Learn Chinese
The Chinese Characters
Unlike other languages in the world, including ancient languages, which employ their own set of alphabet, the Chinese language is composed of characters with each representing both sound and meaning. There is no way to learn Chinese quickly even when you have memorized all the 3,500 most commonly used characters in a month! There are thousands more uncommonly used characters (that trace back to past dynasties) but for practical reasons, the Modern Chinese Commonly-used characters, the 3,500 characters would suffice.
You may also look up Chinese words in an online Chinese dictionary or an English to Chinese online dictionary. The internet has a variety of resources that would help in your pursuit. One thing you need to remember when memorizing Chinese characters is to associate each of them with physical things such as abstract concepts. You’ll be surprised how a Chinese character that means tree is actually like a sketch of a tree with a few strokes. When you write 3 characters beside each other, it already means “forest”.
When you learn Chinese, the next thing you would bear in mind is the tonality. The Chinese language uses four different tones. A Chinese character that is pronounced in a different tone can have a different meaning so you might be careful with that to avoid being misunderstood.
With that, are you still up to the challenge of learning to speak the Chinese language? Of course you do. Learning to speak Chinese can be fun, not to mention that Chinese (Mandarin) is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is predominantly due to the burgeoning Chinese population all over the world. On the other hand, it is estimated that people are having more frequent interactions with Chinese due to China’s steadily growing economy. The US is in fact bent on exchanging economic policies with China. But besides that, people have their personal reasons to learn Chinese.
Immersion In The Chinese Language
Whatever reason you have, the first step to learn Chinese is to familiarize with the Chinese characters and their respective tones. This is easier said than done, but a strong determination shouldn’t put you at wit’s end. As they say, the best way to learn a new language is to use it constantly. You may speak with your Chinese neighbour, or better yet, go to China. The power of immersion has never been discounted. Have you ever noticed how quickly children learn another language simply by playing with other children speaking a language different from theirs? Nonetheless, no one is too old to learn Chinese.
There are many Chinese nationals who want to improve on conversational English. This is called an exchange partner program where people may learn Chinese online and vice versa. Find exchange partners on the internet – another excellent way to learn Chinese online free! Online friends who are as eager to learn English as you are in Chinese can be your mentors. You may join discussion boards and get replies from Chinese nationals. Universities, such as Harvard, have their own Chinese Programs where links are provided for you to browse through.
Read Chinese Online
Frequently, a Chinese web page allows you to install a few, simplified Chinese fonts. It’s not necessary to download a Chinese software, your PC or MAC system include decoding functions (you may read more on this). You may also search the web for an online Chinese translator, but then again, you’d still need to decipher the Chinese characters appearing in the results box.
There are so many ways to learn Chinese in a fun way, aside from taking Chinese language classes, which can cost you and would not guarantee effective learning. Languages are learned through interaction, just as how languages evolved in the first place. The more you interact with native Chinese speakers, the better you’ll grasp concepts and learn Chinese sooner than you thought.