any suggestions for foreign language?

parentstwo
Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:36:53 +0000

Very interesting posts, but I must disagree with several who said that Chinese is a very difficult language. Actually it has very little grammar: no tense, no number (plural vs. singular), no gender, etc. From that perspective it is one of the simplest languages I have ever studied. The tones are tricky, but that is something that you will either ‘get’ or ‘not get’ in the first few weeks. Reading and writing are a whole different matter: extremely difficult, pure memory work, and whatever you learn, you can loose quite fast. However, speaking and listening are quite a joy and, from my experience, Chinese people are quite thrilled when they meet an American who has a passing familiarity with their language.