Essay

Time to learn Mandarin?

By David Parmer

You have been slugging away at English for years. Now you can read an article like this fairly easily, and more importantly, for pleasure. And now I am suggesting that you go down to the bottom of a new mountain, pick up a big rock and start climbing. Am I out of my mind? Not any more than usual. But hear me out. It might be time to start learning Chinese. So let me talk about two things: why and how

Lots of great stuff is going to happen in Asia and in China. Whatever you are interested in, from art to technology, China and the Chinese will be at the forefront. And this is not to mention culture or one of the two great cuisines of the world. Want to gain an understanding of the heart and mind of one of the world's biggest countries? Well, if so, you are going to have to speak their language, at least to a certain extent.

So let's start by looking at the task. First of all we might ask what is meant by the term "Chinese." Isn't it obvious? Not quite. The "Chinese" that I am talking about here is the standard language of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. It is known as "Putonghua" in Beijing. And while there are various dialects of Chinese including Cantonese, what we call "Mandarin" is what you need to learn.

The first question is: Isn't Chinese difficult? That, to me, is a real mind-boggling question. I think learning Chinese might be challenging, it might take time (I have been at it for two years and can now say "My wife wants a beer.") but I simply can't buy "difficult." There are just things that have to be done, like in any other language. Things like learning the sounds, learning the grammar, learning vocabulary and finally learning the writing system. In all of these, with Chinese, you get some complexity, and a few breaks. Grammar and syntax for one. Look up the French verb "to go" and see what you have to learn, then check out the Chinese word for "to go," which is "chu" — that's it.

And what about those notorious tones? Ma (mother), ma (hemp), ma (horse), ma (scold), ma (question)? Well, for me, I take the Nike approach: "Just Do It." I figure if you try to intellectualize each tone, it is kind of like watching your feet when you are learning to dance. So I listen to the native speakers on a CD or podcast and repeat without trying to remember the number of the tone for each word.

And now reading and writing? Do you really need to read and write Chinese beyond pinyin Romanization? And is writing really the best place to start? I don't think so. Unless you have decided that literature is what you are interested in, then why start with writing? And this gets down to goal-setting: What is your interest in knowing and speaking Chinese? Business, travel, films, music, food or culture?

After you set your goals it is time to look at resources. There are plenty of fr8ee sources on the Internet. Just do a Google search for "learning Mandarin." If you have an iPod or MP3 player there are a few good podcasts available. You might also want to consider CDs or interactive programs for your computer. Check out these resources. And get moving, there are a billion or so new friends out there waiting.

Shukan ST: April 27, 2007

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