Is Chinese really so hard to learn as a second language
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Reference Education -> subcategory Language.
Is Chinese Really So Hard to Learn as a Second Language?
Summary
Learning Chinese may not be as difficult as you think. While it's different from many Western languages, this difference doesn't necessarily equate to difficulty.Keywords:
Learn Chinese, Study Chinese, Learn Mandarin, Chinese Grammar, Chinese Characters, Travel in ChinaArticle Body
Many of my international friends often express that learning Chinese seems daunting. They cite the complex writing system, the four distinct tones, and the use of numerous measure words. It might seem like a lot to memorize. But is Chinese really as challenging to learn as it appears?Actually, I don't believe it is. In many ways, Chinese grammar is simpler than that of European languages. English speakers often find languages like Spanish complicated, with gendered nouns and verb conjugations. In contrast, Chinese lacks bound morphology, meaning verbs and nouns don't change their forms based on tense, number, or gender. Chinese focuses more on word order to convey meaning. Also, each Chinese character is pronounced with one syllable, which is why translations in Chinese movies often condense many English words into fewer syllables.
If this isn't convincing enough, consider this: a recent survey by the Education Ministry and Language Commission of China revealed that knowing just 1,000 Chinese characters can help you read 90% of current publications. This study, based on analysis of over 900 million characters from newspapers, magazines, the internet, and TV, found that modern Chinese media use fewer characters. To understand most written content, you only need about 900 characters from the roughly 50,000 in the Chinese language. In comparison, English has nearly 100,000 words?"some still increasing. Chinese characters represent meanings rather than sounds, with many being archaic or rare, appearing just once in historical texts.
Does all this ease your mind a bit about learning Chinese? I hope so. But let me clarify: I'm not saying Chinese is very easy, or that languages like English are harder. What I mean is that Chinese is not as difficult as often perceived?"it's just different from your native language. Understanding this distinction can help eliminate the fear that hinders language learning. Trust yourself; once you overcome that fear, you'll find that Chinese isn't as hard to learn as you thought. Good luck with your Chinese language journey!
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About the Author:
Lily is the creator of EaseChinese.com, a website offering reviews and recommendations for Chinese language learning resources. She aspires to teach Chinese as a second language and is currently living and studying in Beijing, China.
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