Anyone taking Chinese??

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i've enjoyed eating it
 
The hardest part about Chinese is that it's one of those languages that is so radically different from English, that you'll have little basis for understanding at first.

It's a great language to learn, but even I'm wary to take it for a grade as an ABC.
 
koko_eats said:
The hardest part about Chinese is that it's one of those languages that is so radically different from English, that you'll have little basis for understanding at first.

It's a great language to learn, but even I'm wary to take it for a grade as an ABC.
Click to expand...

It really depends on how interested you are in learning it as well. If it is your senior year and you do not need it to graduate, then you can decide to elect pass/fail if need be. I will be taking Japanese but not out of necessity. I have already fulfilled my language requirement at my school, so this is basically just out of personal interest and for credits.
 
koko_eats said:
The hardest part about Chinese is that it's one of those languages that is so radically different from English, that you'll have little basis for understanding at first.

It's a great language to learn, but even I'm wary to take it for a grade as an ABC.
Click to expand...


This is very true. I'm a native cantonese speaker but since I speak way more english, I can say it's incredibly difficult to translate an english thought into chinese. A quick example would be the fact that there's no singular translation of "yes" and "no" into chinese. Couple that with the fact that the written language is a beast you're unlikely to learn any time soon (I do not know how to read chinese), and you can see how difficult it will be to have a beginner's level grasp on the language. Take it if you would like to learn, but know that it'll be a great deal more difficult to learn than spanish, french, etc.
 
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I took 5 semesters of Chinese, mostly for fun. I really enjoyed it, got 5 A's (though not easy A's) and learned a lot about Chinese culture.

But be forewarned: three semesters of Chinese is probably equivalent to two of spanish or french. Five for me = about 3 of Spanish, maybe a little more, but closer to 3 than 4.
 
i took two semesters of mandarin a loooong time ago. they were easily the most difficult A's i ever had the pleasure of receiving.

if you want to work for it, it can be awesome. it is verrry different from english though, which is what makes it difficult. i say go for it though, if you have the time to dedicate to it.
 
I took 4 semesters of chinese.... and i will say you should have some serious motivation for learning it... i don't think its quite as fun or as rewarding early on when you're trying to memorize 40 character radicals and say "nice to meet you" around 7 weeks into the class. the 4th semester was kinda fun, however, in that we could actually construct a though in chinese, and in someways its easier because the verbs aren't conjugated like we do.

but... i wouldn't have done it if i hadn't gone to china for a semester. it was definitely among the harder classes i took and, if you're a male teenager used to speaking in monotones the difficulty is ratcheted up. also one year will probably not give you a functional knowledge you can remember and work off of unless you keep at it after graduating, or are really good with languages... my girlfriend at the time took 2 semesters freshman year, completely forgot it by senior year in china. well, she knew numbers..... but did she know how to ask a street food vendor if what she was eating was eggs or bull testicles? nope: to hilarious results.
 
The hardest part of chinese is that you get really hungry about 30 minutes after finishing it.
 
Chinese is the second most studied language after spanish at my school, and #1 for those taking a new language. This is because ALL the econ majors and all the people who want to go into i-banking take chinese because that is where the money is.

Spanish would be the more honorable and practical language to learn for medicine's sake, but if you already know spanish and chinese is what tickles your pickle...go for it.

I generally hear though, at least here, that when you take chinese it becomes your #1 study priority. Other languages you might study just to get it done for the night, whereas chinese IS your night. Though this may be different at your university.

Good luck.
 
Yeh, thanks for the responses. I don't have to take a second language at my university, but I want to take a language for fun and some diversity because that's what college is all about. I took Latin in high school, but my university does not offer it now...so I want to take something interesting and a challenge.
 
Orbo said:
This is very true. I'm a native cantonese speaker but since I speak way more english, I can say it's incredibly difficult to translate an english thought into chinese. A quick example would be the fact that there's no singular translation of "yes" and "no" into chinese. Couple that with the fact that the written language is a beast you're unlikely to learn any time soon (I do not know how to read chinese), and you can see how difficult it will be to have a beginner's level grasp on the language. Take it if you would like to learn, but know that it'll be a great deal more difficult to learn than spanish, french, etc.
Click to expand...
Yeah speaking English thoughts in Chinese is painful for everyone involved. Speaking it and writing/reading it, however, are two different beasts. The words are written without regard to their sound, which is the most striking difference from languages you've studied before.

At least Korean is phonetic. If you're set on an East Asian language, OP, maybe it'd be less intimidating.
 
"tickles your pickle" hehe...last time I heard someone saying that they were talking about finding porn on their spouses computer :laugh:

anyways....

take it if you WANT to learn it

I would like to learn Japanese, but that is because I like anime. Yes I am a little nerdy, shush. I also like how Russian sounds, I don't know why I just do.
 
LupaCupcake said:
"tickles your pickle" hehe...last time I heard someone saying that they were talking about finding porn on their spouses computer :laugh:

anyways....

take it if you WANT to learn it

I would like to learn Japanese, but that is because I like anime. Yes I am a little nerdy, shush. I also like how Russian sounds, I don't know why I just do.
Click to expand...

lol there's some korean singer who learned japanese from watching japanese shows
 
I took 2 semesters. Got B's. I remember maybe ten words now. It felt cool but honestly it's difficult to retain knowledge of a language that doesn't even have an alphabet. Wish I'd have taken German.

Also, it would have been more enjoyable if half the class weren't Chinese kids taking it as a free foreign language credit. 😡 Really, people?
 
TupacalipseT96 said:
Chinese is the second most studied language after spanish at my school, and #1 for those taking a new language. This is because ALL the econ majors and all the people who want to go into i-banking take chinese because that is where the money is.
Click to expand...

The ironic thing is, the Chinese are all studying English now ...
 
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