Need Advice on Learning Mandarin Chinese

[Scorpvenom]

Subject says it all.

What is the best method to learn Mandarin Chinese, short of travelling to China and learning it there through immersion in the culture?

Private tutor?
College class / CC class?
DIY method like Rosetta Stone?

I wouldn't mind a DIY method if the things actually have good results, however, I'm willing to do whatever method is the best (hopefully not a private tutor as I'm not sure how many are in my area but will if necessary). If anyone has learned the language or attempted to learn it, what method did you use?

I appreciate any and all input. Thank you!

As an aside, I will be applying to a MBA program sometime in the next few years that has a branch program in China with language classes there as well. However, I'd like to get a good head start and really have a good grasp of the language prior to immersing myself in the Chinese culture so that I can become fully fluent.

[Hasto]

Rosetta Stone actually has some great techniques. I am purchasing that and trying to learn from my fiancee. Have to learn for when I fly with her over to meet her family.

[Tuco]

If I were to learn a language I'd learn Mandarin for the business applications of it.

What method you choose is dependent on yourself, but one trick I'd suggest is try to make some Chinese friends, or even find a female Mandarin dictionary

[Hasto]

Originally Posted by Tuco

If I were to learn a language I'd learn Mandarin for the business applications of it.

What method you choose is dependent on yourself, but one trick I'd suggest is try to make some Chinese friends, or even find a female Mandarin dictionary

Good call, sir. Good call.

[Dumar]

you're not gonna learn to write.. give that up. unless you're willing to spend multiple years to even get to a decent level.

speaking wise.. learn the grammar rules. you can learn these anywhere: book, class, gf, whatever. after that you need context for vocab that's relevant in business or everyday. for this, a class is okay, but a gf, language partner is better (with living in china the best). hope that helps.

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

Writing isn't hard, at all. I'm in 103 at Wright State, and the book we use already has us writing something on the order of 300 characters.

It's just a matter of using them - I'd say the biggest thing you can do is to find someone who already speaks it*****, and talk to them - a LOT. The hard part isn't character recognition, or even pronunciation (though it's pretty tough once you start picking up speed)... the absolute hardest part is learning to recognize other's pronunciation, speed, and tone.

Don't cripple yourself by using pinyin too much. Take the time to practice writing the characters and learning stroke order about an hour a day, reciting phrases or doing pattern drills.

While dry, pattern drills really help to reinforce the occasional tricky 中文 grammar rules (fuck 了, btw) and will help with speed and fluency.

Try to avoid learning character by character - instead focus on "chunking" and learning short phrases. 看电影 at first, then 看 (to look, to watch) then 电影 (movies) then 点 (electricity) and so on as you begin to learn more and more.

Literacy is achieved around 1200 characters or so, fluency a fair bit after that. Don't push it, and don't expect huge gains.

Overall, I cannot stress enough that having someone to speak it with daily or frequently enough will be your best bet in addition to any sort of supplemental learning. Trying to learn it "cold" will undoubtedly make it much harder than you need.

****= For the love of God, make sure they speak the same dialect/accent of the place you intend to go. When in doubt, find someone from the north of China, who speaks very clear and distinct Mandarin. People from the south of China tend to slip into their local dialects and it can distort the pronunciation a lot. If you want to work in Hong Kong, find a Cantonese speaker. If you want to work in Shanghai, find someone who speaks Shanghainese. If you want to work in Beijing or central China, find someone from the north to teach you proper "high" Mandarin.

However, I'd like to get a good head start and really have a good grasp of the language prior to immersing myself in the Chinese culture so that I can become fully fluent.

You won't, unless you do nothing but Chinese between now and then. It's ridiculously hard to grasp all of the nuances of Mandarin. Everything I've heard from both of my professors is that it's best to learn enough to get over there, and if you're interested in fluency, only a Chinese can truly get you there. Leran enough to be literate and read the newspaper, and possibly listen to CCTV, and the rest will come if you're over there.

[Szlia]

Wouldn't 电 be electricity? 8)

EDIT: I always was under the impression that pronunciation was the ultimate nightmare from hell... but maybe it's for cantonese and not so much for mandarin?

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

Yeah, it is, my language bar is fubared sometimes. 点 is clock, or time.

[Hachima]

300 characters is a nice start but is no where near the level you need to start reading something like text in a newspaper. When I majored in Japanese I needed d to know ~1000 characters to even start being able to read decently. Its not impossible to learn but I wouldn't start until you can speak the language first.

As far as learning I'd recommend giving the pimsleur lessons a try.

pimsleur mandarin torrent search

The nice thing about those lessons is you don't have any bias at all to how you read and interpret letter combinations, which you would get from any book learning. Chinese is a language where you need to sound exactly right with the right tones and intonations, which a book could never even come close to achieving.

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

Uh, I know this. I said that 1200 or so is literate and reading the newspaper. I just said 300 in 3 quarters isn't bad, but he shouldn't expect to become fluent in a year or two.

[Desx]

i say give up.

[Dumar]

you're not gonna learn reading to a sufficient level until after multiple years. primary, junior high school after a year or so if you work hard.

300 characters is maybe preschool. you need over 3k at least for business level.

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

Originally Posted by Dumar

you're not gonna learn reading to a sufficient level until after multiple years. primary, junior high school after a year or so if you work hard.

300 characters is maybe preschool. you need over 3k at least for business level.

I'm not sure I disagreed with you anywhere, but I'm willing to bet you just wanted to make a reply to call someone a pre-schooler for knowing 300 characters.

No need to be a douche about it.

[rinthea]

I've been doing 6 (2 3 hours nights) hours a week at university. I'm far too lazy to get the dedication to do it by myself and without others to actually speak & listen to it would be fairly pointless. I've been doing it since the start of the year and am slowly picking up stuff, but I'm pretty resigned to the fact that to actually get anywhere I'll have to live there for a while.

[Dumar]

Originally Posted by GrobbeeTrull2.0

I'm not sure I disagreed with you anywhere, but I'm willing to bet you just wanted to make a reply to call someone a pre-schooler for knowing 300 characters.

No need to be a douche about it.

i'm not trying to be a douche at all. in fact, i'm trying to tell how it really is. after months and years of learning chinese, jpnse, picking up a paper or book, and STILL not being able to read anything worthwhile is a frustrating feeling. that's what you'll feel for a very, very.. veryvery long time.