Which Dialect to Learn?

wau — 2010-08-13T10:01:18Z

I am planning a business trip to China which will cover Bejing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. Which Dialect should I learn first?

Take pen, forget chinese characters

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-27T03:35:13Z

Take pen, forget chinese characters 'http://www.chinesetime.cn/learn/chinese/tabid/153/Default.aspx'>Learn Chinese Characters Online Learn Chinese online 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. BEIJING - Yu Daihai, a 23-year-old college graduate from Dandong city in northern Liaoning province, uses his computerand mobile phone every day to communicate with his friends. Buttechnology is having an unwanted side effect: Yu, like a growing number of young Chinese, is starting to forget how to write his native language. When writing using computers and mobile phones, most Chinese type out the beginning of a word in pinyin - the Romanised version of Mandarin - and are then presented with a range of characters to click on from the screen. 'I type in pinyin, of course. It's much easier,' Yu told Inter Press Service (IPS). 'Chinese characters are very important - it's the culture of China. But writing characters in proper stroke order is much more troublesome and complicated.' It has been at least half a year since Yu last wrote anything by hand, and he is having difficulty even remembering how to do so. At a job fair in 2009, he was asked to write a personal resume on the spot. When he realized he could not remember how to write some of the characters or hanzi, he suggested he submit the resume online. The problem is so common that the Chinese have invented a term for it: tibiwangzi, which translates into 'take pen, forget character'. A poll commissioned by China Youth Daily newspaper in April found that 83% of the 2,072 respondents admitted having problems writing characters. Another survey by Dayang Net, a popular Guangzhou-based news portal, found that 80% of respondents acknowledged they have forgotten how to write some characters. Many simply do not have to. The Dayang poll found that 43% of respondents use a computer all the time for their jobs, and another 43% write out characters only for signatures and for filling out a few lines on forms. Experts say the biggest culprit in the decline of using characters is mobile phones. China sends more text messages than any other country in the world. Because phones rely on pinyin for short messaging, typing is replacing the elaborate strokes that make up Mandarin characters, the oldest continually used writing system in the world. Each character in Mandarin can have one or more meanings and the language has many words that sound the same but have different meanings. The only way to learn a specific character's meaning and match it with the right way to write it, is to memorize it. Characters date back to 1200 BC, when pictographs, called 'oracle bones', were first carved into bones and turtle shells. In truth, there have been movements throughout Chinese history to abolish the use of characters. Mao Zedong wanted to scrap them entirely before deciding instead to simplify some in an attempt to promote wider reading, in what is today known as 'simplified Chinese'. Today, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, as well as some overseas Chinese communities, still use traditional characters. Lu Jianming, a professor in the Department of Chinese at Peking University, said characters have been simplified throughout Chinese history, and the latest round of simplification under Mao helped improve literacy rates. To learn Mandarin, Chinese children spend a lot of time memorizing and copying characters, which are core to learning the language. By age 15, Chinese students will have learned to write a minimum of 3,000 characters. At the same time, characters are more than simply a writing system for many Chinese - they are an integral part of spiritual and cultural identity, thought even to improve concentration and longevity. 'It is the essence of Chinese culture,' Lu told IPS. But students are grappling with difficulties in remembering how to write many words and characters, as a growing number rely on computers for their schoolwork. A survey conducted in Chongqing municipality found that 65% of pupils only write characters while taking notes in class or when taking exams, according to Chongqing Daily. Over 75% of students said they thought writing by hand could be totally replaced by computers. The Chinese government is starting to take action. In 2008, the Ministry of Education found that 60% of the 3,000 teachers it surveyed complained about a decline in writing ability among their students. Last year, the ministry launched a writing competition with 10 million participants and has now initiated programs to encourage more handwriting at schools. In 2009, university educators held the first nationwide conference on the problem with hanzi. They discussed making students submit handwritten papers, instead of typed versions. Wu Bailing, a calligraphy teacher at the Teacher Training College in Dandong, has studied calligraphy for 20 years and taught the subject for 10. He said schools should focus on teaching students calligraphy to ensure that handwritten characters become part of a student's daily life. Wu remains confident that the Mandarin characters will not be going anywhere. 'Characters are China's greatest accomplishment,' Wu told IPS. 'The character at its core is Chinese culture, and it won't be replaced by any advanced technology.'

Students urged to learn Mandarin Chinese

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-25T06:02:57Z

Students urged to learn Mandarin Chinese Learn Chinese 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. EXPERTS SAY Mandarin is the language that high school students should learn for business reasons, but very few teenagers are taking that advice. About 25,000 students are learning a second language, but last year just 752 passed NCEA Chinese. Instead, students are continuing to learn the language of love, with 5416 passing French, while Maori, with 6545 students, is the most popular language of the 14 being taught in the country's secondary schools. The number of students learning Maori is up by 22% since 2004, but the biggest growth was in Spanish, which has attracted 58% more students in that time. While French is still popular in schools, business leaders say its influence is waning in today's commercial world, although they say learning any other language is better than none. Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly said New Zealand students need to master written and spoken English – something many were failing to do – before attempting a second language. 'We have to make sure that the kids leaving school learn and understand written and spoken English, and that's a problem right now. Before we move on to all the rest, the language of business in the world is still English.' Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr said Chinese was the best language to learn for business, because of China's growing economy, expanding middle class and burgeoning population. 'To really add value, or give yourself an advantage, the one I would pick is Chinese. 'It's what kids today should consider learning, for business reasons.' Both business leaders commended anyone learning a second language, even Latin. It was once compulsory in some schools, but last year only 328 sat NCEA Latin, keeping it in the top-10 ahead of Tongan, Niuean, Cook Island Maori and sign language. O'Reilly said there were many advantages to learning Maori, even in business. 'By learning Maori, you probably have a better understanding of New Zealand and, at the end of the day, if you are going to go into international business, the number one thing you need to understand is your own country.' LANGUAGE SKILLS SPELL SUCCESS FOR A Cambridge family making and manufacturing toys in China, learning Mandarin has helped turn the business into child's play. Anna Mowbray, 27, and her brothers, Nick, 25, and Matthew, 30, and cousin Simon Rushbrooke, 35, set up their business, Zuru Toys, in Guangzhou in 2005. Since then, their staff numbers have more than tripled to about 320 and turnover has more than doubled each year. Anna Mowbray, speaking from China, said having a better grasp of the language at the beginning would have helped the business grow more quickly. She said speaking the language provides an advantage in any deals and would be a priceless skill for anyone planning on doing business in China. The family now has some basic language skills but still hires translators regularly for transactions. This was expensive and a cost which better language skills could eliminate, she said. 'Knowing the language earns you a lot of respect in China; it opens so many doors.' Zuru toys sell in about 40 countries world-wide, including most major outlets such as The Warehouse in New Zealand, the United Kingdom's Tesco, Sainsbury's, and America's Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. Mowbray has heard many horror stories about companies which were 'burnt' in China because of language difficulties and is aghast so few Kiwi high school students are learning Chinese. Although English is becoming increasingly common in China, and was compulsory for students, Mowbray said New Zealanders needed to do their part by learning the language of their trade partners. 'Anyone wanting to make their mark in business has to know Chinese. China is currently at the hub of manufacturing world-wide and it's always going to be a major player.'

Mandarin Chinese is Growing in U.S.A

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-25T05:58:29Z

Mandarin Chinese is Growing in U.S.A Learn Chinese online 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. NEW YORK / WASHINGTON - With an increasing number of people from the Chinese mainland moving overseas, Mandarin, or Putonghua, is challenging Cantonese as the dominant language in international Chinese communities. Cantonese businessman Ah Ken has been widely credited as the first Chinese who permanently immigrated to New York's Chinatown around 1859. Since then, most Chinese immigrants to North America have come from the Pearl River Delta where Cantonese is the dominant dialect. But that changed 20 years ago when immigrants of Mandarin-speaking Chinese from the mainland began to outnumber those from Cantonese-speaking regions such as Hong Kong and Guangdong. Mandarin could soon eclipse Cantonese as the major Chinatown language. According to the latest immigration statistics from the United States Homeland Security Department, during 2000 to 2009, the country has seen more China-born immigrants (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) than any other decade since 1978 when China implemented its reforms and opening-up policies. In the past decade, about 350,000 immigrants from the mainland have gained US citizenship with about 600,000 becoming permanent residents, or green card holders. There were only 170,000 Chinese who got a green card from 1980 to 1989. The number climbed to 340,000 from 1990 to 1999. 'I remember in the 1980s I had to speak English to the Chinese waitresses at the Chinatown restaurants here, because they didn't understand Mandarin and I spoke no Cantonese,' Haipei Shue, president of the National Council of Chinese Americans (NCCA), told China Daily. Shue, from Sichuan province, arrived in the US to study sociology in 1987 when Cantonese was the major language in local Chinese communities. 'It's an inexorable demographic change that Mandarin has become the ruling language among Chinese Americans,' he said. 'Now you can order food in Mandarin in any Chinese restaurant here.' Dong Kun, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' institute of linguistics, said Cantonese used to be the leading language in overseas communities due to a large population of Cantonese emigrants. He also said the popularity of Mandarin is good for the promotion of the Chinese culture worldwide. More parents seem to realize the importance of studying Mandarin. As a result, the New York Chinese School, on Mott Street in Chinatown, has seen more students learning Mandarin than Cantonese. Of the more than 3,000 students the school enrolled on various programs, most are studying Mandarin. 'This is totally different from a decade ago when most people came to learn Cantonese,' said Jenny Ye, a staff member of the school.

Hall schools put extra emphasis on Chinese language

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-25T04:08:31Z

Hall schools put extra emphasis on Chinese language Learn Chinese 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. Hall County School officials saw the value of teaching Chinese to pre-kindergarten students, and now four elementary schools get to take on the challenge. After the World Language Academy opened options for young students to learn Mandarin Chinese, the Confucius Institute at Kennesaw State University offered four Chinese teachers to start programs. The institute will provide volunteer teachers for Riverbend Elementary, Mount Vernon Elementary, Wauka Mountain Elementary and the World Language Academy, and Hall County will pay $16,000 in living expenses for each teacher. The Confucius Institute will fund all other expenses. “We decided that implementation as early as possible is necessary in public schools,” said Carrie Woodcock, World Language Academy’s dual language director. “At World Language, students are taught in Spanish and English. We don’t teach them Spanish, we teach them in Spanish. For the Mandarin Chinese class, there was an immersion component where the teacher only spoke Chinese. The students were very proficient by the end of the year.” The other three elementary schools are the feeder campuses for North Hall Middle School, which boasts a growing Chinese foreign language program. “It gives the students a jumpstart on trying to decide what foreign language they might want to study,” North Hall Middle School Principal Brad Brown said. “If they are able to get into the classes earlier and learn the basics of the sounds and symbols, the students can take more in-depth courses as they come to us. We even have a class that will allow them to earn high school credit, and I want to eventually expand the foreign language program down to offer more to the sixth and seventh grades.” With the goal of creating a seamless Chinese learning experience from pre-kindergarten through college, the Confucius Institute, operated by the Hanban Institute in China, offers teachers and reading materials to partner schools. “The partnership is a great thing,” Woodcock said. “Last year we invited several of our Hall County teachers there to look over library materials and made a large donation of books and supplies to help get them started.” Hall County Schools, focused on providing Spanish and Chinese classes as important foreign languages to learn, sought more teachers. “We’ve targeted Spanish and Chinese as our economic languages of choice, and this is a strong partner,” Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield said to the school board in early July. “They asked us if we wanted 10 teachers, but we decided to start off with four and establish them. It costs almost nothing to have them here.” As the program moves forward in Hall County, Woodcock is helping the instructors develop concrete lesson plans and possibly pair up with “sister schools” in the county through videoconferencing. By using the new technology being installed at all Hall County high schools and middle schools, the four teachers could reach more than one school in a class period. “Language acquisition is so important, and children love languages,” Woodcock said. “They’re naturally inquisitive and open, and we want to teach appreciation and love for other cultures. At a younger age, it’s also easy to grasp and develop that native accent before the muscles have formed their way of speaking. Our world is ever shrinking, and we want to have globally aware students.”

Best Ways to Learn Mandarin Chinese

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-24T02:20:34Z

Best Ways to Learn Mandarin Chinese The U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute rates Mandarin a “Category III” language, meaning it is one of the most difficult languages to learn for a native English speaker. The institute specifies that Mandarin competence requires 88 weeks of study, or 2,200 class hours, and says that half that time should be spent in a country where it is spoken. By contrast, Spanish, a Category I language, can be learned in 23 weeks or 600 class hours, according to the institute. Here are some places to get you started: * 1-on-1 Skype lessons: It is 1-on-1 and with native chinese teacher, If you can't find a local native chinese teacher, learn chinese 1-on-1 via Skype is the best way to learn chinese. It is easy to run, just add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool, and have a free trial lesson first. * Rosetta Stone: By far the preferred choice among corporations, as well as the U.S. military, this software is not cheap — the three-level Mandarin course runs $458. * Foreign Service Institute: For a cheaper alternative, try getting your feet wet with courses developed by the U.S. government that are in the public domain and thus free. The site has a complete set of workbooks and MP3s. * Confucius Institute: The best way to learn a new language is live, in person. Short of taking the trip overseas, signing up for a class is the next best thing. The Chinese government has set up language institutes across North America (and the globe) in affiliation with existing universities. There are currently 56 centers in the States. Course offerings and prices vary.

Tips On Learning Chinese In China

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-20T06:09:14Z

Tips On Learning Chinese In China From: cnreviews Learn Chinese 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. NOTE: I will be using the terms “Chinese” and “Mandarin” interchangeably. However, what I just mean is the Standard Spoken Mandarin used by the People’s Republic of China. I just came back from Shanghai studying Mandarin in Fudan University. Someone said–you can learn any language from anywhere you are. Like you do not need to go to China to study Mandarin. True. I actually studied Mandarin in my country before I even knew there is such a place called China. So why the need to go to China learn Chinese?! Good question. My friend Allan said it best– 'The exposure in terms of listening and reading helps a lot. Also, the very valuable opportunity to practice your speaking skills could not be given credit enough. The setting itself allows one to blossom his Mandarin skills.' And with that, if you are planning to go to China to take up language courses, here are some tips to help you along the way. What school should I go to? Beijing or Shanghai? Here we are at it again. Beijing or Shanghai? First, realize that there are other places in China aside from Beijing and Shanghai. Like Harbin or Tianjin. Purists will say that choosing a good school to enroll in is probably the most important factor to consider as the right learning environment will give you the motivation to continue learning. Personally, I think there is no difference if you go to whichever university or school. [Unless there are people here who think otherwise, I welcome your comments below!] If you are seriously motivated, I think you can achieve your goals still. Though I have bias to Fudan University in Shanghai as it is one of the top universities in China last 2008 and 2009. Before going to Fudan, my dream school was Beijing Language and Culture University or BLCU for short. They have the best books for Chinese learning. One of the most important considerations I have heard was that if the place has a lot of non-Chinese. Because if the place has a lot of non-Chinese (and what’s worst, if they know how to speak English), your opportunities of interacting with the Chinese locals are not a lot. But then, if you are studying Chinese in China after all, there is 99.99% chance that your classmates are foreigners. [The tolerance factor is because I have met Chinese who actually enrolled in the same language program as I did. But their curriculum was a bit slanted. They might have grew up abroad so that they do not know much hanzi or Chinese characters, etc.] Another consideration is the weather. Do you like the cold? Whether you will be staying in the first semester or the second semester, you still might catch a few weeks of winter (depending on the area). Fall semester generally starts on September 1st, and ends around just before Chinese New Year. Spring semester starts on March 1st and ends in mid-June. You can check out China.org.cn for their China weather map. And if you are paying your way to China, you might want to think about the cost of living. Different areas in China have varying costs of living. China Briefing did research on the cost of living in 9 major cities in China for 2009. Now that we are on the subject of money… I have heard that the Chinese government offers scholarships. How do I apply? I actually thought of applying for this scholarship, but the requirements were just too tedious, and I had trouble coordinating with our country’s embassy on this. But as they say, no pain, no gain. So you might want to read up on the China Scholarship Council. This scholarship is actually very competitive. A friend recommended that I ask about the local government scholarships instead. Like within Shanghai only. You have to inquire about this directly to your school of choice. Just some random question–but where do I stay–dorm or apartment? Tough decision. If you want a no-brainer answer, stay in the school dormitory. But if you want to have more freedom and/or save on cash, an apartment maybe the way to go. Generally, anything for the international student is more expensive. Tuition is more expensive. And dorm accommodations are more expensive too. How expensive? I mean, come on, Fudan has a special price list for international students. With an apartment, if you could find (safe) people who can share with you, I think it would be really fun! But dorm life is also another thing. And at least, it is within the campus vicinity. By the way, Fudan does not have curfew on the foreign students dormitory. I thought going to China has a setting which allows me to”blossom my Mandarin skills”? How could I do that with all those English-speaking people around me? This is a question of discipline. In China, especially if you are learning the language for the first time, your comfort zone would be around your English-speaking peers. You should go out of your way to maximize local interactions which would not be available in your home country. How do you do that? Look for a language partner. I found out that it helps if you have at least one language buddy who will meet with you on a regular basis. There are a lot of Chinese who want to improve their English as well so they are eager to pair up with a foreigner. But if you are going to China on your own, how do you pick a language partner who does not turn out to be an axe murderer? Ask your teacher for referrals. He or she can post an ad in the school’s BBS or forum. And since he/she is a teacher from that school, he/she would know how the BBS culture of that school is. Another thing is, your teacher might personally know a local student who is also looking for a language partner. That is how I met mine. Join school organizations. Are you musically talented? Join the school orchestra. My friend did just that. She said that she was the only non-Chinese in the group, and it really helped her speaking skills. School organizations are excellent venues for you to meet local students. Many recruit at the start of the school year. Again, if you are hesitant, your teacher would be happy to help you. Have internships. Volunteer your time. I was really fortunate to have a lot of learning experiences outside class hours. As an intern with HUBS1 and working with Elliott on Expotia (which is the official hotel reservation service provider of Expo 2010), I have interacted with a number of Chinese-speaking individuals. And because I was in Shanghai during the World Expo, I decided to take advantage of the event by volunteering there as well. [In the meantime, why not check out CNReviews' coverage of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo?] Some of my friends volunteered at a few migrant schools teaching little kids. They found out about this through a school organization. Basically, you really need to go out of your way to look for opportunities where you can maximize your Chinese education that you cannot easily have when you are back home. Otherwise, what is the point of you going to China when you can simply learn the language from where you are at? Now that I have decided to learn Chinese, what your top 3 tips? Allan graciously shared his tips on learning Chinese– 1. Repetition. Mandarin is one of the most grueling languages to learn in the world. The sheer number of characters with the limited combination of tones could make the language daunting and confusing all at the same time. But it is possible, well, a billion people could speak it, so why couldn’t I? So one should really invest time in writing, listening, speaking etc. until it becomes natural to you. The key here is to focus on the basics, and do not try to do too much too soon. Once you master the basics you will make a solid foundation to build upon. 2. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. There is a common notion that we learn more through our failures rather than our successes. This is also true in Mandarin especially in spoken Chinese. Do not be afraid to make mistakes as this is probably one of the quickest ways to learn. Do not worry about being embarrassed. People will be forgiving especially when they know that you are a foreigner. They would be happy to see you exerting effort in learning the language. It is also by venturing out that you learn plenty of things that the books would not teach you such as daily expressions and more commonly used spoken terms. 3. Do not rely too much on the books. What I mean here is, books are definitely a valuable asset in learning the language, no doubt about that. I think though you must take the extra step outside the books in learning the language. Keeping a separate notebook for new words that you hear randomly during conversations, class etc. that you feel you can directly use in daily conversations is very helpful. We all have our varying styles of speaking, and our vocabulary are all different. You are the one who knows the kind of words you usually use, hence certain words for me may not be as valuable as it is to you. Thus, whenever you hear words that you deem important, make mental notes or if possible jot them down right away. This will help you develop smoother and more natural conversations, because you are armed with the words that come out naturally from your thought process I agree with all of them. Let me just add my own top 3 tips. Speak Chinese to your classmates. Do not use English. Even when you are just starting to learn, force yourself to speak the language. And you will develop this habit later on. Because of how I look, some of my classmates at first do not know I can speak English. I had 2 classmates–an Italian and a German–who would converse with each other in English–then turn back to me and translate everything in Chinese. I know it is bad, but I actually let them continue (until they found out much later on that I can actually understand everything!). The lesson here is not to trick your classmates into thinking you are some ignorant person but to develop the habit of speaking to everyone in Chinese. Because we started this way, we still use Mandarin with each other even after class. Make friends with everyone. There are 5 vital people–the ayi, the dorm security, the street food vendor, the taxi driver, and the bookstore/clothes shop guy (whichever you frequent). They love a good conversation especially when they find out you a student learning their language. And when you done with your China stint, watch Chinese shows and movies and listen to Chinese songs. I really like watching Taiwanese soaps even before going to China. I think I have received most of my Mandarin education through here than 10+ years of Chinese schooling! Let me know if you want some recommendations.

A small online quiz: The Difficulties of Mandarin Chinese.

ynuxuxu — 2010-08-19T09:18:42Z

Hello everyone, I'm Vicky, a Chinese student from Hunan province currently studying a masters degree in education in England. I am researching the difficulties that students will encounter when learning Mandarin Chinese. What I really want to know is how students would like their teachers to help them solve their problems? I've made a small online quiz here: 'http://mandarinchinese.wufoo.com/forms/mandarin-chinese/'>http://mandarinchinese.wufoo.com/forms/mandarin-chinese/ and no names or personal information is collected so it would be great if you could take part in it. Once you've taken part in the quiz I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have with regards to studying/traveling/working in China, and about my area of Hunan province. Thanks for your time, Vicky

Learning Mandarin Chinese: 7 Dos and Don'ts

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-08-12T03:47:46Z

Learning Mandarin Chinese: 7 Dos and Don'ts Learn Chinese online 1-on-1 via Skype with native chinese teacher, Add Skype ID:chinesetimeschool. 1) DON’T expect to be an overnight expert One of the most frustrating things about learning Mandarin is the rate of progress. European and American expats who learn other European languages with relative ease often find that Chinese is a whole different kettle of fish. For English speakers, becoming fluent in German, French or Spanish only takes a year or so, but for a language like Mandarin which has literally no reference points, it’s another story. As long as you cut yourself some slack, and realise that progress will be relatively slow, you’ll hopefully relax enough to accept learning at your own pace. 2) DO practise often Taxi drivers, colleagues, friends, strangers in bars… It might sound mercenary, but if you want to progress, you should treat social interactions as opportunities to practise. In Beijing and Shanghai, this might not be so easy, as your potential conversation partners will probably want to practise their English on you, but with perseverance, you should be able to spend a good part of your day speaking Mandarin. As for organised language exchanges, not everyone likes them, but they can be a great tool if structured correctly (i.e. setting time limits and topics for discussions in both languages). 3) DON’T rely on pinyin Sure, learning characters is a bit of a drag, and there are so many of them, but if you rely on pinyin – the mostly commonly used Romanization method – alone, your rate of learning will grind to a halt pretty quickly. Just think about how many possible meanings there are for the pinyin “yu”; without characters to identify which “yu” you’re dealing with, you have no idea about what it could mean (there’s only so far context can stretch). Set yourself a target of learning a character a day, and you’ll find yourself learning more in the process, from radicals or characters that look similar. 4) DO learn tones For native speakers of non-tonal languages, facing the prospect of learning tones as well as everything else can be daunting. However, you should get into the habit of learning each new word as a bundle: sound, tone, character. Don’t make the mistake of thinking tones don’t matter; they do. A recent famous example is the underground online movement known as “cao ni ma” which, when pronounced with certain tones means “grass mud horse”, and when pronounced with other tones means… something completely different. Having said that, fluency is more important than rigid tone-obsession that might slow you down unnecessarily; if you spend too much time and though pronouncing each character your sentences won’t flow right and people still won’t understand you. 5) DON’T waste money on bad teachers Just as there are plenty of dodgy English schools knocking around, trying to fleece learners and exploit the popularity of the language, so there are maverick Mandarin tutors and establishments keen to rip you off. 6) DO ignore boasters and flatterers Everyone knows at least one boaster – an Old China Hand who has lived here for ages, and whose Mandarin is practically native (or so they believe). They scorn the efforts of lesser talents, and speak effusively about their own linguistic flair. Ignore them. Concentrate on your own studies, and take other people’s claims and opinions with a pinch of salt. Likewise, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re better than you are, especially when taxi drivers compliment you on your incredibly Chinese after only a “ni hao”, or when you impress your friends back home with your newfound skills. Just make sure you keep things realistic. 7) DON’T Forget to Use Web Resources These days, web resources for learning Mandarin are plentiful, and there are some excellent programmes and websites out there. We’ve tried most of them, and recommend 'http://www.nciku.com'>Nciku.com as a dictionary and flashcard tool, 'http://www.chinesetime.cn/learn/chinese/tabid/153/Default.aspx'>ChineseTime for learning chinese characters. ChinesePod for its diversity and usability, and Chinese-course.com for simple exercises. Wenlin is also an invaluable tool, and the Google Pinyin input method should be on every Mandarin learner’s PC or laptop. Ask your friends and colleagues what they use, and ask them to pass on any software they have. We’re not saying these are fool-proof tips, or that they’ll make you instantly fluent, but bear them in mind, and you might find yourself progressing just a little bit faster. 加油！

What is the lowest cost if I would like to study Chinese?

breezychao — 2010-05-13T01:20:06Z

I am visiting China in July, and would like to to learn some Chinese. Is there any schhols or organization like tourboarding to offer a free atmosphere ??? Please contact me with my email. Thanks~

Yuming international language communication platform

anonymous — 2010-08-03T00:57:54Z

Yuming Education Center’s overseas Business

Yuming international language communication platform

——High- quality education enables you to learn Chinese easily

And Exchange visits make you and me much closer

With excellent faculty, first-class education model, flexible and diverse teaching methods, and refined learning environment,Yuming Education Center has been attracting students from around the world. We provide different lengths of courses according to the characteristics and basics of every participant, the most suitable cultural programs, and traditional Chinese culture training projects and activities, all of which are active and lively .Our aim is to help you rapidly master the Chinese language and understand Chinese culture in a limited period of time. And our center has built long-term cooperation with more than 10 countries including the United States, France and Japan. Every year, we organize regular visits for Chinese students to study abroad. We can recommend excellent foreign educational institutions for our large number of talented students, developing resources for the students and improving their quality.

Overseas exchange programs

——providing a communicative platform on which culture knows no border

Every year, Yuming Education Center organizes various cultural and artistic exchange activities, conducting overseas exchange programs, holiday visits and performances for students visiting at home and abroad. We have organized teacher groups, ethnic minority groups, academic groups, arts groups, music and dance groups all showing their national characteristics and character, paintings, sculpture, music, dance, drama, film and other cultural arts. Yu Ming provides a platform on which culture knows no borders.

Top Chinese Universities for Learning Mandarin in China

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-07-26T10:27:41Z
Top Chinese Universities for Learning Mandarin in China Deciding which university and where to go to learn Mandarin in China can cause a huge headache. A country with a population of over 1,321,851,888 people, is equivalent to covering over 1/5 of the world's population. China is also the fourth largest in area with territory in the world. We are here to help you to define 4-6 top universities to learn Mandarin, across the 3 top cities in China. Beijing being the cultural, political and educational centre, and the origin of the 'official language' (Mandarin) of China, is the most recommended place to learn Mandarin. Below are the top 3 universities in Beijing. Beijing Language Culture University (BLCU) was founded in 1962, and has the longest history of specialising in teaching Mandarin and Chinese culture to foreigners. There are foreigners coming from over 160 countries studying Mandarin at BLCU, and today it has more than 800 full-time teaching staff. Tsinghua University (THU), established since 1911, has a reputation of the most Chinese universities placing Tsinghua as the highest ranking university in China. Their promising motto 'Self-discipline and Social Commitment' explains it all. The most common course taken here are their accounting courses, by reason of signed agreements with ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). Since Shanghai was one of the world's busiest ports in 2005, it has become the largest cargo port in the world then. Shanghai's modern lifestyle has attracted many foreigners to come and learn Mandarin, as well as many multinational businesses to have a headquarter office in Shanghai. This westernised and modern city is one of China's most vital cultural, financial, commercial, industrial and communications centers. Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) was established in 1896, now standing as one of the oldest and most significant university in China. SJTU has more than 1420 professors, with more than 100 of them being famous scientists and specialists. SJTU has over 38,000 full-time enrolled students, and a wide variety of courses to choose from. The Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Government jointly runs SJTU. Fudan University, established in 1905 'is one of the oldest leading, co-educational, and most selective universities in the People's Republic of China.' Fudan University ranked highest in their physical and social sciences. Guangzhou is the third most populous metropolitan area in China. Due to labour costs increasing in Hong Kong, this has opened doors for Guangzhou - more and more manufacturers have opened new plants here. This has led Guangzhou to be one of China's wealthiest cities, but it also attracts farmers coming into the city looking for factory work. There are two famous universities in Guangzhou, the Sun Yat-sen University, and Jinan University (JNU). Usually in universities, the teacher to student ratio for learning Mandarin Chinese classes is usually 1:20. There are short term and long term courses to choose from. The short term courses usually last for up to1 semester (around 4 months). The long term courses usually last for 1 year to 2 years (2 to 4 semesters). All short term and long term courses/programs usually start at the end of February (after Chinese New Year) till mid-July, and the fall semesters usually start in early September, and end in mid-January.

Learning Mandarin Chinese the Taiwan way

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-07-26T05:46:29Z
Learning Mandarin Chinese the Taiwan way When Jim Rogers, the internationally renowned investor and financial commentator, wanted to give his newborn daughter a gift of lasting value, the best one he could think of was hiring a Mandarin-speaking nanny. He hoped early exposure to Mandarin would ensure that his daughter, now 6, could grow up a native speaker of the language. Rogers is not alone. In recent years businessmen, investors, and an increasing number of people from all walks of life and nationalities, have begun to show an interest in learning more about the language, history and culture of China. Many of these people are surprised to learn, however, that in the view of many experts and language instructors, the best place to learn Chinese is not mainland China, but Taiwan. “We like to tell people: If you want to know 50 years of Chinese history, then mainland China is a good place to go. But if you want to learn all 5,000 years of it, then you definitely have to come to Taiwan,” said Chou Chung-tien, director of the Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. “Undoubtedly, Taiwan is THE place to learn Chinese language and culture,” Chou said. Mainland China, under communist rule, has abandoned the traditional way of writing Chinese characters, and uses simplified characters. Readers of simplified characters who wish to make the transition to reading traditional characters often have a hard time, however. But readers of traditional characters can learn to read simplified characters with relative ease. Thus students who learn to read Chinese in Taiwan are often in a better position to absorb all of Chinese culture, as opposed to only that written in the last half century or so. Traditional Chinese culture also suffered a serious blow during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, when many aspects of China’s “feudal” past were vociferously denounced and rejected. Taiwan, by contrast, has long valued and taken great pride in its Chinese heritage. All this means that in many ways the people of Taiwan are more “connected” to traditional Chinese culture than mainlanders. The MTC is the oldest of among roughly 30 Chinese learning centers in Taiwan. Founded in 1956, it has provided Chinese language lessons to more than 48,000 students. Among its most notable graduates are David McMullen, who studied there in the 1960s, and was a professor in Chinese studies at Cambridge University; Ryutaro Hashimoto (1970s), prime minister of Japan from 1996 to 1998; and Kevin Rudd (1985-1986), prime minister of Australia from 2007 until 2010. During the Cold War, westerners preferred Taiwan to mainland China as “ ‘the’ place to get a real taste of the Chinese language and culture,” Chou said. “That’s when the MTC established its good reputation.” But things have changed since the mainland began its economic reform policies in the late 1970s. It has gradually overtaken Taiwan as the world’s most popular place for foreigners to study Chinese. According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Education, between 2007 and 2009 fewer than 11,000 foreigners came to Taiwan to study Chinese. During the same period of time, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people from around the world flocked to mainland China for the same purpose. Chou said the number of students studying Chinese in Taiwan has stayed pretty much the same, while more and more students are studying in the mainland every year. In addition to the disparity in numbers, the MTC chief has also noticed some important differences that set the two groups of language students apart. Those who come to Taiwan on the whole tend to be admirers of Chinese culture and literature. For this group, knowledge of all things Chinese is its own reward. But those who study in the mainland usually do so because for them knowledge of Chinese is necessary for their career. “That’s why almost 90 percent of the international Chinese learners go to the mainland, because besides learning Chinese, they want to establish contact with the people and the community there,” Chou said. But Taiwan has its own charms, Chou said, that will continue to make it an appealing place to study Chinese. It is a democracy, while the mainland still has an authoritarian form of government. Also, Taiwan society is freer and more open than that of the mainland. In addition, Taiwan is known for its hospitality and friendliness to foreigners. Finally, “some students really believe that if they want to learn ‘better’ Chinese, they definitely have to come to Taiwan,” Chou said. In an attempt to further promote the Taiwan way of teaching mandarin, National Taiwan Normal University, with which the MTC is affiliated, established a Department of Applied Chinese Language and Literature three years ago. “Since there is little room to attract foreign students to Taiwan, sending teachers overseas may be an alternative,” said department chair Tsai Ya-hsun. Students in the department are required to work overseas as intern instructors every summer. The destinations can range from the U.S., France, Singapore and Malaysia, Tsai said. Its students are also required to learn the two most common ways of transliterating Chinese characters: the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, known to students as “bopomofo,” used in Taiwan, and the “Pinyin” system used in mainland China. DACLL students, furthermore, are expected to know both simplified and traditional characters, Tsai added. These skills, the department hopes, will allow its graduates to teach the Chinese language everywhere in the world and be successful. But all that is not enough. Tsai is pushing all students in the DACLL to pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test and California Subject Examinations for Teachers, the admission tickets for those who want to teach Chinese in K-12 public schools in the Golden State, the most populous state in the United States. “Another way to expand Taiwan’s influence in Chinese teaching is through digital learning, which is also Taiwan’s edge,” added Lien Yu-jen, MTC’s technical specialist. For example, overseas Chinese teachers often exchange teaching materials or new methods at http://www.huayuworld.org/, the website maintained by Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission. The huayuworld website was founded in May 2008. Within a short time, there have been 12,228 blogs and 3,973 taught lessons on the Internet platform. As of June 2010, 3.83 million visitors from 156 countries and 9,463 cities have visited the site, according to OCAC tallies. It is true that more students in recent years have been studying Mandarin in the mainland. But Taiwan has a certain niche in Chinese language learning, language instructors agree. Those who value freedom and democracy, tradition and preservation of the past will find it an ideal learning environment. Those who are not afraid to embrace technology will feel the same.

Learn Mandarin Chinese and learn to get ahead

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-07-26T05:18:32Z
Learn Mandarin Chinese and learn to get ahead It is hard to imagine trying to get by in the UK without English. As English is the global language, the majority of those in British shops and businesses do not speak anything other than English. There's precious little you can achieve in the country beyond tourism if you do not speak English. But it's a different picture in Beijing of course. All signs here are in both Chinese and English and English is commonly heard among educated residents teaching their children. Rudimentary English is spoken by a great number of service industry staff. English can be found in every region of life within Beijing, thus it's quite possible to get by without Chinese. Some expatriates hardly use Chinese at all. They work in an English environment, live in foreign-dominated residential complexes, eat in the city's large variety of international restaurants and read about current affairs in English language newspapers. Indeed, it is entirely possible to live in Beijing and not speak a word of the local language. That said, the fact that you can function in Beijing's society on limited-to-no Chinese doesn't mean that you should. It's hard to suggest that Beijing is like some in the UK, where there's a growing perception that residents from other countries have deliberately ghettoized themselves in certain areas, infrequently interacting with British society, rejecting the nation's values and refusing integration. A large number of expatriates in Beijing are active members of the Beijing community, getting involved with Chinese culture at every opportunity despite their language skills lagging behind. Naturally this excludes tourists and other short-term residents - you cannot expect such people to study the language deeply in every country they visit. But it does seem somewhat ignorant in my mind to live for a protracted period here without picking up a fair quantity of the language. Mandarin isn't the easiest of languages in the world to learn. Some even suggest it may be the most difficult. Regardless, it seems unbelievable to me that you can live in a country for a couple of years or more without learning at least some of the language. The environment may allow you to get away with just English at times, but knowing Chinese as well could be so useful. In the local supermarket, it is not uncommon to see an American attempting to speak English to the staff or being completely unaware of the most basic of conversational necessities, such as 'Would you like a bag?' and the appropriate response. At the bare minimum, some conversational Chinese could get that person something to carry their groceries home in, but they easily could manage so much more. Items are massively cheaper when you shop in the more exclusively Chinese shops and unless you're exceedingly wealthy (lucky for some), this is a considerable bonus. You could even make new local friends - you cannot truly immerse yourself in a culture until you've discovered the basics of its language. The characters and tones may seem daunting, but the grammar and vocabulary is surprisingly simple once you can see past that. A few hours a week could be all that's necessary to start seeing tangible results. In the brief amount of time I've spent here, I've managed to grasp some of the basics of the language and already I'm reaping the rewards - so can you.

Why we all need to learn Mandarin in New Zealand

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-07-13T04:18:50Z
Why we all need to learn Mandarin in New Zealand Dave Dobbyn's Welcome Home song and video is one of the best signposts of how New Zealand has changed over the last decade. It celebrates a more open, more inclusive New Zealand that looks outward more than it looks inward. It has a generosity of spirit that I think is one of New Zealand's best national attributes in the new millennium. I love Dave Dobbyn's music, but love even more how this song and the video that went with it seemed to capture the cultural mood of the nation in the late 2000s. I remember seeing how Dobbyn was even asked to sing it at the opening of the New Zealand war memorial in Hyde Park in London in 2006, welcoming home those who had fallen overseas. It transcended generations and seemed to bring people together. It was the anti-Winston and I loved it for that. It spoke of a new New Zealand, after the immigration surge in the wake of 9/11, after the nuclear-free policy, after the Springbok tour, and after the flowering of Maori and Pacific Island cultures in the 1980s and 1990s. The video simply showed a range of new immigrants to New Zealand, and mostly to Auckland. It had a American golfer, some Indian dairy owners, a Pacific Islander, a Maori cultural group, an Indian bank teller, an Aussie forklift driver and even a South African family standing proudly in front of their Toyota Camry. But it seemed to me to be missing something important. It had no Chinese faces. There was a fleeting glimpse of a martial arts group, but there was no Chinese family or Chinese event. This seemed strange to me at the time when the video came out in 2006 and even more so as time has passed. I live in Epsom where more than a third of the kids at my daughter's school are Chinese. More than half of the families on our street are Chinese. In 2006 the New Zealand census showed we had 147,570 Chinese people living in New Zealand, 78,117 of whom were born in mainland China. At least 100,000 spoke Mandarin back in 2006 and that number is set to double by 2026. There's good research here from AsiaNZ on these demographic projections out to 2026, which would see our Asian population rise to nearly 900,000 and surpass our Maori population. Are we ready for that? Mandarin is already our third most spoken language after English and Maori, with the latest estimates of the number of Maori speakers at around 157.000. I'm sure it was not deliberate on Dave Dobbyn's part that he left out New Zealand's Chinese faces. A pure oversight or logistical issue. But it did remind me that New Zealand sometimes talks a good game about engaging with China and Chinese New Zealanders, but doesn't often actually include or celebrate this part of our nation in a public way. We have two Chinese New Zealand MPs, Raymond Huo and Pansy Wong, but we don't have Chinese faces on our television. There is no Mandarin spoken on National Radio or National Television. Yet Mandarin is set to become our second most spoken language within 15 years. The free Chinese language newspapers are among the most printed in Auckland and Skykiwi.com is one of most popular local websites. Why isn't this part of our mainstream? China is already our second largest trading partner after Australia. We exported NZ$4 billion to China in the year to May, more than double that exported in calender 2008. It is our second largest buyer of exports and our second largest provider of imports. Australia is our largest on both counts. Interestingly, imports from China have risen just 7% to around NZ$6 billion over the last two years while exports have doubled. Yet, as John Key pointed out over the weekend in his Q+A interview on TVNZ, the number of our students learning Mandarin has only just surpassed the number learning Latin. Why is it cultural and business New Zealand is so far behind trading New Zealand? Where is our strategy on truly engaging with China in what will no doubt be the Chinese century? John Key has admirably started the conversation with his comments about Mandarin and his call to double two way trade to NZ$20 billion within five years. But this level of trade is a quantum leap again. For example, our two way trade with Australia is only NZ$17 billion a year at the moment. Such a jump would require New Zealanders across the business, political and cultural spectrum to get serious about China. It would mean Chinese language television, correspondents based in China, mass Chinese language learning and a much deeper understanding of how China works. It would require New Zealanders broadly, including pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island New Zealanders, to really welcome home the 400,000 or so Chinese New Zealanders who will live here by 2026. We should start with a serious debate about our strategy for engaging with China. Some basic questions have to be asked. Should most New Zealand children be learning Mandarin in the same way that most European children learn English? Should we encourage Chinese investment in New Zealand land and companies here? How would we feel if a Chinese state owned construction company or food company bid for a major project or a major farming group here? Should we have a Chinese language quota on television? Should our first thoughts about our political relations with China always be about human rights and democracy? Or should our first priority be trade? Should we be strengthening our defence and diplomatic links with China at the expense of links with America?

Measuring up to learning Chinese

www.chinesetime.cn — 2010-07-08T02:52:32Z
Measuring up to learning Chinese The response of Chinese on learning their foreign friends are learning Chinese, is almost invariably - 'Learning Chinese is very difficult.' This is true, but I don't think foreigners should be discouraged, as learning Chinese can also be easy and fun. What makes Chinese hard for a learner whose native language uses the Latin alphabet? Chinese characters. In this case, a learner of Cyrillic, Arabic, Tibetan or Hindi faces the same challenge. Chinese is even easier than these languages because pinyin helps a lot. If the newcomer wants, at least at the beginning, to only speak, and not to read or write the complicated Chinese characters, things become even simpler. The more languages one knows, the easier it is to acquire a new one. Especially if the learner masters English, Chinese grammar will then appear not only similar but even less complicated than English. There is one exception: the measure words that categorize nouns. But don't we also say 'a cup' of tea, 'a glass' of wine, 'a slice' of bread? A relative of mine is learning Chinese by herself. I made a list of the common measure words with examples for her to memorize. For example: 'When you order a roast duck, you say 'yi zhi kao ya', as a duck is a bird.' She asked me why the cat also uses zhi. Is it classified with the birds because it eats birds? 'No, cat is a feline.' 'So I must use zhi for lion and tiger too.' 'Well not exactly. You are right for tiger but lion requires tou (head).' 'Didn't you say tou was for farm animals like cow, sheep, pig, horse and donkey?' 'Yes, but not exclusively and not all of them. The horse doesn't share its fellow donkey's bed and requires pi. And the pig is so greedy that it has two measure words: tou or kou (mouth).' 'Gosh, I will never learn! What about a dog?' I felt a little embarrassed to tell her that dog requires tiao (length) as it belongs to the category of long things, such as pants and skirts, snake and fish. 'I got it!' she said, adding to the list cigarette and pencil. 'Pencil and cigarette no. They need gen. Also hair and rope, you see?' 'What I see is that the concept on which the theory is based is not logical.' I didn't dare to protest, as this was exactly my own conclusion 20 years ago when I was groping in the dark tunnel of learning Chinese. But I tried to encourage her and help her find certain standards. 'Look, what is common between a table, a bed, a postage stamp and a sheet of paper?' 'They are all flat. And quadrangular.' 'You are absolutely right. So they share the same measure word: zhang.' At that point she couldn't but laugh. I asked why. 'I think I can add zhang before my brother-in-law's name; he too is square and flat,' she said. After this diversion, she added: 'Wait a minute, just before I came here I checked zhang in the dictionary, and I read it was used to categorize mouth, bow, and fishing net! Flat and square, hey? Are we talking about the same zhang ()? The one that is also a very popular family name?' 'Exactly.' 'Maybe it's better not to try to understand and just learn as it is.' 'Don't you find this fun to learn? Measure words are what I liked best when I started studying Chinese. They make Chinese special! All the rest is so predictable.' (Source: China Daily)

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