Chinese Lessons Online - Why Learning Mandarin isn't as difficult as you think

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Why Mandarin Chinese isn’t as difficult as you think

First things first...
• Where is this coming from?
• I’m a native speaker of English and Chinese
• Wanna shed a bit on learning Chinese
A (bigger) pic of me! :)
(I’m from HK, btw)

First things first...
• Address 2 main questions today, e.g.
• Why do people think Chinese is difficult?
• Any ways to make it easier to learn?

Why Mandarin is hard

• The language isn’t hard
• Grammar is much simpler than English
• Very predictable rules
• Few exceptions too! (e.g. spelling, conjugations,
phrasal verbs, etc.A LOT to learn here)

• So why do people think it is?
• 3 reasons, really

• Reason 1: Characters
• The most complex writing system across all
languages
• Every character is unique
• More than 100,000 characters
• English only has 26!

• Reason 2: Literature
• Literary flair
• Study a year of Chinese - still find Chinese
newspapers difficult to read
• Study half a year of English, you’re breezing
through English newspapers

• Chinese novels are ridiculously difficult to read
• Intricate shades of meaning impossible to derive
unless you are taught or native
• Lots of cultural inferences that confuse even
native speakers
• With English, you can derive meaning of imagery,
plot, characters bit by bit and build up

• Reason 3:Writing
• Question at hand isn’t difficulty...
• ...but one of standards
• Chinese writing = grossly higher standards than
English

• Chinese people are perfectionists here
• Not only does it have to be technically correct
• Can’t use substitution as in English (e.g. He’s
really nice - just replace nice with decent to give
variety) - descriptors + nouns are fixed
• Also have to be rhythmic (i.e. it sounds
structured, e.g. Part A; Part B.The structure of
these have to be symmetric.)

Why Mandarin isn’t hard

Debunking these myths
• Reason 1: Characters system
• Biggest debunker...scope!
• 100k words in existence...do you need ‘em all?
• Probably not...
• So how many?
• Only 1,200 words!

• Reason 2: Literature
• It takes a while longer to understand
newspapers
• But why?
• Not to do with a lack of technical proficiency,
but cultural discrepancies
• True that learning curve is steeper, but only in
the beginning

• Literature, poems, archaic Chinese is very
difficult to decode + almost like learning
Chinese v2.0
• But do you need it?
• Probably not...okay to skip it and come back to
it if interested

• Reason 3:Writing
• Practice makes perfect
• Isn’t that how you learnt English writing as well?
• Always the most difficult aspect of any language
• Because it takes time

• Ask yourself - what proficiency do you need?
• Emails / SMS (friends) - pretty easy
• Technical reports (business / job) - fairly easy
• Newspaper / magazine / editorial reviews -
moderate difficulty
• Novelist - very tough
• Write in archaic Chinese - reserved for the
erudite folks

Ways to make Mandarin easier

Making Mandarin easier
• These might sound strange, but I think you need
these
• (1) Understanding of structure
• (2) A plan

• What’s structure?
• How the language works, i.e.
• (1) The pinyin system
• (2) Basic grammar counterparts (to your
native language)
• (3) Stroke order

• (4) Radicals (positioning and meaning)
• (5) Functional vocabulary

• As you can see, I advocate a spoken based strategy
• I order the four “pillars” of language this way
• Speaking
• Listening
• Reading
• Writing

• A plan?
• Be very realistic about how much time you have
each day
• Be consistent
• Best if you have a tutor / course to guide you
through
• Example on next slide

Month Goals Tasks
1 Pinyin Master all 400 sounds of pinyin
2
Strokes +
radicals
Learn 12 strokes, 10 stroke rules, and
40 most commonly used radicals
3 Basic grammar
Learn 15 Chinese grammar
points + compare to English
4 Basic grammar
Learn 15 more Chinese
grammar points
5
Common
expressions
Learn 2 - 3 phrases a day
6 Vocabulary
Start reading to increase
vocabulary

• Do I recommend a tutor?
• Yes...and no
• Yes for when you’re more advanced
• Great to get real time, instant feedback
• More fun!

• No because...
• The problem isn’t in the idea...it’s in finding a
compatible one
• Great Chinese + Bad English?
• Great English + Bad Chinese?
• Great Chinese + English + bad attitude?

• Bilingual + doesn’t know how to teach?
• Chinese + English + bad pronunciation?
• ...you get the idea.

• Seen LOTS of those
• Not to be perfect, but difficult to find a good tutor.
• Main reason is because Chinese culture is
fundamentally very different to Western culture
• Difficult to establish equal grounds

• Learning by yourself?
• I recommend this for the basics (beginners to
intermediate)
• Cover a LOT more ground on your own (basics
are always easy to grasp and very little room for
error)

• What about resources?
• I recommend online, but feel free to stick to
books if you like the tangible feel better!
• Click below to read my review of Rocket
Chinese, an online Chinese course - I’ve posted
a video demo + video review + textual review

Conclusion

Conclusion
• Mandarin isn’t difficult to learn
• If you aren’t aiming to be the next Du Fu of
China
• If you’re looking to use Chinese to make friends
• If you’re looking to talk in Chinese in daily social
situations

For more tips on Chinese culture, learning and my
recommended resources, please visit
http://rocket-chinese-review.com/

！谢谢
(Thanks!)

Chinese Lessons Online - Why Learning Mandarin isn't as difficult as you think

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