Let’s pretend you want to learn Chinese. Where do you start? How about the place I always go when I don’t know where to start: Google.
You search “Learn Chinese”, and see that Google’s found over 57,000,000 results. Good start! Then your eyes dart to the banner ads that say, “Learn Mandarin in 10 Days”, “Learn 2289 Chinese Characters in 90 Days”, and “Learn Chinese Easily”.
“Can it be true?” you think to yourself. “Can learning Chinese be both fast and easy?”
That’s the question I want to tackle in this post. I’m approaching my four-year anniversary of the day I first opened a Chinese textbook and declared to myself that I could not learn this language. I happily proved myself wrong.
Let’s first address the difficulty. Since I began studying Chinese, I’m frequently asked by curious friends and strangers alike: “Is studying Chinese hard?”
I never have a simple answer. Of course the answer is relative, and no two people would have the exact same experience learning a language. However, there is undoubtedly a general consensus among us 老外 (lǎowài – foreigners) that studying Chinese is not only hard, but also a bit intimidating.
I try to avoid saying Chinese is difficult for two reasons. First, I want to try to change the stereotype of Chinese as an incredibly difficult language to learn. Second, I truly believe that learning Chinese is not extremely difficult. Once you get past the “scariness” of the characters, recognizing, reading and writing characters becomes progressively easier. After becoming accustomed to the tones, tones become a natural part of learning the language, just as English learners become accustomed to where to put emphasis on a word.
So do I believe Chinese is easy to learn? I actually don’t believe that any foreign language is “easy” to learn. Certainly for Americans, romance languages feel easier since the languages are more closely related. Yet how many native-born Americans are highly-proficient in a romance language (or any other foreign language)? Learning a language takes persistence, patience, and most importantly a willingness to make mistakes. Since most people, especially secondary school students, do not naturally have these qualities, learning a language is never easy.
What about speed? Could you really, “Learn Mandarin in 10 Days?”
Well, that depends on if you would like your vocabulary to consist of more than 你好 (nǐhǎo – hello), 再见 (zàijiàn – goodbye), and 放弃了 (fàngqì le – I give up).
The answer to how long it takes to learn a language truly lies in the learning environment. I think most Americans could barely use the foreign language they studied in school when traveling abroad. However, an American who started learning Chinese in China, and has immersed themselves for the three months could take you around China without much of a problem. After doing a semester of immersion in China with CET, I was witness to the incredible ability our brains have to absorb and learn a language at a rapid pace.
Unfortunately, most people do not have the opportunity to take three months in a foreign country and immerse themselves completely. Thus learning takes place in a classroom with a teacher who is either a native speaker, or has invested their career to learning the language.
This brings me to my final and most important point about learning Chinese – Chinese teachers. Chinese teachers are consistently the nicest people I have ever met. Nor have I ever met a Chinese teacher who is not dedicated and passionate about teaching Chinese. I realize I’m working off an incredible small sample. However, I think most of my fellow Chinese language learners would agree with me on this point.
Because Chinese teachers are so passionate about their work, and most students are interested and curious about learning the language, I would guess most students enjoy studying Chinese. Since I started taking Chinese out of interest as an elective, I always said I would stop learning if it wasn’t fun. It’s been nearly four years and I haven’t stopped learning.
Are you ready to start learning Chinese?
Jamie Fleishman is an intern at the Asian language learning publisher, Cheng & Tsui.
Cheng & Tsui is the leading publisher of Chinese language textbooks, interactive material and resources. Visit www.cheng-tsui.com for more information and to view our entire catalog.
