TAGS: #chinese
Chinese language is not that difficult to learn. It is same as learning any new language such as English or Latin and even when for the first time you start to learn with the basics of piano or guitar. For these languages, people start with only the first few chords of music. In Chinese language as well, a learner should start with the basic words used for communicating thoughts and ideas.
In Chinese language there are 3500 commonly used characters. People communicate their ideas with use of words meaning more or less the thoughts that they want to correspond. The general focus lies on developing the competence of communicating in Chinese before learning to write or read proper Chinese.
Spoken Chinese is in reality fairly accessible and approachable. First one should start with a general idea of the use of words, which corresponds some simple thoughts such as ‘I go’, ‘I eat’, ‘I buy’, etc. Unless one learns the basic use of some of the chords, they may not be able to learn the whole music, similarly is the case for learning a new language such as English, Latin or even Chinese.
Common approaches of learning the language and the Chinese characters:
Radical approach: When teaching Chinese characters, most often the focus is drawn towards the radicals of each of the characters and how it is structured. When learning the strokes it is important to learn the strokes with proper illustration. If there are common pictures or symbols that learners can associate with Chinese ones, then people would be able to identify and remember them better. Learning to pronounce the characters is important for foreign learners.
Systematic Approach: When learning the characters one should emphasize on pronunciation and then stroke. This is a far systematic approach to the whole idea. There are free lessons of learning the language present online. Even if the approach is systematic, it is difficult to learn the language, this way because Chinese characters are ideographic. The meaning and pronunciation of the character is integrated within the system. Simple characters should be learnt first, and then be followed by compound characters.
However compared to learning the characters for writing and reading purpose, it is better if someone emphasizes on the spoken words for the Chinese language that are used. Blog content are present online with English sentences and complete translation of the sentences in Chinese. This type of approach of learning the language accelerates ones learning curve several folds than learning how to read and write.
While learning, it is best one should put special focus on listening, visualising observing and articulating as one goes. Catching specific phrases will help someone develop a clear idea on how they can use it in some other sentences they construct later on. Learners would master use phrases within no time, if the keep on using them time and again and also if they try and understand the use of Chinese language as they learn about them.