessons but they became just too difficult to arrange. Last year, my old Chinese school friend from the 80's casually mentioned he was doing Mandarin classes by Skype. I did some research and discovered the whole industry, access to different tutors and chineseforums! That blew my mind and I have tried to catch up for lost time ever since. Will I be able to learn Mandarin well at this age? Not sure. The interesting thing is, I don't have a typical native English speaker's CSL accent for Mandarin. Perhaps an influence from teenage pinyin days there. My accent and tones are influenced by Cantonese yet the HKers say my Mandarin pronunciation is quite good.

My main challenges are getting a grasp of more vocabulary and using Cantonese daily and needing to switch to Mandarin without getting mixed up.

[Dio-Dzu'I]

I an old lady learning Chinese. 

 

I have never attended Chinese lessons in a classroom and all my Chinese is learnt in London.

 

I just learn Chinese characters over the years and I am enjoying it very much. I am now learning a Tang Dynasty poem by Zhang JiuLing.  It is about a solo swan flying in from the sea. 

 

I am a Teochew, and my parents are from the Chaoshan region of China and Teochew is therefore a language which I learnt to speak when I was a child. However, I did not attend Chinese lessons and I therefore did not learnt to read and write Chinese.

 

So, I learnt Chinese in London. However, I read this Tang Dynasty poem in Teochew. Teochew people are Tang Dynasty descendants and it is wonderful to read a poem written by one of my ancestors over a thousand years ago.

 

So, I write out the poem in Traditional Chinese characters, I read them aloud. I check my tones and do tone alignment exercises.  I write new characters over and over again. I take my time in writing the characters and admiring the beauty of the characters as I write them. I dream about the characters. I try to have the image of the characters in my head. And I write them a few times.  I look for similarities of any new characters with characters which I already know.

 

When I was walking to the shops today, I recited the poem. When I could not remember the next character, I would stop, look at the piece of paper in my basket which has the poem, and then continue walking and reciting the poem again.

 

When I go to sleep, I recite the poem like a prayer and when I wake up I recite the poem aloud again.

 

I then write out the poem again and when I write them, I say the characters out carefully, taking cake to make sure I am saying it with the right tone.

 

In Teochew, we have changing tones and I therefore have to use this when I recite the poem - and we have 8 tones, nasal tones, and changing tones. 

 

I then read the poem in Mandarin and you know Tang Dynasty poems sounds terrible in Mandarin, as it is not a Tang Dynasty language. One just cannot appreciate the sounds of the poems in Mandarin.

 

I wrote by the characters today the tones of all the characters. Tone 5 in Teochew has the highest tone and I therefore often drop the tone to tone 1 and I therefore practice saying all the tone 5 characters to make sure I do not drop the tone.

 

I am so happy to be learning Chinese. I am so pleased I am learning a Tang Dynasty poem, which I started last night. 

 

I am sad I cannot find people of light minds to share my learning experience and I am therefore so pleased to find this forum. 

[Ashlyn]

你好！I'm glad I found this forum! I've just started my second year of learning Mandarin at my high school. I learn four days a week for about an hour each morning. I joined the class because... well honestly my first choice for a second language was already booked full. 

I'm glad that I ended up with Chinese, however, because I instantly fell in love with the language and culture. Plus, my best friend was learning (and failing) to speak Chinese as well. I've been doing very well in my class and have been able to successfully tutor my friend, haha!

 

I decided that this was a good choice to pursue because many artists and designers hail from China, and that is the field I study in. In the art studio I work at, nearly one third of the children speak Mandarin as their first language. I think that being able to share a few words with new students in their native language will help them feel more comfortable in our loud and rowdy studio. It is also my dream to live in a certain state of mine that has a lot of asian influence and native Chinese speakers.

 

Lately, I've been trying to immerse myself in the language out of school, such as listening to songs (though I barely know the lyrics), watching videos and coming on here. I really hope to improve my Chinese speaking ability through extracurricular learning.

[Demonic_Duck]

I then read the poem in Mandarin and you know Tang Dynasty poems sounds terrible in Mandarin, as it is not a Tang Dynasty language. One just cannot appreciate the sounds of the poems in Mandarin.

 

Hmm. I think Tang Dynasty poetry sounds great in Mandarin, but I've never heard it in Teochew. You'll have to post a recording (in a new thread)!

[abcdefg]

#126 -- Dio-Dzu'l -- Could you post a copy of the poem?

 

Here's a good (free) source of poetry and some other fine classical Chinese literature that I've used. A pretty wide range of materials. Includes Du Fu 杜甫 and Li Bai 李白, two Tang Dynasty greats, as I'm sure you know.

 

http://www-personal....mpler.html#cl

 

One year my private teacher was an opera singer and poet. Helped me learn to recite some of these as a way to improve phrasing and tones. (We used Mandarin, not Teochew.) Sometimes listened together to the recitals of famous readers. I tried to imitate them; she made corrections. Plenty of these can be found on-line, some set to music.

[Susu]

Hi Dio-Dzu'I,

 

It was very interesting reading your post - it makes me think you might very interested in a BBC2 programme shown last night called The Ascent of Woman (episode #2).  Absolutely fascinating insight into Chinese culture and philosophy, one of the best I've seen on TV. It explores the impact of Confucianism on women, poetry and art. It also shows some fantastic interviews (in mandarin) of extremely eloquent academics that's possible to understand (for intermediate level or so)

 

Please do take a look at it if you have the opportunity: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0693dsh

[Glyn]

It started with studying Preying Mantis Kung Fu back in junior high school. I wanted to learn more about the culture that developed the martial art I was studying. Then in University I met and fell in love with an exchange student from China. She returned to China, and I went on with my life.

 

I renewed my interest while working on my Ph.D. and started studying a bit more, and then I found an opportunity to go to China to do some consulting work. I have been going to China about twice a year since then and I have been slowly improving my skills with the language.

 

China is home to over a billion people and has a long and fascinating history. The language is unlike any European language, and the culture is interesting and enjoyable. I have known may Chinese people in my life and nearly all of them have been wonderful people. (I know that EVERY culture has good and bad people, but my overall experience with China has been very good.)

 

China is a major economic and cultural power, and I feel that I should learn more about the country and the people. Learning the language will make it easier to learn about China and it will allow me to interact with more Chinese people.

[DachZanz]

Hey there all!  New user.

 

I started learning Chinese 2 years ago when I moved to China.  For the first year, I learned casually from friends and everyday situations.  After that, I decided to take it more seriously and now take classes and have a routine with which I'm doing well - in fact, one of my main motivations for learning Chinese was to develop a stronger work ethic.  I figure if I can do something like master Mandarin, I can do anything.  It help that I enjoy it very much (:

 

I just started a thread here - about what happens next.  My Chinese is decent and getting better, and I'd like to find a new job or see what doors open to me now that I'm getting my Chinese to the level of a real, usable skill.  But I have no idea what that might be.

[somethingfunny]

So this is where you come to find out who everyone really is...

 

I came to China to learn Chinese.  I learnt French for 5 years at high school and can hardly string a sentence together.  As a graduate student in the UK I was surrounded by people from around the world who could all speak multiple languages and I found it both a personal and national embarrassment.  The final straw came when a new post-doc joined our group from Belgium.  He spoke English to me, French to his French wife, and then Dutch or German depending on which of his family/friends he was talking to.  All fluently.  I thought about going to France to learn French and drink wine and eat croissants, but eventually decided on China.

 

After a few years I realised it was either go home and get a serious job, or stay here and get serious about learning Chinese to a level high enough to be of some use... once I go home and get a serious job.

 

After more than 4 years here I find the problems with Chinese society almost a daily struggle, but I love the language and the food, so I'm keeping my head above the water.  Also, a friend of mine once told me that he read an interview with Andrew Marr (noted British historian and political commentator), who when asked what his favourite book was, replied - without irony - "Sartre... In the original French of course".  One day I hope to respond to the same question with "庄子。。。中文版当然".

[Demonic_Duck]

Also, a friend of mine once told me that he read an interview with Andrew Marr (noted British historian and political commentator), who when asked what his favourite book was, replied - without irony - "Sartre... In the original French of course".

 

Unfortunately, he ruined the effect when the interviewer followed up with "Which book of Sartre's?", and he responded à la Sarah Palin: "Oh, all of them".

 

(Just kidding.)

[Angelina]

As a graduate student in the UK I was surrounded by people from around the world who could all speak multiple languages and I found it both a personal and national embarrassment. The final straw came when a new post-doc joined our group from Belgium. He spoke English to me, French to his French wife, and then Dutch or German depending on which of his family/friends he was talking to. All fluently. I thought about going to France to learn French and drink wine and eat croissants, but eventually decided on China.

Polish would have been a more obvious choice.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32167159

https://www.change.org/p/andrew-hall-chief-executive-officer-aqa-aqa-keep-the-a-level-polish-exam-after-2018

[somethingfunny]

Oh, I'd decided that I would definitely have to live in the country whose language I was going to be studying.  So, from what I've heard, Polish would most certainly not have been the more obvious choice.

 

(No offence to any Polish people, but I'd already been to China once and I don't think you guys have hotpot)

 

Edit: added disclaimer

[renzhe]

I don't think you guys have hotpot

Switzerland then!

 

You can learn Standard German, Swiss German, French, Italian and Retro-Roman, all in one country

[NotChinese]

 

 

I was surrounded by people from around the world who could all speak multiple languages and I found it both a personal and national embarrassment

 

Totally agree with this.

 

It's not necessarily our fault - I'm sure most natively English countries have similar issues (apart from maybe the south of the US where a lot may pick up Spanish, or the French part of Canada). But yeah, I always felt somehow inferior around people who could speak more languages. My housemate has Pakistani parents, he speaks English, Urdu and can read Arabic. And I remember once being drunk in London with my flatmates (Brazilian and Chinese), we were at a pub and ended we up chatting with a girl who I think was Russian, could also speak English, French and then got going in Mandarin with my two Chinese flatmates. I remember drunkenly rambling on about how inferior I felt, all the way home. Heh. This is when I didn't know any more Chinese these than, "erm, nee haaaooww"

 

Funny thing is, I'm back in the UK now and have restarted my university course (which isn't Chinese). There are loads of 中国留学生 here, and it's cool that I can now speak their language but for all intents and purposes I'm still just another English-speaking local to them, and their English communication is far better than my Chinese communication so... what was the point 

 

Well, no, pessimism aside, I'm really pleased to now have such a language under my belt. I consider myself bilingual and that's awesome. I'm actually more pleased with my HSK4 certificate than I am at the prospect of me passing this degree in physics that I'm finishing now. Language opens up a whole new world of adventure and discovery, and I'm part of that now 

[Flickserve]

@Notchinese

Could be a good time to trade off some language exchange or presentation skills for Chinese. Obviously some are going to be really good but go for the foundation students (if any).

[Leiya]

你好！我叫...Leiya. 

 

well I guess, because I have been interested in Chinese culture eversince I was a young girl (teens), and we always watch wuxia movies when we were just kids. Plus, I know some Filipino-Chinese people while growing up.

 

Chinese is the cradle of ancient civilization and has a very rich culture. Almost everything I really appreciate, from music, arts, calligraphy, movies, music. Just everything about them. Guess, a part of me has its Chinese side. Plus, the sleeping dragon is awakening now. It would be really helpful if one is knowledgeable in Chinese language.