snugtop Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 On your own? In China? How long till you could converse w/ native speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 No, not Chinese, but several other languages. Do you already know a foreign language? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 whats Chinese? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 whats Chinese? It's easier to learn a 2nd foreign language once you've learned your first. Also, it is easier to learn a language in the same family then one in a totally different one. Chinese is one of the more difficult ones for an English-speaker to learn, along with Arabic. It also helps to have a decent understanding of grammatical concepts, and often you have to learn a foreign language or two to get that since our schools don't do a very good job of it in the states, coupled with the fact that our language is "impoverished" as very weakly inflected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I think he snidely means that there is not a "Chinese" but rather Mandarin and Cantonese etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordop Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) . Edited June 18, 2021 by jordop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I think he snidely means that there is not a "Chinese" but rather Mandarin and Cantonese etc. yeah, and a few hundred dialects. I assume the thread originator knows whether he is learning Mandarin or Cantonese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugtop Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 In fact, there is a "Chinese" -- at least according to the Chinese government--Mandarin is the official language. Cantonese is a dialect soken by a very small portion of the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 yeah, and a few hundred dialects. I assume the thread originator knows whether he is learning Mandarin or Cantonese. and in my experience local speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese or Taiwanese are a bit different. I'm lost in any one of the 3. The other question would be age; the brain has difficulty adapting to some of the sounds as it ages. I've difficulty with the structure of anything not Italic or Germanic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 The other question would be age; the brain has difficulty adapting to some of the sounds as it ages. tonality presents special challenges in learning eastern/asian languages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Comes in very handy in certain areas of Vancouver . . . Don’t you mean Vantucky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Do you have perfect pitch, snugs? And since when are you a "he"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 In fact, there is a "Chinese" -- at least according to the Chinese government--Mandarin is the official language. Cantonese is a dialect soken by a very small portion of the country. officially there is no Taiwan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Eastasia has always been our enemy. Eurasia is our friend and always has been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertlush Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 You don't need to learn another language. If they don't understand you just speak louder until they get it. Works all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lI1|1! Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 i'll have a #7 usually works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertlush Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 ha ha, and if that fails then pointing and grunting generally gets the message across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 But in Chinese when you speak louder it means something totally different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirwoofalot Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Comes in very handy in certain areas of Vancouver . . . Don’t you mean Vantucky? I thought it was called HongCouver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirwoofalot Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 In fact, there is a "Chinese" -- at least according to the Chinese government--Mandarin is the official language. Cantonese is a dialect soken by a very small portion of the country. officially there is no Taiwan Officially? According to the Tawanese they are their own country. According to Beijin Taiwan is a provence, and not a nathion state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirwoofalot Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 ha ha, and if that fails then pointing and grunting generally gets the message across. Ha ha in the Chinese culture has MANY differant meanings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugtop Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 Do you have perfect pitch, snugs? And since when are you a "he"? In Chinese the word pronounced "tah" refers to both man and woman. My tones leave something to be desired. I think I will have to move to China to make real progress. I'm thinking Kunming. Anyone been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Tah sounds like ta ta in English, but ta ta is pretty unambiguous when used in context. It means goodbye. But when you pluralize the phrase, it has a different meaning altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Not Chinese, but funny story while we were in Vietnam a few years back... I asked our adoption agency laison guy how to order the local beer, a brand called "333" (perhaps the Vietnamese favor numbers for brands - the national cigarette was called "555" - go figure). So he says it's called "ba ba ba", the number "3" being spoken as "ba". Seemed simple enough, right? Well, I'm gonna be all local and so I walk into a bar and sidle up to the counter and proceed to order "ba bah baa", to which the astonished barkeep looks at me with some level of surprise and alarm. A national who was present, and who happened to speak very good English, busts out laughing at me. I turn to him with that international look of "What?? Did I just fuck something up and come off looking really stoopid?" He comes over, and through his fits of snickering, tells me that I just ordered "three old women." Seems if you don't get just the right inflection, tonality, and hold the vowel just right and long (or not long) enough, you end up with quite a different order. I laughed heartily, and bought myself, the national, and the barkeep a round of 333 - the beer, that is! What a trip... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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