Learning Mandarin – Difficulties and Opportunities

Mandarin language research is problematic. Mostly because speak mandarin chinese is varies greatly from other languages that people in west have aimed to get to grips with before trying to learn Chinese, not because learning Mandarin is much more complicated. Mandarin is strange in many ways. The writing system is obviously completely different. There is no alphabet just as the one that Germanic and Latin derivates have. Instead a graphic defines every word; or rather a sequence of what is strokes. For example, three stokes that together make a square means mouth, one combination of strokes that regarding depicts a woman holding a kid means mother as a result on. But right after don’t end on that point. The grammar is largely made up of the items is called particles. For example; adding a syllable pronounced ma after a sentence turns it suitable question, adding guo after a sentence means that going without shoes happens in there are. Combining these basic examples; you go shanghai guo ma? Communicates the question: an individual have gone to Shanghai? The differences are however much more explicit that this type of. Even the sounds of spoken Chinese are completely different from western counterparts.

Chinese spoken words are not only defined by syllables as western words are. Hugely for mother in English is just 6 different sounds noted by each character; M, O, T, H, E and R. In Chinese there is two syllables, not four characters, ma and ma. The twist is that “mama” can be pronounced in twenty-five means. Each of the two syllables, ma and ma, can be pronounced with 5 different tones, making a total matrix of 5 times 5 possibilities, and merely one means mother. The tones are called tones but these not tones while A minor or G, they are pitch modulation. Quite tone is a rather steady high throw. The second is a rising pitch. 3rd tone goes down and then up. The fourth is a sharp decline in pitch from high to low. The fifth is called the neutral tone will not not actually have a modulation form.

All that sounds bloody difficult, as well as is, at least at first. How exactly do you best go about visiting grips with the program? Because of course it’s very possible. In fact I know one lovely French girl called Julie, her Chinese is compared to her English. I also know a very talented German videographer that has lived in China only for three years; he often searches for that English word to explain something and ends up saying it Offshore. Basically, I would argue, that Chinese isn’t so much bloody difficult as is certainly bloody different.