Mandarin Chinese?

Question

I'm thinking of taking Chinese (Mandarin) as part of my International Business course at University. Could anyone tell me how hard/easy the language is, or a preferable alternative?

Answer 1

Chinese is good. I'm Chinese (Mandarin too) and right now, I think it's a REAL pain but I know it'll help a lot later on. I think it'll be hard if you just started, but then you should still try it. It might really help alot. Or you can try Spanish..?

Answer 2

I'd say go for it! Like any other language, it is not easy to master, and definitely not a short-term, one-shot thing. Chinese, because it does not make use of alphabets, would be a whole new experience and opens a new field language wise.

As for the characters that many fear they cannot memorise, there is actually an origin for every word and a ways to remember the word. For example anything that's got to do with water (eg ice, lake, river, sea, bath) will have a certain structure as part of the character. So it'll be very recognisable and easier to memorise if you actually know what each part means. I wouldn't tell you it's easy and cheat your feelings when later you tear your hair out carving the thousands of characters into your head. But it is not that hard if you have the will and interest to learn. Serious.

Besides, China, as you know, is a rising nation on a global scale and so many of the business dealings and communications will be done in chinese in the future, so I'd say it'll be pretty darn useful if you can master the language using your uni years. In fact, it is the language used by the most number of people in the world. It'll be fun, trust me. Good luck with whatever is your final decision, chinese or not!

Answer 3

Not all Chinese people speak Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the official spoken language of China. There are lots of dialects in China. But most people understand Mandarin.

Answer 4

So you think maybe Chinese. It is hard. First of all there are about 500 to 1,000 ideogram that you must learn to read the simplest text. That should take you a few years. Then there is the tones in Chinese. Each word has a tone that you must use to pronounce it or otherwise you will not be understood.
I don't think the grammar is all that bad. But, I haven't been at it for long. I took 3 semesters in college and it isn't something that you retain. You need to be around Chinese who will help you with the pronounciation. I had a Chinese girl friend and we spoke English for two years. It is a language that you need to hear often and let it sink in over a few years time. And, it is one that you have to actively work at and put in a lot of time. If you don't have it; best to forget Chinese.

Answer 5

Don't take Chinese unless you're actually planning on using it on a daily basis in your future carreer. I am a white American who has successfully mastered Mandarin, but the time investment is huge! It would take at least two years of university study at home as part of your business couse plus a year abroad to even get functional for doing business in Chinese. I studied Mandarin at university for three years (including a year study abroad), and have been living and working in China for the three years since I graduated, and I still have trouble with business transactions. It's very easy to forget if you're just taking it as an elective language, with no day-to-day usage. Your heart really needs to be in it if you want to learn Chinese- it's not a pastime, it's a way of life!
Hope this helps!
Jen

Answer 6

It's very difficult in some areas and very easy in others..The most important things are getting the tones correct and the word order correct. Tones (there are 4 and a neutral in mandarin) --a syllable can have a completely different meaning for each one....where a word appears in a sentence also changes it's meaning..ie qing at the beginning of a sentence means please..but elsewhere in the sentence it may mean that I'm paying for everything....I've been learning it for years...It does have some things about it that are really simple like days of the week, months etc....but there are other parts that are more difficult...because there is no tense in mandarin...there is no past, present or future as there is in english...the verbs never conjugate...there are indicators that an action has been completed, etc,and there are no plurals (except pronouns)...little words like le..can have so many different meanings in so many different sentences/situations...good luck.
It's the most widely spoken language in the world and set to become one of the most important...Just a final word..I tried to learn mandarin by learining pinyin and ignoring characters..I feel now that that was a mistake...the characters themselves lend so much to the mean of words that I'm at a point where I virtually have to learn it.

Answer 7

Language is HARD anyways...

I think Mandarin is very important. Since you're taking a Business course learning a language will really help. You can go to China without having to translate!! =)

Tip: I think Mandarin is pretty hard as I know Mandrin too. If you are fluent enough in Mandarin, you can always other dialects such as Cantonese or Teochew etc. If you know Mandarin well enough, it'll be much easier for you to learn Japanese!! If you know Japanese well enough, it's easier to learn Korean!!

3 languages mastered... >_>

All the best!!

Answer 8

Chinese is not phonic, and as most western language is mainly phonic base, it may be a mental block for westerner in the begining.

However, I do have a friend from UK (Englishman) who speaks perfect Chinese (Mandarin and other dialect). I remember the first time he speaks in the church pulpit, and my eyes was reading the bible, I really got a shock when I turn up head to see a white man speaking in perfect Mandarin!!??!!

First and far most, learning a language is also picking up a new culture. In US, many people understanding of Chinese is wrong. Thus, if u pick up this new language, you may need to be open in your mind to accept new things.

I am picking up thai now. I am suffering like anything. But I will persist on. So, you too can make it, if you try.

Answer 9

If you decided in studying to speak Chinese then you must now that the ideal alternative is a Program for Mandarin.

Answer 10

You find it pretty hard at first but once you get grammar, vocabulary, etc. Than is all a walk in the park.

Might be hard if you haven't had experience learning other languages. If you have taken Japanese (Is very similiar to Mandarin, Hanji is basically Chinese writing), or have learned a few phrase, you should be able to understand a bit easier.