What is the best way to learn Mandarin?
Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
101–110 of 188 posts
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're missing the point. The number of Westerners who become conversational in Chinese is astoundingly low compared to vice-versa. It's known to be quite difficult. Being able to publicly answer questions at a Q&A without falling back to English once is a feat that takes years of learning and practice. It is amazing to me that Mark has been able to find the time and dedication for this while simultaneously r…
It's interesting sometimes it's harder to go from language A -> B than B -> A. If you're born Japanese then you lost the language lottery. Japanese has a limited set of sounds and there are very few close languages grammatically; Korean being the major one. So even the global language, English, is a massive challenge. It's easier for a Chinese person to learn Japanese than the other way round. (Japanese speakers at l…
Overall, I think English is harder to learn to speak & hear, but Chinese is harder to read & write.
The Chinese students I know who are learning English have to work incredibly hard at it. I don't think it's any easier for them to learn to speak English than for me to learn to speak Chinese. Reading is definitely harder in Chinese.
* The set of sounds in Chinese is actually quite limited both in variety and in word structure. Yes, there are some sounds that don't appear in English and of course tones, but there are more sounds in English that don't appear in Chinese and far more pronunciation patterns. Words that don't end in vowels or n/ng, for example. Chinese doesn't have them.
* English grammar is far more complex than Chinese. Articles and verb tense stand out to me, but a proper English teacher would be better able to list the challenges.
On the other hand, both languages have mitigating factors that make it easier:
* International English / Business English is a pretty well-established subset of the language.
* Chinese has a common subset of about 1000-2000 characters that you can use to read newspapers and signs.
* Both languages are lingua francas, so in everyday use people are relatively forgiving of second language learners. (Mandarin Chinese is the lingua franca of the Chinese empire, which includes tens of minority languages.)
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#103What is the best way to learn Mandarin?
Move to China.
Also, read this for some good language learning advice: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/koreans-english-acqui...
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been told by Americans doing business in China that, even if you have pretty good Chinese, you don't have good business Chinese unless you specifically know that you do. So you'll get a translator anyway. Understanding the culture is important to understanding the product you provide, if it's at all different, so that can be pretty important.
This is absolutely correct. Only about 10% of the successful long-term foreign businessmen I know here speak passable Chinese. Chinese love when you speak the language- but that does not unfortunately translate into the sort of tangible business advantages that many students of Mandarin hope for. It's a wonderful language, and loads of fun to learn- but the ROI is not as high as other areas of study.
Where's "here"? I lived in Shanghai 3 years I would have put that number pretty close to 0%.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per hour, adults are more efficient at learning languages. But kids forced into another language typically get more hours of exposure than adults attempting to force themselves to learn a language.
Except for accents. Picking up a language as a child is virtually the only way to really nail the accent.
What I've gathered is that accents depend on your ability to distinguish phonemes - the classic example is that in western languages there is p vs. b sound - whereas in Tagalog there is also a pb intermediate sound.
If you have an ear for knowing that some languages use that phoneme, you will be more likely to be able to both hear and articulate these sounds (i.e., your aptitude for learning language accents is higher)
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#106I've lived in China 5 years now and our skill levels are comparable so I'm pretty impressed. It's really just basic conversation but the Chinese people will love him for getting this far with it. This along with move to join Tsinghua board will create massive goodwill for FB.
oh man, this doesn't give me much hope. I'm visiting China next fall and was hoping I could have a good handle on the basics by then. I'm learning via Pimsleur and right now I can only say strange phrases like "Would you like to go to the hotel with me?" and "How much money?" I'm joking slightly, I've learned a little bit more than that. But I swear Pimsleur targets their lessons at single men trying to meet foreigners.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's interesting sometimes it's harder to go from language A -> B than B -> A. If you're born Japanese then you lost the language lottery. Japanese has a limited set of sounds and there are very few close languages grammatically; Korean being the major one. So even the global language, English, is a massive challenge. It's easier for a Chinese person to learn Japanese than the other way round. (Japanese speakers at l…
Interestingly, in the video linked above, I think the Japanese panelist is one of the more natural speakers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5na5nHZsww#t=16m15s
She could be mistaken for Taiwanese with that accent. In other words she's 100% naturalised.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per hour, adults are more efficient at learning languages. But kids forced into another language typically get more hours of exposure than adults attempting to force themselves to learn a language.
Do you have anything cite for this claim? All the research I'm aware of strongly suggests (1) It's extremely hard for adults to learn new languages - usually requiring many more hours compared to kids learning second language (2) Brain circuitry to hear, distinguish and pronounce new sounds effectively gets shutdown in older age.
I only have this anecdote. My wife, two kids (3 & 5 years old) and I have been taking Mandarin classes for the past six months. My wife & I pick up the concepts, grammar/patterns and vocabulary about three times faster than our kids (we are also forced to work harder at it because we're constantly reinforcing the lessons to them, so that inherently biases this analysis). That said, their pronunciation is muuuuuuuch better than ours.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#109his tones are off, but he has a pretty impressive vocabulary
I took Chinese in high school and did ok. Didn't use it and have tried to pick it up twice as an adult and have yet to get the tones down in conversation. Put a book in front of me, I can get it. Let me listen to someone speak it and I am lost. Any ideas on how to conquer that fault?
Beyond what's already been suggested: Work through the DLI tapes ("tapes"). They're good at throwing varied phrasing at you. For pronunciation in general, find an instructor who's good at teaching Americans how to make the sounds right. There are some mouth positioning tricks that are helpful. http://fsi-dli.yojik.eu/DLI/Chinese%20Mandarin/ for the DLI stuff.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#110Appraisal of the quality of Zuckerberg's Mandarin: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/10/22/mark_zuckerbe...