good idea to study chinese as a second language?

[LongCoolMother]

ive heard increasingly in recent years that fluency in chinese is becoming a more and more valuable quality to employers. this is in the SF bay area, by the way, regarding the high-tech industry mainly. seeing that I'm studying computer science and I come from a Chinese household, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to take some classes in Chinese in college.

I grew up with my parents speaking chinese to me. I have no problem whatsoever understanding spoken Chinese, but I can't read it. While I can manage conversational Chinese without butchering pronunciation too much, I am far from fluent in speaking the language. I therefore already have a fairly good foundation for learning chinese and have parents to practice with.

Is it worthwhile to develop my skills in the language? Is it helpful in the job market?

 

[Gibson486]

Lets put it this way....

I have been denied coops just because I did not know chinese ( I would have other wise got the job)

More recently, i was denied a full time job b/c i could not speak chinese. Offer: 72K $5k bonus...then they asked my what dialect I was fluent in.....offer retracted

Sad thing is....I am Chinese too

 

[ChaoZ]

Yes I would say it's very useful. You can watch Chinese shows with subtitles and match the dialogue; it's really useful. And since you're in SF, go take classes in CCSF. They got some really great language teachers.

 

[deejayshakur]

same background as you. all i did in college was take up chinese music, chinese movies, hit up some character websites, and made friends with some fobs (you help them with engrish, you pick up their chinese). your chinese will be money in no time. i did that the last 2 years of college and by now, i always fooled classmates/coworkers/acquaintances into thinking i am foreign-born with my cantonese. the abc accent will take work, but it's doable. oh, my gf is hong kong born and speaks english and chinese flawlessly as well, so it helps to have a language coach who you can talk with...about things. this is all assuming you have the desire to learn. unless you have a strong desire to learn to write, personally i didn't think it was worth the time. in my line of work, a good command of conversational and medical chinese is more than plenty. have fun, laang jai.

 

[UncleWai]

useful if you need to date Chinese girls, not those Americanized ones.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: UncleWai
useful if you need to date Chinese girls, not those Americanized ones.

but are they tranny's though?

 

[Terabyte]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: UncleWai
useful if you need to date Chinese girls, not those Americanized ones.

but are they tranny's though?

LOL

I'm an ABC, and I tried to learn Chinese when I was younger by going to Chinese school, but I just couldn't get it

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It's going to be very useful, but the reading and writing are very very hard.

 

[Mo0o]

Yes definitely do it, you learn a lot more in college Chinese classes than you do in those once a week weekend Chinese schools. You can also look into a study abroad program in china for total immersion

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Terabyte

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: UncleWai
useful if you need to date Chinese girls, not those Americanized ones.

but are they tranny's though?

LOL

I'm an ABC, and I tried to learn Chinese when I was younger by going to Chinese school, but I just couldn't get it

probably cuz their teaching methods were flawed, atleast the one i went to. they teach assuming you already speak perfect chinese so its just memorizing and reciting which is not how any other language is taught in schools. makes no sense and doesn't work. sad thign is when i look at chinese i recognize a lot of the characters still, i remember writing them endless times and like a robot i could probably write it with perfect stroke order, but i don't remember the word

 

[0roo0roo]

dp

 

[z0mb13]

yes it is a very good idea. I myself am going to Shanghai in 3 weeks to study Mandarin

I am already preparing myself by taking mandarin lessons. IMO the first step of studying Mandarin is to study Hanyi Pinyin, and able to pronounce the letters/words correctly (extremely important). After you are good with this, you can easily learn the language on your own, just go to a bookstore and look for Mandarin lesson books (generally they use a combination of chinese letters and hanyi pinyin). Of course then you need to use it daily otherwise you will just forget. This is how actually being in China comes in handy

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
yes it is a very good idea. I myself am going to Shanghai in 3 weeks to study Mandarin

I am already preparing myself by taking mandarin lessons. IMO the first step of studying Mandarin is to study Hanyi Pinyin, and able to pronounce the letters/words correctly (extremely important). After you are good with this, you can easily learn the language on your own, just go to a bookstore and look for Mandarin lesson books (generally they use a combination of chinese letters and hanyi pinyin). Of course then you need to use it daily otherwise you will just forget. This is how actually being in China comes in handy

He's ABC so he knows what Chinese is all about, just wondering whether it'll be handing in the business world.

It's Han Yu Pin Yin btw

 

[DarkKnight69]

I am looking to go take a chinese course in college this year. I am Canadian and speak no other languages, but i spend ALOT of time with my gf and her all chinese family...

Canto is what I am hopeing to learn.

Hope it is not too hard...

 

[lozina]

either you learn chinese now voluntarily, or you will lbe forced to learn it later when Red China conquers America!!!

 

[DaShen]

A very good idea. Trust me. Companies are starting to look for this.

 

[UncleWai]

Originally posted by: lozina
either you learn chinese now voluntarily, or you will lbe forced to learn it later when Red China conquers America!!!

It's Mao or never.

 

[Staples]

Good if your employeer does business with China but I doubt it will ever be spoken anywhere else in the world.

 

[Chryso]

Originally posted by: lozina
either you learn chinese now voluntarily, or you will lbe forced to learn it later when Red China conquers America!!!

If that is your reasoning you may want to learn Spanish first.

 

[AkumaX]

Haha, ever watch Serenity/Firefly and listen to their broken Mandarin?

Anyways, it might be a good idea to learn a language where technically 1/6th of the world speaks. Although Spanish might be more useful in Southern California.

 

[NanoStuff]

There are three times as many native Mandarin speakers than there are English speakers... so if you thought English was widespread, you just wait. If you can find the time, it's a very good idea to learn the language.

 

[sdifox]

I got Mandarin, English and Spanish covered, so I am pretty much set. Unless I venture into Quebec that is. Somehow 3 years of high school French didn't stick to me.