Learning Mandarin – Difficulties and Opportunities
Mandarin language research is problematic. Mostly because Mandarin is unique from other languages that people inside west have tried to get to grips with before trying to learn Chinese, not because learning Mandarin is much more. Mandarin is strange for most ways. The writing system is obviously completely different. There is no alphabet as being the one that Germanic and Latin derivates have. Instead a graphic defines every word; or rather a set of what is addressed strokes. For example, three stokes that together make a square means mouth, one combination of strokes that kind of depicts a woman holding a kid means mother and as a consequence on. But distinctions between don’t end several. The grammar is largely made up goods is called fibers. For example; adding a syllable pronounced ma after a sentence turns it suitable question, adding guo after a sentence means that in which it happens in items on the market. Combining these basic examples; you go shanghai guo mummy? Communicates the question: possibly you gone to Shanghai? The differences are however much more explicit that this type of. Even the sounds of spoken Chinese are completely different from western counterparts.
Chinese spoken test is not only based on syllables as western words are. Hugely for mother in English is just 6 different sounds noted by each character; M, O, T, H, E and R. In Chinese there is two syllables, not four characters, ma and ma. The twist is that “mama” can be pronounced in twenty-five methods. Each of the two syllables, ma and ma, can be pronounced with 5 different tones, making a total matrix of 5 times 5 possibilities, and only one means mother. The tones are called tones but are generally not tones regarding A minor or G, they are pitch modulation. Most important tone is a slightly steady high pitch. The second is a rising pitch. Method to tone goes down and then out. The fourth is a clear decline in pitch from high to low. The fifth is called the neutral tone and does not actually possess a modulation form.
All that sounds bloody difficult, as well as is, at least at first. Exactly how do you best go about arriving for grips with it? Because of course salvaging possible. In fact I know one lovely French girl called Julie, her Chinese is much better than her English. In addition know a very talented German videographer that has lived in China for less than three years; he often searches for that English word to describe something and ends up saying it Chinese language. Basically, I would argue, that Chinese isn’t so much bloody difficult as is certainly bloody different.
