Anyone here good in Mandarin?

[icemanliddell]

Nihao. I went to Shanghai for a business trip this past week and I'm so driven to learn the language. The trip was hard work but it was a trip I loved. And I kind of fell in love with the city. I might be visiting again next year. So huge pressure for me to learn the language.

Technically I don't have to, but I'd rather learn for convenience. Any tips for improving my Chinese proficiency?

A brief background: I've started learning Chinese ever since I was five but unfortunately, I have to learn four languages at once -- so there's English, Filipino my native tongue, Mandarin, and Fujian, another Chinese dialect that is the linga franca among the Chinese community in my country. I was so messed up with my Chinese I forgot most of them in my adult life. I was an honor student but I didn't know how to use the language properly. Yes, embarrassing. We weren't taught proper grammar, only rote memorization, phonetics, punctuation... I couldn't read a Chinese newspaper properly. I could recognize a few characters here and there....

 

[Shogun Rising]

Mandarin seems like it's rough to learn. I thought Japanese was hard, but I started learning it, and then I heard some Mandarin, and it sounded much harder, especially in terms of executing it correctly. In Japanese, you can also use Katakana and Hiragana as a crutch for writing if you've not learned many Kanji. It's my understanding that with Mandarin, it's straight up Kanji.

 

[Shogun Rising]

Nihao. I went to Shanghai for a business trip this past week and I'm so driven to learn the language. The trip was hard work but it was a trip I loved. And I kind of fell in love with the city. I might be visiting again next year. So huge pressure for me to learn the language.

Technically I don't have to, but I'd rather learn for convenience. Any tips for improving my Chinese proficiency?

A brief background: I've started learning Chinese ever since I was five but unfortunately, I have to learn four languages at once -- so there's English, Filipino my native tongue, Mandarin, and Fujian, another Chinese dialect that is the linga franca among the Chinese community in my country. I was so messed up with my Chinese I forgot most of them in my adult life. I was an honor student but I didn't know how to use the language properly. Yes, embarrassing. We weren't taught proper grammar, only rote memorization, phonetics, punctuation... I couldn't read a Chinese newspaper properly. I could recognize a few characters here and there....

For Japanese, I got like a 10X14 whiteboard, and I practiced the characters over and over while I watched television or was just hanging out. I also wrote different types of sentences and practiced the word endings. I always sound out sentences and words when I write them. The repetition of doing it over and over again really makes it second nature. It just comes down to finding time to contribute to doing it.

For hearing the language, there are so many resources on Youtube, you can hear people speaking different languages all the time. If you live in America, many universities are teaching Chinese. My university is kind of small, but they have several Chinese teachers there, and there are always little Chinese festivals where they cook, show subtitled movies, and have little celebrations for Chinese culture. I'm sure other universities probably have this as well. You could go to a few of these if they happen around you, and you could strengthen your language skills.

Don't know how much this helps, but I've found these things to be helpful in learning Japanese as well as Latin.

 

[lilianjie]

Hello,

Yes, my Mandarin Chinese is about fluent now. I can read, speak and write.
I lived in the South of China for 8 years and now live and work in Shanghai.

When I first moved out here and heard the locals speak I thought it sounded like two wild animals fighting. After you build up a decent vocabulary then learn the very basic grammar used to form sentences then you will be at a high level in no time.

I guess the most important thing is the environment that you are in. Living among a billion Chinese is much easier than a weekly class.

How about QQ messenger? Try and download that. Most of the users are Chinese.
Get a hot chick to be your online teacher.

If you moved out here, then a Chinese GF would solve all your problems. Good luck!

 

[guilineseguy]

Nothing works better than using it. I tried to learn some before I came here. But my pronounciation was terrible. But what was good about it. Once I had the accent down， I actually had a decent vocabulary for a foreigner who had been in china less than a year. So if you do have access to Mandarin speakers use it. Most chinese people are more than happy to help.

At least here in Guilin the local dialect is still somewhatly close to Mandarin, their is a slight tone change in most of it. And if you are not a native chinese speaker you can pick it up a bit easier than they can. Fujian dialect is something entirely different.

But good luck man. I hope it works out for you. My Mandarin now is pretty good. My reading is pretty good. (Pretty much was able to read a few stories in the paper I was reading on the bus the other night, nothing to brag about, but better than i thought i could do) But once I get it real good i am going to learn the Xinjiang dialect. The muslim guys. I have alot of friends who are from that area, and their chinese is only about as good as mine, and some of them don't speak it barely at all. Plus it sounds bad ass. And Xinjiang girls are pretty hot.

 

[guilineseguy]

Hello,

Yes, my Mandarin Chinese is about fluent now. I can read, speak and write.
I lived in the South of China for 8 years and now live and work in Shanghai.

When I first moved out here and heard the locals speak I thought it sounded like two wild animals fighting. After you build up a decent vocabulary then learn the very basic grammar used to form sentences then you will be at a high level in no time.

I guess the most important thing is the environment that you are in. Living among a billion Chinese is much easier than a weekly class.

How about QQ messenger? Try and download that. Most of the users are Chinese.
Get a hot chick to be your online teacher.

If you moved out here, then a Chinese GF would solve all your problems. Good luck!

Solid advice. Ignore my post. Where were you before in the south.Guangxi dialects all sound like they are arguing.

And yes hot chinese girls are always glad to help. And a good way to "get to know you" which alot of them like to do. Nothing better than a good chinese chick. (at least so far)

 

[lilianjie]

Solid advice. Ignore my post. Where were you before in the south.Guangxi dialects all sound like they are arguing.

And yes hot chinese girls are always glad to help. And a good way to "get to know you" which alot of them like to do. Nothing better than a good chinese chick. (at least so far)

Hi guilineseguy,

I lived in a place called Futian District in Shenzhen City. I later found out that the "two wild animals fighting" sound was actually Cantonese. lol.

 

[guilineseguy]

Hi guilineseguy,

I lived in a place called Futian District in Shenzhen City. I later found out that the "two wild animals fighting" sound was actually Cantonese. lol.

Pretty sure I have been to the area. I like ShenZhen. But it is almost as expensive as Hong Kong now. Now Guangzhou that is a city I am starting to take to very well.

And Cantonese is on my list of languages, but next is Uygur the muslim guys from the western parts of china speak it, they tell me it is really close to turkish. Then Cantonese. But if I move to Guangzhou that will happen sooner than later. I do know how to say some nasty shit in Cantonese though.

And my Guilin hua is actually better than my Mandarin. But that gap is closing very rapidly. My current girlfriend who is also from Guilin, has perfect Mandarin, and speaks excellent English. SoI am learning alot.

 

[icemanliddell]

Yes I have QQ, my dad is using it but not me. Hehe. Maybe I should start using it.
What's your QQ account, btw?

I had a bad experience in ShenZhen and Guangzhou because the tour guide was milking us with friendship stores rather than take us to the places that matter. At least I was able to visit Dr. Sun Yat Sen's memorial. I admire peace makers. I didn't like Hong Kong either despite of relatives living there. It was too cramped for me. I also visited Jacky Chan's Jewelry Store. Is it true that it folded up?

Who has visited Xia Men? I miss the gelatin eels.

 

[redaxe]

My tip for learning Mandarin is that very early on in the learning process, like the first couple weeks, you MUST master the pronunciation and especially the tones. You need to get a videotape of someone speaking Chinese words properly and just repeat them after the recording over and over until they sound exactly like the recording.

When you get to a more advanced level, you can have a great vocabulary and Chinese people will still not be able to understand you if your pronunciation and tones are shitty.

I met seniors in college who were majoring in Chinese and said "Yeah, uh... I don't really do tones..." Idiots.

 

[Groundswell]

When I first moved out here and heard the locals speak I thought it sounded like two wild animals fighting.....

After having been here a year, many locals still sound like that, especially security guards, taxi drivers, car park attendants, etc.

You might learn Mandarin, but Shanghainese or other dialects can be tough to decipher. Also, for a long time, you might be able to read, write, and speak Mandarin at a much higher level than you can hear and comprehend it. Chinese often speak quickly and you will hear several or many words as one or a few. It takes a while to hear the breaks. And same for the locals hearing and comprehending your Mandarin (except yours will be slow).

My best advice is be patient and practice using the language in retail situations and cafes. It's a good way to get your chops and to be corrected - and make friends. Everybody in China is your teacher.