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i speak french and spanish fluently.
people think french is a status symbol. rubbish
they think spanish is a ghetto language, rubbish.
why dont i learn chinese?
why dont you take up classic piano?
bek its hard. one of the things u better take on when you are a kid.
for chinese, if you are over 8 years old, you wont even ever learn to distinguish the subtle tones required for the language.
for chinese, if you are over 8 years old, you wont even ever learn to distinguish the subtle tones required for the language.
Lol, I like how people just make up random crap in these threads. I know many Americans who are fluent, including myself, that didn't start learning the language until their late teens or 20's. Where there's a will, there's a way.
ok I get Chinese is hard, but so is german. In the business world, both the latter will be more important than german or French in terms of business. Sure in the ideal world, you know every language out there.
Not everyone wants to do international business with China or be a social worker. German or French might be better if one is a scientist.
Lol, I like how people just make up random crap in these threads. I know many Americans who are fluent, including myself, that didn't start learning the language until their late teens or 20's. Where there's a will, there's a way.
difficult not impossible. the tones are hard to get after childhood. this was conveyed to me by a native chinese friend, but hey what do i know, u speak fluent chinese right? and never had any problem at all with speech and comprehension and pitch?, ? and you didnt learn til you were much older??
Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 01-26-2014 at 07:12 PM..
Conveyed to you by a native Chinese friend whom I assume didn't try to learn the language as an adult? Children do learn things much quicker than adults, but that doesn't mean it's that much more difficult for us. It just requires a bit of rewiring. Of course I had problems with comprehension (and still do), but it's mostly because I simply hadn't learned that word, not because I couldn't differentiate the tones. A lot of what people say to you and you to them can be understood through context, even if you're not sure what tone a certain word is. You might sound funny at times, and even offend someone by accident, but it's not like things are completely incomprehensible. People just guess what you meant to say and move on, especially talking at faster speeds. I'm sure this applies to Spanish, German and French to a lesser extent.
i speak french and spanish fluently.
people think french is a status symbol. rubbish
they think spanish is a ghetto language, rubbish.
why dont i learn chinese?
why dont you take up classic piano?
bek its hard. one of the things u better take on when you are a kid.
for chinese, if you are over 8 years old, you wont even ever learn to distinguish the subtle tones required for the language.
I speak Chinese natively and also took 4 years of French in HS (only because we had to learn the same language for 4 years to graduate).. even when I studied abroad (in the French part of Switzerland), there were only a handful of situations when my broken, half-arsed French actually made a difference (one time when I got lost and another time getting the maintenance guy to fix some problems in my dorm kitchen)
My daughter took sign language and it met her foreign language requirement in HS. Mine was Greek, but that was back in the 70's at a private Baptist school. A hard truth is that schools will offer languages they can find teachers for, and not just that one guy who can teach Latin or whatever. There HAS to be continuity or it's pointless to start. I've seen this happen a couple times at different schools, almost always leaving some kids in the lurch when 2 years worth is required.
Guawazi is right. While tones can present difficulties, they are not an impossible barrier to overcome, particularly if the student is able to live in China for any length of time. To be honest, really good, if not fluent, Western speakers of Mandarin are a dime a dozen these days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948
i speak french and spanish fluently.
people think french is a status symbol. rubbish
they think spanish is a ghetto language, rubbish.
why dont i learn chinese?
why dont you take up classic piano?
bek its hard. one of the things u better take on when you are a kid.
for chinese, if you are over 8 years old, you wont even ever learn to distinguish the subtle tones required for the language.
Quote:
Originally Posted by guawazi
Lol, I like how people just make up random crap in these threads. I know many Americans who are fluent, including myself, that didn't start learning the language until their late teens or 20's. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948
difficult not impossible. the tones are hard to get after childhood. this was conveyed to me by a native chinese friend, but hey what do i know, u speak fluent chinese right? and never had any problem at all with speech and comprehension and pitch?, ? and you didnt learn til you were much older??
Quote:
Originally Posted by guawazi
Conveyed to you by a native Chinese friend whom I assume didn't try to learn the language as an adult? Children do learn things much quicker than adults, but that doesn't mean it's that much more difficult for us. It just requires a bit of rewiring. Of course I had problems with comprehension (and still do), but it's mostly because I simply hadn't learned that word, not because I couldn't differentiate the tones. A lot of what people say to you and you to them can be understood through context, even if you're not sure what tone a certain word is. You might sound funny at times, and even offend someone by accident, but it's not like things are completely incomprehensible. People just guess what you meant to say and move on, especially talking at faster speeds. I'm sure this applies to Spanish, German and French to a lesser extent.
ok I get Chinese is hard, but so is german. In the business world, both the latter will be more important than german or French in terms of business. Sure in the ideal world, you know every language out there.
German is the second language of the physical sciences, and French is just fun. As previously noted, not everyone wants to be a businessperson.
difficult not impossible. the tones are hard to get after childhood. this was conveyed to me by a native chinese friend, but hey what do i know, u speak fluent chinese right? and never had any problem at all with speech and comprehension and pitch?, ? and you didnt learn til you were much older??
Tones are impossible for some to distinguish but not all. They are extremely difficult for me to hear, but I don't have an ear that can hear things such as pitch, tone, etc.
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