Chinese |
|
ÐÐÐÐÐ |
Probably one of the most fascinating languages
in the world. Click for the pop-up window "10 reasons to learn Chinese" |
Introduction
- ©www.micheloud.com |
Usefulness
Definition... |
Obviously, speaking
chinese is only useful when dealing with chinese people, but there are about a billion of
them and the country is opening up. You can argue that this is the language of the future,
with huge untapped markets for so many things that the need for Western people speaking
chinese can only go up. |
Beauty
Definition... |
The spoken language is
usually not considered as beautiful by Western people, although you can't deny the
attraction of the writing system which has led more than one to learn the language. |
Chic factor
Definition... |
Learning chinese is
considered so difficult and so few people actually do it that it seems that if you say
that you speak it the only attitude you're likely to meet is disbelief. Too bad because on
the face of it, this is probably the most difficult language you can learn (even the great
Ziad Fazah says so), so it should also be the most chic.
|
Speakers
Definition... |
About 800 mio speak it
as their mother tongue, plus 200 mio as a second language. Keep in mind that all the
chinese languages in China are written more or less the same and that if you can read one,
you can read all. |
Countries
Definition... |
China, but you should
be able to read newspapers from Hong Kong and Taiwan (see below) |
Regional
variations
Definition... |
This is where it
becomes tricky, because mandarin chinese is only spoken in mainland China, not in Taiwan
nor in Honk Hong. That means that outside China, you are likely to meet people who speak
another dialect, like cantonese. |
Travel
Definition... |
Travelling with
chinese is limited to China, but what a country it is ! Sea, desert, mountains, forests,
huge cities, just name it and you'll find a passionating chinese version. |
Culture
Definition... |
Multi millenarian
culture, with litterature a thousand years old, castles, palaces, poetry, calligraphy,
excellent cuisine. |
|
m |
Difficulty
- ©www.micheloud.com |
Phonemes
Definition... |
The lesser of the two
main difficulties of chinese : you have some strange consonants that you must get right,
but when you succeed, you have to cope with the four tones of mandarin. The same syllabe
can be pronounced in 4 different manners (rising, flat, etc...), with the corresponding 4
sets of meanings. A friend of mine which is learning mandarin told me that this was not so
bad, and that the simplicity of the syntax largely compensated it. |
Syntax
Definition... |
If there is one easy
thing about chinese, it's the syntax. No flexion (words never change, verbs have one
unique form) and a simple word order makes you feel as if you were speaking petit
nègre. |
Vocabulary
Definition... |
Words never change,
and thus complex words are made of apposed shorter ones (roots). |
Orthograph
Definition... |
Learning chinese, you
understand better why linguist speak of a language as the spoken part only : there's no
relationship whatsoever between what you hear (the word) and what you write (the
character). So the chinese have a way a writing how a character is to be pronounced, this
is pin-yin, a phonetical alphabet based on our own alphabet. The problem is even worse because of the Revolution : where Mao
simplified most characters, people in Taiwan kept the complex character. So you can have
two ways of writing a character, and 5 ways of reading it (one for each main dialect).
|
Overall
difficulty
Definition... |
I rate this language
as ÐÐÐÐÐ, that
is, very difficult to learn, because of the tonal system, and complex ideographic
writing. In my opinion this is the most difficult language you can learn, and I sincerely
compliment those who manage to do it . |
Time needed
Definition... |
Three to four years
seems safe if you want to learn to read, but you can speak in one year. |
|
m |
Learning
material - ©www.micheloud.com |
Books
and tapes
Definition... |
There's no excellent
package for chinese, although we found a very good one. Pimsleur Speak and Read Essential Chinese, has only one volume, 30
lessons, 15 hours, and can only be a good if not cheap introduction to the oral
language. You can buy it from Simon and Schuster from Amazon :
The Foreign Service Institute has a huge
modular package it uses to teach chinese to US military intelligence officers. There are 3
basic modules and then 10 specific modules and three optional ones. Each one normally
comes with (good) tapes and a "book" (rather a bunch of typewritten sheets
clipped together). This is the best package we have found for the self learner, with over
150 one-hour tapes. The total cost is stratospheric because they are made on the demand by
the NTIS. The total package can set you back by $1700. If you want to go ahead, you can go
to the NTIS website http://www.ntis.gov and search for
"Standard Chinese : a Modular Approach".
Audioforum sells a good stack of flash cards with about 700
basic characters in both simplified and traditional script for about 30$.
If you are looking for a dictionary, look well. You have to
decide wether you want simplified or traditional characters, and then try to find one with
the pin yin for every variation, not just the basic character.
(no, I neither work for Pimsleur nor for the FSI) |
Schools
Definition... |
I can offer no advice
on this at this time. |
Links
|
If you're serious
about chinese, you'll soon need a software to type it correctly. NJStar sells an excellent
one, where you can type the pin-yin and it shows you all the possible characters for the
sound you typed. |