So, Who speaks Chinese?

Well, I've been married to a Chinese girl for about 6 years now. Been to China 5 or 6 times since 2005. I spent some time getting a little tutoring in Mandarin, but only used Pinyin, I didn't learn any characters. Since I work at a university, I decided to take advantage of that and I enrolled in the beginning Mandarin class this semester.

It's killing me!

It's a 5 semester hour class, so I expected a little more effort, but this is ridiculous. Class 4 days a week, listening comprehension and writing every night, and weekend tasks to complete. The biggest problem I'm having is that I can easily understand everything the professor speaks in class; I can formulate answers in Mandarin, and I can pretty much recognize every character we've learned so far when I am reading.

The big problem is that when I sit down to write, I can't remember how to write 95% of the characters I've painstakingly practiced writing every night at home. It's driving me nuts.

So, to make a long whine even longer. How many of you folks living in China are fluent in reading and writing Mandarin (Not to mention the endless dialects out there)? Up till now I've relied on my wife to be my translator, and it's worked OK, but the day is going to come when I won't have her around as I travel.

We're going to (eventually) "retire" to China in a few years. Am I unnecessarily beating myself with this attempt to become literate, or can one live nicely without more than a few phrases?

Cheers,

Dan K.

Hi Dan, Greetings from Beijing.
I can't speak for others, but like you I struggled for years without being able to recognise a single character. Being dyslexic is an additional nightmare I have to cope with.
My breakthrough came when I discovered the Heisig book - Remembering Simplified Hanzi - it is a series of standardised mnemonics designed specifically for adult readers. This, and using a flashcard app on the iphone has enabled me to start learning and remembering much more efficiently.
Most people seem to agree that the first 50-100 characters are painful. After that it all comes a little easier.

Lobotomous (Nice name. . .),

Thanks for the input. I looked up that author, and I'll check out the book. Of course, I have the added weight that my professor is Taiwanese and insists that during this first semester we must learn only traditional characters! I can't believe the number of strokes some of these characters require as compared to simplified. I'll get my hands on that book (There is a traditional version of the book) and see if it helps. Guess I just need to hang in there and hope for the best.

Cheers and 謝謝，

Dan K.

hakka, catonese and a little understanding of mandarin but i cant reade simplified chinese writing Traditional all the way

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kennon

cant reade simplified chinese writing Traditional all the way

---

I don't think writing in traditional is essential. I learnt simplified at primary school, but also can read traditional writing with little effort (Don't know this would work for native-English speakers too:lol8:).

Besides, Dan K, you were staying in mainland, you would need Simplified Chinese.

Hi Dan,
I think what you need is a flashcard program, but you don't need an iphone. There's a program called anki. You can download a shared deck that follows the Heisig book, but also, check out this >> http://backsla.sh/anki/panki
I think it's missing character stroke order and radicals, but I really like that it tests your listening, reading, writing, and comprehension using for each character you introduced.
Good luck.

traditional characters :lol8:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/character_builder.asp

well i haven't tried to reade simplified before so perhaps i can reade it but ehh not really much simplified chinese writing over here in the UK as there mostly southern chinese

Thanks everyone for the input. This first semester we're only learning traditional characters. The prof. says subsequent semesters will introduce the simplified character set. I've downloaded avery available flashcard program and bookmarked every useful language web site I've found. I'm realizing that it simply boils down to rote memorization. I'm getting to the point where I can figure out some of the characters meanings based upon the included radical. So far, the most helpful tool is also the lowest tech one. I downloaded and printed old-fashioned cardboard flash cards and I carry them around all day, studying them whenever I get a few free moments.

Boy this is hard work.

Cheers,

Dan K.

G'day.
Luckily for me I studied mandarin in high school for three years.
Pinyin is essential! I enjoyed speaking, and writing characters, but alas listening and understanding was my biggest hurdle.
I can recognize foundation level Simplified characters, I do recall the scary complexity of traditional character sets.
Now I am here on the ground, I have recalled enough to get me by in most situations. But as mentioned, dialects are a new level.
I can go shopping, ask prices, understand replys, (Not the number hand gestures!?) say thats too expensive ;)
Daily interaction, repetition, learning a couple of new words or phrases each day seems to be the only way.
I have found watching TV with the wife, listening and asking questions is also a good way to learn.

I fall short trying to program the cars GPS system; I can draw the characters, but apparently not fast enough! ;)
All is told. Over and out.