What do you find most difficult in learning Chinese?

Shuimo   Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:45 pm GMT
What do you find most difficult and challenge in learning Chinese? Writing Chinese characters? Mastering the four basic tones of Chinese characters? or anything else?
Caspian   Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:56 pm GMT
With the tones, I'd say it's not pronouncing or distinguishing between the tones that causes the problem, but actually memorising which word has which tone.
The Chinese characters are hard to learn and memorise, no doubt about it - I think that for me, this could be the hardest thing.
The vocabulary of Chinese is completely unrelated to Info-European languages, so simply learning the vocabulary is quite a task.
Super Korean   Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:31 pm GMT
The infinite number of Chinese characters and the pronunciation.

Chinese is the most widely learned foreign language besides English here in South Korea though.
lec   Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:34 pm GMT
I will never learn Chinese. Actually I don't like China and its language
ça suffit   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:00 pm GMT
I try difficult to understand Shuimo's stupid threads
Caspian   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:37 pm GMT
How are they stupid, or difficult to understand?
überkina   Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:43 pm GMT
Shuimo does a very good tiger but a very bad dragon. No subtlety. No oriental wisdom. Should study I-Ching.
Caspian   Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:14 pm GMT
He asked a question... how is it bad that he wants to know how people find learning Chinese? I find it interesting to know how people percieve my language.
lica   Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:24 pm GMT
Shuimo's posts are too many and most of them only concern the Chinese language, it seems to me that he is obsessed by his language and country. This is annoying. He must be a real nationalist..
überkina   Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:42 pm GMT
Of course shuimo is a nationalist. He comes here for the same reason as hispanic and french fanatics. To prove that his language is better. It is annoying.
vlad   Sat Jan 17, 2009 12:12 am GMT
Я не люблю китайский язык.
guest   Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:26 am GMT
I think the most difficult in chinese is: Chinese Characters and also the tones.

I don't think that the question of Shimo is a Thread. So don't start like French and Hispnic fanatics. If you don't want to answer don't post anything.
Xie   Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:31 am GMT
There is some reason in it, lol....
Shuimo   Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:39 am GMT
Caspian Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:56 pm GMT
With the tones, I'd say it's not pronouncing or distinguishing between the tones that causes the problem, but actually memorising which word has which tone.
The Chinese characters are hard to learn and memorise, no doubt about it - I think that for me, this could be the hardest thing.
The vocabulary of Chinese is completely unrelated to Info-European languages, so simply learning the vocabulary is quite a task.
-----------------------------------
《memorising which word has which tone.》
Oh that is something that has really escaped me, of all the difficulties I could possibly think of for foreign learners of Chinese. Well you know, for native speakers of Chinese, which word has which tone isn't an issue; it is just something that comes naturally to us. Of course, there are times we mispronouce some characters. For instance, when we read books or newspapers, and encounter a new Chinese character, and then we simply don't know its pronounciation (including the tone) , do you know what we would like to do in a situation likw this? .......... Normally most of us would just pronounce the word by taking apart the character in halves and choosing to pronounce the easier half of the character (or I'd like to call it sub-character) whose pronounciation we know. Well, there are just many "Xingshengzi" of all the Chinese characters. Xingshengzi is just a character
that is made of two sub-parts, one part referring to its meaning, the other part referring to its pronounciation. Having that said, that way doesn't always work, thus numerious jokes derived therein.

Anyway, I well understand the Chinese-character-caused difficulty you raised in your learning of Chinese. I surely believe that many others whose linguistic background is from an alphabetical writing system will find sympathey with you!

The good news is that the number of Chinese characters actually used in
real life is quite limited. If you know 3000 thousand Chinese characters, you will simply have no problems reading newspapers and books, and you can communicate with anyone barrier-free.
Shuimo   Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:05 am GMT
《Super Korean Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:31 pm GMT
The infinite number of Chinese characters and the pronunciation.
Chinese is the most widely learned foreign language besides English here in South Korea though.》
The number of Chinese characters is not infinite.
Compared with the number of words in English, the number of Chinese characters is just a glass of small beer compared with a full pond of water.

I am little surprised to learn Chinese is the second most popular foreign language in Korea.
You see, in 2008 the number of Korean students overwhelmingly tops the list of international studnets studying in China, followed by Japan and the US.

《lec Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:34 pm GMT
I will never learn Chinese. Actually I don't like China and its language》
No harm done! But why?


《überkina Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:43 pm GMT
Shuimo does a very good tiger but a very bad dragon. No subtlety. No oriental wisdom. Should study I-Ching.》

Oh, plz stop teaching Shakespeare how to use English. LOL

《lica Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:24 pm GMT
Shuimo's posts are too many and most of them only concern the Chinese language, it seems to me that he is obsessed by his language and country. This is annoying. He must be a real nationalist..》

As I am Chinese, for which I feel badly proud, what is wrong with my postings of Chinese? Nationalist or not, I see no reason in your jealousy ramblings.

《überkina Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:42 pm GMT
Of course shuimo is a nationalist. He comes here for the same reason as hispanic and french fanatics. To prove that his language is better. It is annoying.》

I feel it such a shame to bring myself on a par with the Spanish and French fanatics here. But you are right, I surely believe that my language is just way above and way better than either Spanish or French, which I loathe to learn due to its terrible infelctions and conjugations! LOL