whats the best way to start learning chinese?

[MrDingleDangle]

i dont have the funds right now to be able to afford a class, which i know i would have to do to learn it, but is there a good starting part, cause i have a lot of free time*












*want to please my g/f**














**want my g/f to stop saying i dont try to understand her culture

 

[richardycc]

marry her

 

[amcdonald]

I understand that its easiest to learn language when you are from 2-6 years old... so you could try that.

 

[pillage2001]

Movies?? Try asking her to teach you some basic mandarin and practice it everyday. Simple things like, how are you? Good morning? Good night and all those words that you would actually learn in first grade.

 

[Electric Amish]

Step 1) goto a chinese restaurant

 

[WhiteKnight]

Yeah, there are some sounds in Asian languages that unless you got them in early childhood you will never be able to make them. I am interested in learning Cantonese too, as I am half Chinese and feel that I was denied my birthright to bilinguality . Fortunately, if my engineering grad student schedule permits, I can take classes here at Hopkins.

 

[nanyangview]

several questions before we start
1) how old are you
2) what language other than english do u speak
3) are you trying to learn CANTONESE(dialect) or MANDARIN(official language of china)
4) chinese is not a language, it is a race
5) Are you just trying to speak/listen or speak listen +write and read?

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
Movies?? Try asking her to teach you some basic mandarin and practice it everyday. Simple things like, how are you? Good morning? Good night and all those words that you would actually learn in first grade.

yeah shes not good at that...she would teach me one thing a month and expect me to remember it...we were both really busy at the time though...but she isnt a good teacher

 

[nanyangview]

several questions before we start
1) how old are you
2) what language other than english do u speak
3) are you trying to learn CANTONESE(dialect) or MANDARIN(official language of china)
4) chinese is not a language, it is a race
5) Are you just trying to speak/listen or speak listen +write and read?

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: nanyangview
several questions before we start
1) how old are you
2) what language other than english do u speak
3) are you trying to learn CANTONESE(dialect) or MANDARIN(official language of china)
4) chinese is not a language, it is a race
5) Are you just trying to speak/listen or speak listen +write and read?

1) 24
2) american and took 5 years of spanish in jr. high and high, but now know little to none
3) mandarin
4) yeah yeah yeah...trust me i get yelled at enough for calling her chinese (she's taiwanese)
5)speak/listen her mother speaks little/no english so when i go to dinner i just sit there and she compliments my chopstick ability

 

[pillage2001]

She's taiwanese eh??


I first learned mandarin/cantonese through cursing people. Since she does not know much, I guess your next best option is the movies and have a dual language dictionary handy with ya.

 

[nanyangview]

she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off. Cos that is disrespecting 5000years of culture and history taiwan is a province of china while many taiwanese refute that idea. taiwan is not a sovereign nation.

END politics Taiwan mandarin suck, their pronounciation is off compared to mainland china. I would rather learn REAL mandarin. ur 24? to speak/listen fluently, it probly take minimum 1 year of constant practice. Yeah i know it suck, but it is the HARDEST language on earth.

First you must learn all the 4 romanization of sound ( -- \/ \ / )

http://www.chinese-outpost.com/language/

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: nanyangview
she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off.

taiwanese != chinese

 

[freebee]

Originally posted by: nanyangview
she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off. Cos that is disrespecting 5000years of culture and history taiwan is a province of china while many taiwanese refute that idea. taiwan is not a sovereign nation.

END politics Taiwan mandarin suck, their pronounciation is off compared to mainland china. I would rather learn REAL mandarin. ur 24? to speak/listen fluently, it probly take minimum 1 year of constant practice. Yeah i know it suck, but it is the HARDEST language on earth.

First you must learn all the 4 romanization of sound ( -- \/ \ / )

http://www.chinese-outpost.com/language/

You communist....go back to china. Taiwan is sperate and independent whether you like it or not.

 

[Monel Funkawitz]

whats the best way to start learning chinese?

Work at a place in China that writes instruction manuals translated in English. You'r worst chinese is far better than some of their translator's english.

BTW, before I do that I'd work on bringing my english grammar up to par.


i dont have the funds right now to be able to afford a class, which i know i would have to do to learn it, but is there a good starting part, cause i have a lot of free time*

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: nanyangview
she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off.

taiwanese != chinese

nationality != ethnicity. you are chinese, unless you happen to be one of the aboriginals on the island of polynesian descent.

and yea, taiwanese dialect is "garbage" mandarin (not my term). i guess that's what you should learn though, if you want to please her and her family. just keep in mind that mainlanders might laugh at you

 

[meksta]

taiwanese speak mandarin

china mainland speaks mandarin

it might sound a little different but it's the same language.


lesson #1: to be said to your loved one

wor yow kan ni

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
She's taiwanese eh??


I first learned mandarin/cantonese through cursing people. Since she does not know much, I guess your next best option is the movies and have a dual language dictionary handy with ya.

Curse words is still all you know Pillage.

As for Taiwanese girls, good luck buddy. I could do at least 3 YAGT threads on Taiwanese girls.

If you really want to please her, learn the native Taiwanese language after Mandrain.


I would suggest taking Mandarin at a junior college. There are some differences in how Mainland Mandarin compared to Taiwanese Mandarin etc.

 

[fastz28]

Originally posted by: nanyangview
she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off. Cos that is disrespecting 5000years of culture and history taiwan is a province of china while many taiwanese refute that idea. taiwan is not a sovereign nation.

I will respectfully disagree and ask you to "fvck off".

Taiwanese isn't the same as Chinese. Did Taiwanese originally came from China? Yes. But so does people in Vietnam, Japan, and Korea. Are people in the U.S. British just because their ancestors came from England?

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Originally posted by: newbiepcuser

Originally posted by: pillage2001
She's taiwanese eh??


I first learned mandarin/cantonese through cursing people. Since she does not know much, I guess your next best option is the movies and have a dual language dictionary handy with ya.

Curse words is still all you know Pillage.

As for Taiwanese girls, good luck buddy. I could do at least 3 YAGT threads on Taiwanese girls.

If you really want to please her, learn the native Taiwanese language after Mandrain.


I would suggest taking Mandarin at a junior college. There are some differences in how Mainland Mandarin compared to Taiwanese Mandarin etc.

lol trust me i have had exprience before this one

yeah eventually i will take it at a school, just trying to figure out how to get started...

web pages dont really help as far as i have found because u really need to hear what it sounds like since the pronunciations are so different...

i have found a couple that have .wav files, but they only seem to have a few examples...

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: meksta
taiwanese speak mandarin

china mainland speaks mandarin

it might sound a little different but it's the same language.


lesson #1: to be said to your loved one

wor yow kan ni

the difference is like ebonics and proper BBC english... fo' shizzle

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: fastz28

Originally posted by: nanyangview
she is taiwanese = chinese. If she has that attitude, i would just ask her to fvck off. Cos that is disrespecting 5000years of culture and history taiwan is a province of china while many taiwanese refute that idea. taiwan is not a sovereign nation.

I will respectfully disagree and ask you to "fvck off".

Taiwanese isn't the same as Chinese. Did Taiwanese originally came from China? Yes. But so does people in Vietnam, Japan, and Korea. Are people in the U.S. British just because their ancestors came from England?

is that why taiwan calls itself the REPUBLIC OF CHINA?

and btw, yes, if there are some americans that are of pure british blood, i consider them to be british (in ethnicity), just like most taiwanese are chinese (in ethnicity). taiwanese people are more similar to the rest of the han than some of the other zhu living in china considered to be full chinese.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

to u thread hijackers... see that list of names next to "Navigation" please choose "news and politics"

 

[fastz28]

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle
to u thread hijackers... see that list of names next to "Navigation" please choose "news and politics"

Sorry about. To answer your question, try the local church. They always have classes to teach the younger generation. It's probably free.

 

[newbiepcuser]

You communist....go back to china. Taiwan is sperate and independent whether you like it or not.

They are not offically recongized as seperate as a nation state by the major nations i.e USA, and other nations in the UN in fear of China. United States current policy on Taiwan
Read here-->One China policy.

The last time I belive Taiwan's govt declared their independence, China's mobolized their miltary stragetically for attack in year 2000.

This was quite evident during the SARS epidemic when China did not allow Taiwan to join/patricpate in WHO (World Health Organization). The United States did not step in and intervene on this matter.



OH for the Romeo, there is book out there called I believe called "Making out in Chinese". Its under 10.00 book. It has lot of phrases from "Are you on your peiord" to "Would you like to see a movie"