Why learn chinese?

[krinkle]

I really want to learn chinese-am fascinated actually by all things chinese-I have tapes and a book to learn writing-it interests me very much.

A few questions. What is the best resource for a total beginner to get started with?

Also, what is the benefit of learning it in the world of work? Any?

even if the answer is no to the last questions I still would like to learn chinese

thanks!

k.

[盤古]

For a beginner, it's best to take a class at your university or local community college if they offer Chinese courses. If not then many local Chinese schools offer classes for foreign adults. It doesn't hurt to make some Chinese-speaking friends either because without practice, what you learn in class simply won't be retained as you obviously don't live in a Chinese-speaking society. Environment and practice are very important.

As for benefits for learning Chinese for work, that completely depends on what kind of job you have. I have a friend who works for a textile company that needs constant communication between the HQ in Beijing and its clients in the U.S., therefore he acts as a bridge. To him, being able to speak Chinese is VERY important. However, not every job is like that.

[novemberfog]

Best resources for learning? If you have books and tapes, I would think you should get a dictionary next. And if you are studying traditional characters, go ahead and do yourself a favor--learn pinyin and zhuyin fuhao. Zhuyin fuhao has opened up so many doors for me. You might consider buying a grammar reference too. One thing that annoyed be about studying Chinese at first is that the textbooks didn't really feel like they had "grammar" studies. But Chinese does have a very unique and special grammar. So I like to have my references (grammar, dictionaries) and then my texts (mostly for reading). When you are studying a new grammar in your text, you can check it in the grammar reference too, which helps to clear things up. Anyways, those are my thoughts.

By the way, congratulations on your choice to study Chinese. I promise you that you will not regret it. It is challenging, yet so very rewarding. It is also addictive, and I am sure others on this board will agree.

Benefit at work? To be honest, I haven't found a real benefit myself. But then again I don't work in a Chinese-speaking country.. But at my company, occasionally a call comes from the office in the PRC. And since the receptionist only speaks Japanese she transfers all foreign language calls to my desk. (She thinks the Chinese calls are in English, it always suprises me to hear "wei?") So being able to speak with people from the PRC office is nice.

Seriously though, I think the benefit would be that if you took a trip to China, you could get along fine outside the office. You can go to the delicious shops, talk to cabbies and find their scoops, and generally be stress free. Who knows you might be able to take a post abroad as well, that would be challenging. I'm sure if you get to the fluent level then there are many benefits at work. It puts you in a special niche that could be valued by your company.

But let me just say this, learning a foreign language is always something of value. And I would imagine that employers are always happy to have employees who challenge themselves. I'd rather have a regular guy who challenges himself outside of the office rather than an employee who just goes home and doesn't do anything. If you're working, you might see if your company has an education package. I know some companies in the USA will subsidize part of the cost of Spanish lessons for employees willing to study Spanish.

[johnmck]

Regardless of how employers representatives say how much foreign languages are needed, I have found that the knowing foreign languages does not give much of an increase in salary. Not when you compare the level of effort required to get to a standard where you can use it for work.

The work benefit of knowing a foreign language is it does open doors to jobs that you could not otherwise apply for which can lead to more interesting, challenging work.

[盤古]

Excessive Quoting Removed

Very true. Most jobs that require the knowledge of a foreign language tend to not require much else, which is why there is not much of a salary increase...

However, there are times when a job does have an increased salary if you do know foreign languages assuming it also requires additional skills.

[krinkle]

thank you all! i am going to dust off my books and tapes and get started.

there are no colleges nearby that teach chinese-i checked that out awhile ago-what about online schools?

i agree that challenging yourself is important - and to always continue to do it is the hard part-it is easyto just come home and vegetate!

if it helps with work fine if not fine too-thanks again! and yes i want to visit china more than once and see the beautiful places and eat the fantastic food - what is in the states is good but i am sure it pales by comparison.

k

[johnmck]

You can do a lot without going on a course. If you get a good course book/CDs, grammar book and dictionary that will get you a lot of the way there (for reviews of courses do a search on this forum), I would recommend learning characters, pinyin, speaking and listening at the same time. There is a lot of resources on the net (look up the links section of the forum), dictionaries, free software tools, etc, if you cannot find the answers there, there is always this forum. If you have ADSL (broadband) you can watch chinese TV (often with chinese subtitles) and even speak with a penpal in China (you help him with English, he helps you with Chinese).

John.

[krinkle]

You can do a lot without going on a course. If you get a good course book/CDs, grammar book and dictionary that will get you a lot of the way there (for reviews of courses do a search on this forum), I would recommend learning characters, pinyin, speaking and listening at the same time. There is a lot of resources on the net (look up the links section of the forum), dictionaries, free software tools, etc, if you cannot find the answers there, there is always this forum. If you have ADSL (broadband) you can watch chinese TV (often with chinese subtitles) and even speak with a penpal in China (you help him with English, he helps you with Chinese).

Thanks John-the book I have is Reading and Writing Chinese by William McNaughton

the tape i have and the book with it is "Colloquial Chinese" by PC Tung and DE Pollard. I will also check the links section.

K.