Learn Chinese quick
I really do not mean to scare you off from learning Chinese. But I have just got five pages of my Thai to Chinese translation back from a Singapore translation agent. The whole project has to be retranslated from Chinese to Chinese. Confuse, you would better be. The paper was supposed to be translated for a Hong Kong client but somehow was mistakenly translated in Chinese for China.
Back in the year 1972 while I was still courting my wife or girlfriend then, my in laws used to make complaints about why would the two of us speak in English while both are Chinese. But I think he knew why. It is true that I could speak Chinese fluently in all the three dialects of Taechew, Cantonese and Mandarin, but I can not speak the Chinese they do and vice versa.
So, when you start thinking of learning Chinese, you should consider which Chinese you want to learn in writing and which one you want to learn to speak.
In writing, you have a choice of the traditional, or what the China mainland likes to refer it as complicated Chinese, and the simplified Chinese. Tradition Chinese is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and majority of the Southeast Asian Chinese less Singapore. Simplified Chinese is used in China.
Chinese Speaking is probably easier to take choice. Mandarin is widely spoken throughout Chinese speaking countries and ethnic groups. But you may still run into problem in such places like Hong Kong, Thailand, some parts in China and most American Chinese, especially when you speak to the senior citizens in all of these places.
Once you have made your Chinese writing and speaking choices, you must do some solid thinking as to your need to pick up Chinese. Do you really want to learn Chinese and most important is if there is a need to. This is a critical pre-requirement. Throughout my years in teaching Chinese to foreigners, my experience tells that necessity makes learning quicker than those talented.
Now you are all ready to learn Chinese, how should one start.
Step one.
Go to the book shop or library or somewhere you can get some learning Chinese materials. Get some basic materials in CD, VCD, to listen and learn the writing strokes.
Forget about all the language jargons like pinyin, tones, culture or what have you, at this stage. You do not intend to be a Chinese expert and you will probably pick them up on the way later. All you can do in order to learn Chinese quick, as the title suggest, is to get familiar with the language so as to be able to get your way around.
Step two
In this advance computerized world, you can get up the internet; satellite TV to learn from the many Chinese teaching programs from Chinese speaking countries. The Chinese national CCTV channel does put up a few good learning Chinese programs taught by China born American and Australian. Or turn to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore for many other free learning programs.
Step three
Attend a Chinese as a foreign language laboratory or school. Do not get a private tutor even you can afford it. School provides you an opportunity to learn not only in a systematically way, it also give you opportunity to meet friends with common interest.
You step pass this step three if you can not find a suitable facility as mentioned and go on to the next step.
Step four
Reach out and applied your newly learned Chinese. We Chinese say you learn a language quick by walking with a walking dictionary. Go to places of Chinese community to do some on the road training. Remember, you need to be able to speak and write Chinese quick. It is not Chinese for fun or Chinese for the next 10 years. One very important attribute in learning a language quick is termed “thick skin”. Remember, the word “shy” is not in your Chinese dictionary. You have to speak more than you listen. People will correct you and you learn when you speak wrongly.
I normally considered my student has learned the first book of Chinese when he/she is able to go to China or Hong Kong and get to the hotel, dining out and do some shopping without the help of using English. The time it takes is from the quickest of 1 year to the eternity of never. Some dropped out and some took years.
Well, that is Learn Chinese quick.