Why Learn Chinese ? How To Read Chinese in 8 Minutes
Ichu Peng
Contents Why Learn Chinese ?....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Contents.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Why learn Chinese ?........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Chinese Beginners Guide................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Free Chinese Lessons....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chinese Verbs.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Why Study Chinese?........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 What you might already know.....................................................................................................................................................6 Things to consider............................................................................................................................................................................6 Some surprising facts....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Chinese is important for your career!..............................................................................................................................................7 Learning Chinese characters............................................................................................................................................................7 Study Abroad................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Chinese Events................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 How To Read Chinese In Eight Minutes...........................................................................................................................................9
Why learn Chinese ? The importance of Chinese stands out as the most spoken language in the world with over an estimated billion people in China and various other parts of the word speaking it. One can easily assume this makes Chinese one of the most important languages on the planet. China as a country is growing by leaps and bounds as a world power and shows to sign of slowing down. Recent studies have shown that Chinese has became a popular choice for a second language among college students. Surpassing previous favorite that include Spanish, French, and German languages. This increasing popularity isn’t surprising since the growing appeal of Chinese culture in the west and worldwide. Like many other languages around the world, Chinese as a great deal of dialects, the most common Chinese dialect is Mandarin Chinese. Even though English happens to be popular throughout China, most Chinese people tend not to understand English very well, so learning some Chinese is important knowledge to have. The Mandarin Dialect is very universal throughout China overall, although a number of dialects could possibly be more common in other locations. Since the invention of the Chinese Pinyin tonal system has made learning Chinese a lot easier then it was previously. The importance of Chinese Pinyin is a crucial method when it comes to writing Chinese in a romanized alphabet. Hanyu pinyin spells the sound, and includes tone marks to help give you the proper pronunciation. Knowledge of the written language opens up the culture of one of the world’s oldest civilizations.
Before China’s reform in the 1970s, China was a isolated country that didn’t accept any tourism. After 1970, China has became one of the leading tourist destinations. The Great Wall of China might be one of the most traveled to places on Earth but other wonders of China include the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Terracotta Army in the Qin Empire Emperor’s Mausoleum, the Yangtze River, and the Potala Palace. Even if you’re just a casual traveler, learning some Chinese to understand street signs, order food, or just communicating with people you meet on street, a most pleasant and enjoyable experience. Chinese is becoming one of the most important languages when it comes to operating an international business. The Chinese market is the biggest growing market even in this economic downturn. Expertise in Chinese has grown increasingly important to the overall global economy and many business owners are looking to break into this international market. Any business in the twenty-first century will be trying to do business in China and in doing so will required Chinese speakers to negotiate agreements and develop these trade deals. Economist predict by 2020, China will without doubt surpass the Untied States as the biggest international superpower. The importance of Chinese is beneficial regardless if you do it for fun or for your career or even just for personal travel. When trying to uncover the importance of Chinese. One cannot discover a more fascinating and challenging language to learn. All languages evolve with time and Chinese is no exception. To indisputably understand the importance of Chinese language you have to learn the actual language yourself to help you receive the full benefit of this amazing language later. In fact, latest research as shown that learning a second language helps fight against Alzheimer’s disease and slows down the aging effects of the brain. Talk about the Importance of language in action!
Chinese Beginners Guide This guide was written for Chinese Beginners that don’t know where to start learning Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is currently ranked first as the most spoken language in the world with nearly an estimated billion speakers in China, Taiwan, and other parts of the world. The most spoken Chinese dialect is the Mandarin dialect, which is understood by a vast majority of Chinese Speakers. The most important thing you need to have before you start learning Chinese. You need to have a reason to Learn Chinese. To keep you properly motivated towards your goal of becoming fluent with Chinese. Motivation to learn will be your biggest challenge to determine if you’ll be successful or not. So focus on a reason to keep you interest and motivation for the long haul . Familiarizes Yourself with the Chinese Alphabet And Chinese Numbers Learning to read the Chinese Alphabet should be the first stop for Chinese beginners. It’s important to understand that there isn’t exactly a Chinese alphabet. Chinese uses Chinese characters to represent ideas. Further information about both the Chinese Alphabet and Chinese Numbers linked below
Chinese Vocabulary and Phrases The logical next step after learning the Chinese Alphabet for Chinese beginners would be to start developing your Chinese vocabulary with Chinese words and phrases. I put together two posts of Chinese vocabulary and one post of Chinese phrases for Chinese beginners to start building their knowledge of Chinese Words and Phrases.
Free Chinese Lessons
• • • • • • • • • • •
Learn Chinese - Free online Mandarian audio courses. Clear and Easy Mandarian Lessons - Audio and written Chinese lessons. Includes practice exercises and other helpful materials. Learn Chinese Characters Online Chinese Tools - Various tools for using and learning Chinese. Conversational Chinese Online - from Long Beach State University. Free Chinese Lessons - Learn how to speak, read, and write Chinese online. Basic Units of Word Structure in Chinese Chinese Character Dictionary Learn Chinese Grammar - Nice explanations of Chinese grammar. Other topics are covered on this site as well. Speak Mandarin Chinese Online for Free - basic Chinese phrases. Learn Chinese Everyday - blog about learning Chinese that includes audio.
Chinese Verbs
• •
Mandarian Verbs and Word Order - Great introduction to Chinese verbs. WikiVerb - Chinese, Mandarian Verb List - Hundreds of Mandarin verbs.
Why Study Chinese? What you might already know 1.
China is one of the world’s oldest and richest continuous cultures, over 5000 years old.
2.
China is the most populous nation in the world, with 1.28 billion people.
3.
One fifth of the planet speaks Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the mother tongue of over 873 million people, making it the most widely spoken first language in the world.
4.
In addition to the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese is also spoken in the important and influential Chinese communities of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, and Mongolia.
5.
China is the second largest economy in the world.
6.
China is one of largest trading partners of the United States.
7.
Many US companies do business in China and have long-term investments there.
Things to consider The study of the Chinese language opens the way to different important fields such as Chinese politics, economy, history or archaeology. But to study Chinese finally means to study a culture, a people. At the heart of Chinese civilization is its rich heritage of novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and, more recently, film. They reflect the values, the struggles, the sensibility, the joys and the sorrows of this great people and often offer insights even into the most intimate feelings of people in the past or into high-level Beijing politics at he present that cannot be found anywhere else. These works help you understand what is behind the language, what makes it powerful, and how it actually functions in Chinese society. To be at ease and effective in a Chinese environment learning the language is half the battle, but knowing about the culture behind the language is the other.
Some surprising facts Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. Unlike French, German or English, Chinese has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g., gender and number distinctions). For example, while someone learning English has to learn different verb forms like “see/saw/seen,” all you need to do in Chinese is just to remember one word: kan. While in English you have to distinguish between “cat” and “cats,” in Chinese there is only one form: mao. (Chinese conveys these distinctions of tense and number in other ways, of course.) The basic word order of Chinese is subject — verb — object, exactly as in English. A large number of the key terms of Mandarin Chinese (such as the terms for state, health, science, party, inflation, and even literature) have been formed as translations of English concepts. You are entering a different culture, but the content of many of the modern key concepts is familiar.
Remember these two facts: 1.
Currently Mandarin Chinese is spoken by over 1 billion people around the world, about one fifth of the global population;
2.
Each year more and more students around the world whose mother tongue is not Mandarin are studying it with enthusiasm and success. If they all can learn it, so can you!
The study of Chinese literature and culture will help you bridge the cultural gap, better understand your Chinese counterparts, and create a platform of knowledge and understanding with them that is crucial for effective communication.
Chinese is important for your career! 1.
International businesses prefer to hire people who speak more than one language. China has become a huge market, and business leaders are looking for people who can speak Chinese and operate successfully in a Chinese cultural context.
2.
Knowing Chinese may give you an edge when competing for an important position.
3.
China will play a major role in world affairs in the future. As China now has opened up to the West, there are opportunities for employment in all areas.
4.
China is a wonderful country in which to teach English while developing your language and cultural skills. The experience is great, and it’s something you will never forget.
5.
Teach in China A program offered through the Council on International Education Exchange.
6.
China Employment Center at China Online.
7.
Greater China Job Listings from Wang & Li Asia Resources.
8.
Job Information Journal: China ESL Cafe’s journal of various job experiences in China, including places you should avoid when looking for employment.
Learning Chinese characters
Learning to read and write the Chinese script is particularly challenging because it consists of a thousands of complex characters, and each character represents both sound and meaning.
Usage of Chinese characters Chinese is written entirely with Chinese characters or hànzi. To read Modern Standard Chinese you need to commit about 4,000 - 5,000 hànzi to memory.
Japanese is written with a mixture of Chinese characters or kanji plus two syllabic scripts and sometimes the Latin alphabet. Knowledge of about 2,000 kanji is sufficient to read most Japanese texts.
Korean is written mainly with an alphabetic script known as hangeul. Chinese characters or hanja are also used, but to a much lesser extent than in Japanese. A knowledge of about 2,000 hanja is essential when reading older Korean texts, which use many more hanja than modern texts do. In fact many modern texts use no hanja at all.
Until the early 20th century Vietnamese was written with a script based on Chinese characters known as Chữ-nôm.
Some possible ways to learn Chinese characters Most characters are built of components which represent physical things or abstract concepts. Learn what each of the components represents and try building up mental images featuring the components for each character. Include in your mental images the meanings of the characters and the pronunciation.
There are a number of books, such as Fun with Chinese Characters, which explain the structure and meaning of each character with illustrations and little stories.
When learning Japanese remember that most kanji have several different readings: usually at least one derived from Chinese and one that is the Japanese word with the same meaning. Japanese children learn the Japanese readings of the kanji first and later learn the Chinese-derived readings. This is probably a good technique to adopt, unless you know Chinese already.
Learn the correct way to write each character and if possible, take a class in Chinese or Japanese calligraphy.
Practice reading and writing characters at every opportunity.
Make some character cards with a single large character on the front and the character's pronunciation and meaning together with words and/or phrases featuring the character on the back. Carry these cards around with you and refer to them whenever you have a moment. Some Chinese language courses include character cards like this.
As you learn more characters, you will start to notice recurring themes and patterns. This will help you to guess the meanings of new characters. The more characters you learn, the easier it will become to learn new ones.
To avoid eyestrain when poring over Chinese or Japanese texts, dictionaries, etc, make sure your study area is well-lit and consider buying a large magnifying glass. I'm serious - when I start learning Chinese and Japanese I had perfect eyesight. After studying them for four years I needed glasses.
Study Abroad At Boston University we offer a Shanghai Study Abroad Language and Culture Program and an Internship Program. Our programs are at Fudan University, which is ranked as the number three university in China. Students have the opportunity to spend a summer, semester, or year studying Chinese, taking elective courses in English, and even having an internship in the vibrant city of Shanghai. No prior knowledge of Chinese language is required to study abroad in Shanghai, but students will be required to study Chinese while in the program. Students in the Language and Culture program study two semesters’ worth of Chinese in one term. In the Internship Program, students can choose to study Chinese at the normal semester pace or at an intensive pace. More information on studying Chinese in China is available here : http://www.bu.edu/abroad/find-programs/bydestination/shanghai-china/
Chinese Events Each year students and faculty organize a celebration of the Chinese New Year with food and student performances. More than a hundred students participate. There also is a student competition and prize for the best Chinese-English translation, the best short story and the best essay or poem written in Chinese. We also invite guest speakers to talk about China-related topics. The lively Chinese-language club is one of the more active student organizations on campus.
How To Read Chinese In Eight Minutes
By Bruce Upbin To a non-Chinese speaker (like me), and especially to a Westerner (like me), Chinese is the most impenetrable family of languages on Earth. While there may be only an eighth as many syllables as in English, the tonal variations for each syllable in Standard Chinese impute vastly different meanings. The word “ma” can mean linen, horse, mother or scold, depending on how your tone rises or falls. So what are you supposed to do if you’re interested in diving into the culture and language spoken by 15% of the world’s population? You could start by learning to readChinese first–a more attainable goal. But how? There are some 10,000 Chinese characters in common use. Basic literacy, according to the Chinese government, starts at two thousand characters. A solid grasp of a daily Beijing newspaper requires knowing around three thousand. An erudite Chinese reader should recognize five to seven thousand characters. How about eight? ShaoLan Hsueh, a Taiwanese entrepreneur and venture investor living in London, has developed a visual system for learning to read Chinese, calledChineasy, that transforms cornerstone Chinese characters known as radicals into clever illustrations and stories to teach people a basic vocabulary.
ShaoLan introduced her system in a rousingly well-received TED talk in February in Long Beach, Calif., the video of which should go live in May. She says she’s gotten more than a thousand emails and LinkedIn invites since then from people who want to get started. In the meantime, she has published a Facebook page introducing her concept. (If you go to the Facebook page, you have to start from the bottom of the timeline and work up, because the lesson follows a particular order.) She’s also published a charming placeholder of a Web site here. “I grew up in Taiwan as the daughter of a calligrapher. Some of my earliest and most treasured memories are of my mother showing me the beauty, shape and form of Chinese characters. Ever since then I have been deeply fascinated by the structure of this incredible language,” says ShaoLan. “Twelve years ago I moved to England and enrolled at Cambridge University. Two years later, I had one degree and two children. As I settled into my new life, I observed how in vogue China was and how eagerly people wanted to embrace the culture – yet they struggled with the language. Even my own children found it daunting. That’s when I started to think about how a new, simpler method for reading Chinese might be useful. By day I worked as an Internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist and by night I was consumed with creating a system to make learning Chinese easy.” ShaoLan worked with London design firm Brave New World and Israeli illustratorNoma Bar to breathe a little life into eight basic radicals, and then expanded on those by working them into pictographic stories. Take a look. Here’s “ren,” the radical for person, illustrated with head and feet:
Here’s the character and word for mouth. It’s harder to forget with teeth, tongue and uvula:
Two people make the word follow. Three is a crowd. A person with arms stretched wide is “big.” A person inside a mouth is a prisoner.
Putting the lesson to work, here’s the Chinese-language cover of the Harry Potter novel The Prisoner Of Azkaban. Can you spot the character for prisoner?
Here’s the word for adult, combining big and person:
Here’s the word “adult” on the upper left-hand corner of a cover of a Japanese magazine (Chinese and Japanese share the same character set, more or less). See? You’re already reading Chinese.
Here’s a Chinese ad for Ray Romano’s sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Can you spot the word “everybody” now that you know the word for person?
Here’s the character for tree, with a dollop of vegetation on top for good measure:
Two trees are woods, three make a forest, and there are other logical variations.
Here’s a promo for NBA star Jeremy Lin, also from Taiwan, where Lin in a pretty common name that means forest. Spot it?
To be sure, ShaoLan is taking liberties with the language here. Very few Chinese characters are actual pictographs that reflect the meanings of the words. This is supposed to be good fun, and a way to remember what’s what. “The illustrations are the first step in my method,” she says. “The beautiful images allow people to remember characters easily. We can illustrate hundreds of them. We illustrate all the radicals and lots of the
new characters you build from radicals whenever they make sense. Once people recognize the radicals and are trained to ‘decipher’ any given character, they will need to start to understand a bit of Chinese culture and history to comprehend more characters.” In an example of weaving in a little history, here’s the character for mountain, with Chineasy illustration on top.
Two mountains stacked on top of each other mean ‘to get out’. In ancient times, the Emperor sent his enemies into exile beyond the mountains. Today, exile has come to mean to get out.
You can pick up a few more Chinese characters by flipping through this gallery:
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for person.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for fire.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for tree.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for mountain
. Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for sun
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for moon
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for door.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes The radical for one tree
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Two trees together mean woods.
. Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Three trees mean forest.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Two mountains stacked on top of each other means "to get out," which today means exile because the emperors used to send their enemies far away, across two mountains.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes
Variations on the character for person.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Variation on tree.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Variations on fire.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Variations on sun.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Variations on door.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Variations on women.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Put together fire and mountain and what do you get?
.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Combine sun and tree (and add a cross bar under the tree, which makes it foundation) and you get the word for Japan, land of the rising sun.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Here's the Chinese word for a Japanese person. All you had to do was add the person to the right.
Learn To Read Chinese In Minutes Combine the radicals for mountain and mouth, like a hole in the mountain, and you get the Chinese word for exit, sort of like a tunnel.