An Overview Of Learning How To Speak Mandarin
Quite a few people go to China for many different reasons, from business to vacations, and do not ever learn Chinese. You are probably interested in learning because you want to visit but think it will take a while to learn. If you knew you could do it in only a short while, would you complete lessons?
It is not as complex and hard as many people think to learn Chinese. Taking lessons and practicing daily makes learning it not so long and fairly easy. For those with experience speaking another foreign language, only a month is needed to take on entire sentences and understand spoken words. For beginners, a week or less is all it takes to speak whole sentences.
These are only for those wanting to learn to speak the language and not to write or read it. In order to read and write the language, fluency in speaking is not required. Grammatical lessons and learning about the type of words and phrases used commonly in written form however is very important and can take time. A person of average learning speed could expect to learn the alphabet inside of a week, reading and writing it completely.
Considered what is called a sinitic language, Chinese is part of a family of languages that are considered hard to tell a difference between due to dialects. A total of one fifth of the world uses Chinese in some form as a primary language spoken. Many variations exist due to tone and the area in which the language is used in.
There are thirteen main types of Chinese based on classifications, with Mandarin being the most commonly used and Cantonese being the second most popular. Standard Mandarin is the main language used for the People’s Republic of China as well as Beijing. Many other areas including Singapore and even the United Nations use it as one of the 6 they speak.
Some other places that the language is used are the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Peru. The type you learn to speak and write will heavily depend on the area you will be visiting and what is spoken there. Reading specific characters is also affected by the area and language dialect used.
In order to learn how to speak it, many people and businesses use home lessons. This could include CDs with spoken lessons for pronunciation, books and readers as well as individual practice time daily. Other lessons can be taken privately through tutors and even the military offers some courses. Deciding how you will learn best will help you cut down the time required to learn. If you learn best by repeating, the CD lessons or private lessons could be best for you.
If you have the basics of the language covered and need minimal help, reading books may work best. To find more resources to learning Chinese online or businesses that offer these services, contact a librarian. This person could have free information on lessons or even a compilation of online language courses in your general area.
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