UPSB v3
Off-topic / Help me learn Chinese
Want to have conversations within 1 to 1.5 years
-
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:11:24
I have never learnt a language before and never tried (just throwing that out there)
My situation:
I have a shit load of Chinese friends n(including my 2nd best friend) which will prolly help a lot
They always speak Chinese (as some fail at English) and it's very annoying to miss the jokes, conversations and "in the moment" Jokes (not to mention just communicating in general).
I'm going to try hard to learn JUST the speaking part of chinese for now (I can get written later) and I want to understand the jokes, contribute to the conversations, be "in the moment" and communicate. I want to get this good within 1 - 1.5 years.
Is it possible with enough work?
How much work?
Do you have any tips?
Help in general?
Thanks
-
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:13:36
CO-KNEE_CHEW-WAH AR_RE_GOT_TOE
-
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:14:51
this IS possible, but it is MUCH harder to learn chinese any later than early childhood.
you are probably going to have to work super hard on:
-tones
-grammar
-words/definitions (many words are homonomous and have multiple definitions) -
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:16:39
If you have Chinese friends this may be easier.
Try spending time with them where they speak Chinese only. You might not have to focus on writing but I sugest you learn a bit of the basics and continue a nice base so you aren't frustrated later, plus it's intresting.
Of course study abroad is always the best i think as I know some people who ahve been studying chinese for over 10 years but aren't fluent to the least, well they're alright but bad at putting sentences together and understanding speech, (they're really amazing at word recognition written though...)
I doubt you will be sufficient in 1- 1.5 years, however if you spend this time for instance, only using chinese and having people speak chinese to you you may be semi-fluent by the end....however it's not only the language but also the culture.... -
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:45:10
chinese is fucking hard to learn as a 3rd or a second language because if u learn it late, its hard to adapt to the grammar and tenses and everything is very different from english, close to opposite. i think the best way to start is to startlearning conversational chinese, then from then on , learn from your friends, as they speak, ask them for meanings of words and stuff, but dont keep asking or they might see you as an asshole. but its gonna be hard, u need to be patient. i have learnt malay which is generally QUITE easy because it is similar to english, and french is also rather easy because the tenses and stuff is very similar to english. the problem with learning chinese is that, you cannot learn just the pronunciations, but you have to learn the words, which is very very very hard. think of studying a dictionary...... it'll take a long time.
note: google translate is a no go. -
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:50:53
im sorry but you will not understand chinese jokes within 1.5 years, jokes are cultural things that cannot be learned through language alone.
humor is one of the hardest thing to understand and the true mark of fluency IMO. -
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 05:56:29
chinese is pretty fucking hard to learn. like zombo said, jokes are more of a cultural thing, and i dont think ull get it in 1.5 years. maybe spanish?
-
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 08:10:59
Boshi: Nah I'm learning it to talk more with my Chinese friends xD I Have no Spanish friends :/
I'm not talking about cultural jokes or anything btw
Just stuff like "WTF, why do you have a white stain on your pants?!" *lols xD
lots of discouraging comments so far but I can't be stopped xD We'll see how far I get -
Date: Sun, Feb 21 2010 10:46:51
chinese is hard to learn, but just keep talking chinese with ur friends, even if u dont understand them