Ok I really want to learn to speak mandarin.

[RobertH]

I picked up a fair amount if Cantonese years ago from a girlfriend I had so I know I can learn it if I try.

The way I learned before was to pick english words that sound the same and think fo those when I was tryign to speak.

I dont learn well from reading books and trying to Menorize it. I worry about how to pronounce things when I read them.

Anyone use any good Dvd's, workbooks or what?

Please tell me what you think.

[weiaijiayou]

I picked up a fair amount if Cantonese years ago from a girlfriend I had so I know I can learn it if I try.

 

The way I learned before was to pick english words that sound the same and think fo those when I was tryign to speak.

 

I dont learn well from reading books and trying to Menorize it. I worry about how to pronounce things when I read them.

 

Anyone use any good Dvd's, workbooks or what?

 

Please tell me what you think.

The first thing I would do is have your wife or a Chinese tutor teach you how to pronounce the sounds (initials and finals) of mandarin (e.g., the finals: a o e i u v). Then you should learn some basic words or phrases with the aim of familiarizing yourself with (1) pinyin (the romanized script for Chinese) so you will have a framework for understanding all future pronunciation, and (2) the four tones, which will be an ongoing process for probably the first year or so.

 

Based on experience I'd say the best advice is to use it -- talk as much as you can and learn how to explain everything you think and do in Chinese -- and don't give up. Do these two things and you'll learn faster than you think (and faster than anyone who goes to class and waits 20 minutes to rehearse a pretend dialogue, or anyone who stares at a book every day instead of talking with someone). Third piece of advice: don't be afraid to make mistakes. That's the only way you'll improve.

[A Mafan]

I have no disagreements with waiaijiayou's advice, but I'll offer a different perspective. They are probably complementary.

 

Language is just communicating.

To communicate, you need the right building blocks (vocabulary)

arranged the right way so it makes sense (grammar).

 

So (and this could just be me), I'd say focus on grammar. Figure out HOW to express what you want to say, and then plug in whatever vocabulary you deem necessary. Repitition over time will naturally select the most useful.

 

Aside from that, in my opinion, I'd say: build up as much as you can. Grab a language program and start exposing yourself to as much as you can. Don't worry if you don't remember it very well. Just cram as much data into your noggin as you can take.

 

Next, learn to use a dictionary. This is VERY, VERY important, because reading the words is very important in Chinese, where there are so many homonyms. If you learn "mimi" for "secret", and don't read it to learn those are actually two different characters with two different tones, you will always be held back. Or if you don't read characters, how will you know that "xianzai" (now) doesn't use the same characters as "xian" (first) and "zai" (again)?

 

Then work with your Chinese loved one and a dictionary to start sorting out everything you've learned. Use it China on the streets as much as possible. Listen to Chinese music while reading the lyrics, that will teach you grammar and useful new vocabulary for expressing feelings.

 

Make lots of flashcards. Learning to write characters will help you recognize them, and will help you in using dictionaries. Having flashcards makes it easier to review vocabulary...repetition is VITAL for language improvement.

[Michael]

Robert,

I started to learn from this site that I found in a book I bought. A pretty neat site. Go to www.cathaycafe.com. There is a free Mandarin lessons. And valuable other links you can use. Plus also in the city I live in they have a Chinese teacher that teaches chinese at a grade school. I also got permission from the school to sit in on the classes. It was pretty neat. Some of those kids could speak the basics. Hope that helps you out.

[Scott@Hong]

Skype is nice for learning, My wife tries to say everything to me in English and I try to only speak in Mandarin.

 

As stated above, using it is the best way to learn. Books and dictionary give you good reference material. I also use Rosetta Stone, which I think is very good for teaching the 4 tones, and helps with sentence structure once you get into the later levels.

[Kyle]

One of the best ways to learn Chinese is to immerse yourself in it. Both you and your wife are going to have to show discipline in speaking. I've found Chinese grammar to be one of the most difficult things to grasp. I have always been a fan of Pimsleur, which does a decent job helping you learn tones and sentence structure. Granted, it is expensive, and you won't learn a huge amount of vocabulary, but, what you do learn, you will remember and remember well.

 

http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/

 

I'm a huge fan of Wenlin dictionary for PC. It has a flashcard function, as well as the ability to see a character writen stroke by stroke. There is also an audio function which will allow you to hear a male or female pronounce the word you are looking up.

 

http://www.wenlin.com/

 

Actually, I have a lot more information to offer. If you're wanting textbooks, I can give you some links to the books my school uses. They're not bad. In fact, your fiance will be able to order them from taobao fairly inexpensively.

 

Let me know if I can help you out further. I don't want to flood you with too much information as it can get quite staggering. Learning Chinese isn't hard if you're willing to dedicate yourself to disciplined study and practice.

 

I forgot to mention, if you have a PDA or smart phone, Pleco Dictionary is FREAKING awesome! It has a lot of the same features as wenlin, but goes even farther. If you're die-hard about learning how to write. Pleco will help you out big time. Also for your phone, do a google search for CJKOS, which is a Chinese input system for your phone. There are some free alternatives, but I don't remember where I saw them. I'll have to get back to you on that.

Edited November 4, 2009 by Kyle (see edit history)

[TLB]

I have been using chinesepod.com for some time now and am very pleased with it. I think there are free lessons there, or you can pay a few bucks a month for additional study materials. It is out of Shanghai and has 5 or 6 levels starting from very beginning. Their focus is on listening and speaking, not so much writing.

[griz326]

Move to China.

 

 

For me, learning to read Pinyin out loud seems to be the best approach. When I learn enough, it will also help me type in Chinese.

[Sam and Fen]

marry a chinese girl

[Stepbrow]

I've used Live Mocha for a while. It is a good program, and it is free. http://www.livemocha.com/

[Jon & Cindy]

Hmmm, anyone every try Rosetta Stone or something similar? If so, how did it work out?

[weiaijiayou]

I have no disagreements with waiaijiayou's advice, but I'll offer a different perspective. They are probably complementary.

I¡¯d say your advice is more long term whereas mine is mostly what I suggest someone should do first. My advice about learning pronunciation was based on something I saw a couple weeks ago. My dad wanted to learn how to say ¡°banana¡± in mandarin. No matter how many times my wife and I repeated to him ¡°xiang1 jiao1¡± he would say back to us ¡°shang1 chao3¡±. To him, his pronunciation sounded just like ours, because he wasn¡¯t aware that he had to differentiate between ¡°xia¡± and ¡°sha¡±, ¡°jia¡± and ¡°cha¡±, and the first and third tones. So for my dad at least (and I¡¯m assuming he is somewhat normal for an older English speaker who has never studied mandarin), I believe he needs to understand what sounds there are in mandarin before he can learn how to correctly say just about anything (and also, more than likely, to differentiate between words he hears). Someone could certainly make these realizations through experience over time, but I believe understanding the sounds up-front would save time and prevent people from having to relearn the correct pronunciation for words they keep saying wrong¡­

 

To anyone using this thread for advice on how to learn mandarin, you should keep in mind a couple things. First is the ¡°curse of expertise,¡± which refers to the idea that people who are experts at something have a very hard time recreating the mental state of a novice. When you get advice from a fluent mandarin speaker, what they tell you about what they personally did certainly has value, but I would be skeptical of advice that you feel, for you, would put the cart before the horse. It¡¯s hard for people to remember what it was like before they knew something the way they do now. Second, different things sometimes work for different people. For example, if you are really good at imitating people exactly, then don¡¯t waste your time studying specific sounds. Just jump right in to learning words and grammar. Perhaps the only advice that applies universally for anyone doing something like this that takes a long time is: don¡¯t get discouraged.

[Eric739]

I studied Mandarin at the community college. It was a good way to learn some basic pronunciation but the instructor was diehard Taiwanese. They write and speak mostly Traditional Mandarin, not Simplified on the mainland. Some differences there cause confusion. If you go that route, make sure the teacher is good and can answer questions without having to think in Mandarin.

 

I did study Rosetta Stone and found it very helpful. Pimsleur is also good but takes a bit more time than Rosetta I find.

 

Wafan is right about the dictionary. There is a lot of emphasis upon pinyin only because it helps a westerner learn to pronounce. But it really is a crutch. You will see what I mean after a while. Learning the correct stroke order is important to be able to look up words in the Chinese dictionary. And the writing of Chinese is quite an art and a whole lot of fun for me as a one time artist myself. It has actually helped my English writing. I have had several operations on my hands and arms and concentrating on correct writing really does help.

 

One of the reason why Chinese people are so disciplined I think is the language demands it. So if you have that discipline, then you will do well.

 

But practice is also necessary. Have to do it everyday. We have a rule in the house: only Mandarin on Friday. I starve sometimes but it works.

[Mike and Yan]

Hmmm, anyone every try Rosetta Stone or something similar? If so, how did it work out?

I used Rosetta Stone. It's good. BUT make sure your wife speaks the same way. Rosetta Stone is for a northern speaker. My wife from the south is understandable to them but it is difficult for me to understand her. Thus I had to stop using it.

 

So I now try to read the language and learn vocab from her. We learn new words together. Pinyin helps me reduce the confusion. But again, she is an expert and does not know how to 'properly' speak; I need to be very flexible.

[weiaijiayou]

Wafan is right about the dictionary.

A Mafan, it's interesting that in all the different ways I've seen your moniker mispelled, I've yet to see the most damning of all possibilities -- i.e., mafen (Âí·à)