A Beginner’s Guide To Learning Chinese

by erin on December 15, 2010

There are many ways to learn Chinese, but some are much harder than others. It can take quite a bit of time to become fluent in any second language. Here are a few tips on finding a Chinese language course.

When learning a new language such as Chinese, you also have to learn not only to speak it but to write and read it as well. The Chinese language is spoken by almost a fifth of the entire world population. There are different dialects of the language, but also different types of Chinese as it is not just one language alone.

The major areas where it is spoken include Taiwan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong as well as Southeast Asia and areas in the United States. Mandarin is considered Chinese and is a dialect from Beijing. This dialect is called Guanhua, and is the official language spoken by the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. It is also one of the languages that United Nations uses.

To learn Chinese, you will need to decide what dialect you will learn based on where you plan to travel. A few include Wu, Yue, Min, Xiang and Hakka. Each is used in certain areas and has a different amount of people who speak it.

You should know that the dialects really do not have very crisp boundaries meaning that a word that means one thing in a certain dialect will probably mean the same thing in another. Mandarin is the most popular language in China and is considered the national language used. So if you do not know what dialect to learn, it may be best to go with Mandarin so that you will understand and be able to speak the most popular of Chinese languages.

The language can be hard to learn on your own. There are many online courses available and some even offered by the government as a means of helping you become more diverse. There are ample companies that offer tutoring in other languages as well that charge for their services.

The easiest way to learn to speak a language is to hear it and then say it for most people. If this is how you learn the best, there are multiple CDs and cassettes made specifically for this. They normally require you to listen to a phrase and then repeat it until proper phonics are used. Generally you will only learn the most commonly used phrases and words in this manner.

If you are interested in finding a way to learn Chinese, do your research. There are multiple sites that offer language lessons for free online. Many sites are dedicated to learning how to read and write fluently as well, which you will need if you plan on traveling to use the new language skills. Another possibility is to contact your local community college, as they may offer courses on how to speak, read and write the language of your choice and can help you to do so with financial aid.

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