OT in it´s own right:would appreciate some help with chinese.

[Former castleva]

On self-studying chinese.
I don´t really know of any other forums to add this to.
Considering that we´re now concerned with self-studies,solely.

If anyone has any preferably good (or maybe even great) material on chinese (and again,I must note that when talking of chinese I´m talking of a "general" approach,modern,mostly talked...which actually translates to? :rolleyes: )
Material includes books (in a user-friendly manner,for a beginner with actual use...and if there are more advanced ones to recommend,let me know-might come in handy later)
tapes,discs etc.

BTW,if you have something on korean...

Thanks a lot.
:)

[David Jamieson]

fc-

are you near a bookstore?

There are many language arts books available that come with cassettes or cd's to help you learn how the language is formed.

I have been studying chinese language (spoken) as a beginner for more tha a year now. I am learning putonghua or "common speech". It's fun and interesting.I expect that at my age it will take a little longer to learn a new language because of age and experience which in turn translates to a certain amount of resistance to the new :D

But, I intend to be able to speak the language before actually going to china.

anyway, the book and tapes i am using:

beginners chinese - an easy introduction
by elizabeth scurfield and song lianyi.

published by ntc publishing group
isbn # - 0-8442-3710-8

10 bucks, comprehensive self study manual, 2 cassettes. excellent starting point.

to learn to write, i would suggest a class though. a lot more to writing chinese than speaking it.

peace

[Former castleva]

Thanks a lot Kung Lek.

I was thinking about ordering some books for it is a bit hard to find material on Asian languages around here. :confused:
I´ve been searching for books and all and am a bit confused about what I should track down and what I should not...a lot of material out there I think.

" "common speech". "
I see.I´m not aware of it so does putonghua translate to a certain style like cantonese or is it "universal"?

"I expect that at my age it will take a little longer to learn a new language because of age and experience which in turn translates to a certain amount of resistance to the new "

Complexity and difference in structure and writing tends to overwhelm me effectively but I´ll have to try.

"to learn to write, i would suggest a class though. a lot more to writing chinese than speaking it."
This is where studies come short so far,no instruction available yet.
Writing is a pain having tried that a bit,earlier (I do have on book,wordbook...)

Thanks for the tip btw,I´ll keep that one in mind.
Actual,proven resources like that are exactly what I´m looking for.
Was thinking about affording a decent amount of material for "well-rounded" practice,as far as it can be.
It would be easiest if it all was of same origin.
Thanks again,



:)

[scotty1]

I'm actually attempting to learn Mandarin (putonghua) at the moment as I'm going to move to China soon, hopefully, eventually.

It's grammatically quite a simple language (in comparison to English) and I'm finding it more a test of memory than understanding the structure.

I'm using a book/cassette from the "Teach Yourself" series, it's called "Beginners Chinese" and its pretty good. Good luck!

[David Jamieson]

hey scotty, that is the same book i am using. and yes "common speech" is mandarin.

cantonese is a different chinese dialect.
If you're going to Hong Kong, people speak cantonese there, but it is likely the speak mandarin as well. Also, english is fairly common in HongKong.

If you're going into the mainland common speech is what most everyone speaks.

peace

[Former castleva]

Scotty,
OK.Thanks.
So mandarin is putonghua...how enlightening :)

I think I ran up to that set too during my searches.

[scotty1]

I found after the first two units of that book (all I've managed so far) I had learn enough of the grammar to make a lot of sentences that I hadn't learned as phrases.

Cool huh?

[Former castleva]

Kung Lek,
Your line seems to have got caught in the middle. :)

So you are saying common speech is the same as mandarin...

What interests me,is which slang/style has most of the use (of course how it sounds like will be taken seriously too)
It seems you both study mandarin,so I wonder if that is a reason to draw conclusions to any way?

And keep those resources coming.

Thanks.

[scotty1]

Each region of China, and lots of areas within regions, have their own dialect. Some of are completly different, some are pretty much the same, I would imagine. Common speech/putonghua/mandarin is the official language of China, used in government stuff and Tv and that.

Lots of educated people know putonghua as its taught in the schools.

I like to think of Putonghua as the Wushu of languages.

Disclaimer: all information surmised from little experience.

[Former castleva]

I see.
Thanks again (wild thread)

That helps a lot.

BTW,I found this kind of a program which claims to be of great value...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671045849/ref=pd_sbs_b_3/002-2927938-5023241?v=glance&s=books

If you wish,tell me what you think about that.
It would seem to be necessary to support it with writing and reading skills etc. since it seems to be concerned with speaking (mandarin)