<p>I think it couldn’t hurt to get started. Getting the tones right takes practice, but it’s absolutely doable. I think it’s the sounds that are harder because some don’t exist in the English language. The following come to mind:</p>
<ol>
<li>zh- as in Zhongguo, China.</li>
<li>j- as in Jiang Jieshi, Chiang Kai-shek.</li>
<li>x- as in Xi’an, Xi’an the city.</li>
<li>-ü as in nü, woman. (Easily pronounced by Germans, though)</li>
</ol>
<p>Number four is particularly hard. Because my ethnic Chinese suitemate isn’t a native speaker and doesn’t really practice spoken Chinese that much, he still pronounces woman as “nuu” instead of “nü.” People will know you’re a noob when you do this, but they won’t laugh at you because it’s so hard for native English speakers to do.</p>
<p>in mandarin, there’s no “chong, gwang, pien”… cantonese it is!</p>
<p>wow, cool people learning chinese. this reminds me of that one caucasion guy who does commercials and other TV shows. dang that guy is one fluent man…</p>
<p>I’ll translate. The pinyin is a bit off, in fact, I’m not even sure if he was using Hanyu Pinyin, but here goes:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s very difficult to learn Chinese. Don’t let the advertisements for Rosetta Stone fool you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>(The pinyin is really off for the first sentence. Can’t tell you anything you didn’t already know from reading ‘community college.’) A teacher is necessary if you want to learn Chinese the right way.</p>
<p>As soon as I can, I’ll find a teacher - or a community-college course, if I guessed the meaning of what theReach said correctly :). For now, I’ll just try to do as much as possible. I’ll be learning the numbers tomorrow, if I can get those tones right…</p>
<p>“Shi… shi… shi… shi… stop talking like a Brit… shi… shi…”</p>
<p>P.S. What’s the Rosetta Stone? (Presumably, you weren’t referring to the famous historical artifact. :))</p>
<p>“hen nan shue chong su. bu yao lang “rosetta stone” de gwang gao pien ne.”</p>
<p>“It’s difficult to learn from a book, and don’t let the commercials for Rosetta Stone rip you off.”
Rosetta Stone is the most advertised language program, python. It’s a software program that touts its ability to teach you in 3 months or whatever, and they get people such as Michael Phelps, who used it while competing in Beijing, to advertise for them. Of course, he doesn’t actually speak it in the commercials (because he’s horrible at it, check it out on youtube)</p>
<p>“zhue hao shwe chong ne fu jing de community college. yi ding yao lao sher jiao cai shue de hao.”</p>
<p>Your best bet would be to learn from a community college. If you want to learn Chinese right, it’s necessary to be taught by a teacher."
Again, Chinese is a very difficult language and books or software won’t be of any help. :)</p>
<p>Actually, theReach presents another example of a difficulty in Mandarin that even native speakers have problems with: whether to roll your tongue (卷舌; juan she). As per Hanyu Pinyin, what theReach wrote as “chong” should be pronounced “cong,” that is, without a rolled tongue. However, what he wrote as “su” should be pronounced “shu,” that is, with a rolled tongue!</p>
<p>But don’t let this point scare you. Just be diligent when you’re learning how to pronounce the words. If you make a mistake, don’t worry; we native speakers make this type of mistake ALL THE TIME. Heck, making this mistake might even make you sound more authentic, not less ;)</p>
<p>actually, fabrizio, chong/cong and su/shu can be pronounced with or without a rolled tongue, it’s not a mistake. You sound experienced with Mandarin, didn’t you consider the numerous Mandarin dialects…? Or are you giving tips based on what’s considered “official” Mandarin? </p>
<p>I never roll my tongue (you mistook my bad pinyin chong for a rolled tongue), because even when I speak Mandarin, it’s with a Shanghainese “accent”, if you will.</p>
<p>Well, I have to learn it quickly, because I don’t know any other languages, and I need to learn one (at least roughly) before this autumn. So I might as well make as much progress as I can now. There aren’t many Chinese teachers (or courses) in Britain.</p>
<p>Are there no books at all that you would recommend, apart from what I’ve already got? (Presumably, Chinese software isn’t much good?)</p>
<p>It’s a mistake in the sense that neither is standard Mandarin. The Hanyu Pinyin for “from” and “book” are cong and shu, respectively. I’m sure hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of native speakers pronounce them as chong and su, but neither pronunciation is the standard Mandarin pronunciation.</p>
<p>I shouldn’t say they’re “wrong” pronunciations. They are simply not the “standard” pronunciations.</p>
<p>python38, do you know any Chinese speakers in GB?</p>
<p>If you really want to learn Chinese, you can do it by yourself, but its gonna be a lot of work…
My friend, she learned chinese by herself (Mandarin) but she REFUSED to speak English when it wasnt necessary. Everything she did was in Chinese: homework (two copies done!), music, tv, food, notes, newspapaers, books, etc…
She’s fluent now, she took the AP Chinese Test and got a 5, SAT II got 790.
You just have to immerse yourself in the language, like, completely! Some people may find it annoying, but it works.
I gave her the idea because it worked for me; i learned Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Japanese like that. It all depends on your motivation. Don’t let them tell you that you cant.</p>
<p>BTW ROSETTA STONE IS A COMPLETE UTTER FAILURE!!!
DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY! I speak french and i tried to teach my brother who doesnt so i bought him it, and one day i was watching him on it and i wanted to cry!!! There’s a lot of faults and it really doesnt teach you anything that you couldn’t find out yourself!</p>
<p>python: the four tones aren’t actually that difficult to remember. The first one “-” sounds like it looks. It’s flat and the tone does not go up or down. It stays the same. Compare it to striking a single note on the piano. If you’re having trouble, just stay monotone.
The second one looks like an accent that slants upwards. It also sounds as it looks. It goes up, almost like you’re asking a question.
The third one looks like a “v”. It also sounds as it looks (no surprise there!). I can’t explain this one though…I guess the best way would be to listen constantly and try to mimick. You go down and emphasize, then you slide back. (that doesn’t make sense does it?)
The fourth one looks like an accent that goes down. And guess what? It sounds as it looks (am I getting annoying haha?). It’s kind of like a jab. It’s a short sound. It’s almost like the “-” sound, but instead of stretching it out, it lasts much shorter. If a “-” was a quarter note, then the fourth tone would be a eighth note…
Sooo…I’m sure many of you will scream at me for my horrible attempts at explaining the four tones, but I tried…It’s hard!!!
I would recommend buying a listen-and-learn CD or something…
These tones are definitely important!!
They are one of the major reasons that foreigners can’t speak Mandarin.</p>
How long did it take your friend to learn Chinese?</p>