Is it really that hard to learn Chinese? I've been toying

>>55054290
It is easy to learn basic Chinese, but it is hard to master. It is actually very easy to speak because there are only four tones. I think everyone should speak at least two languages. It will give them a broader view of the world. Are you sure you like Chinese though? Learning a new language quickly turns into a chore if you have no passion for it.

>>55054833
I don't really know. I have an irrational hatred of romance languages, which I think stems from my education-mandated four years of Spanish were was the worst classes I ever had. German was pointless, as I mentioned before.
Beyond that there really aren't that many languages that would be particularly useful. I figured Chinese would be one of the better ones due to just how much literature was written in Chinese and never accurately translated (for various reasons). Are any other languages on that level of "purpose" (I guess would be the word?)?

are you trying simplied chinese or mandarin OP?
>>55054833
chinese translation is still very well paid, at least here in mex

>>55054290
I've always found it interesting how Chinese can look so beautiful in the written form and sound so gratingly awful in the spoken form.

But yeah, my advice is give it a shot by all means, but realise that it will take years of intense study to be able to read and more or less understand a newspaper, converse normally with natives, let alone consume literature and poetry. You can speed this process up by living there, but then again you have to ask yourself if that's something you'd really want to do (I certainly wouldn't). One other thing, never choose a language based on the amount of people that speak it or the supposed economic benefits because they're usually memes.

>>55055137
There's always Taiwan, right?

>>55055243
Hmm, suppose so, but they use different runes to the mainland which I'm sure you're aware of.

>>55055000
I would say no. Arabic is not very useful given the state of the middle east, and India uses english as an official language. Chinese is probably the most useful language besides English. Will you travel to China or get a job that requires the use of Chinese? If not, you should only learn Chinese if you're fascinated by the culture (e.g. literature, history, traditions, music, movies). Many great novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms are better read in Chinese in my opinion.

>>55055137
Chinese can sound very beautiful actually, both mandarin and cantonese. I am sure it will take less than an year to read a newspaper and have a basic conversation. Perhaps two years to read a novel without having to look up a dictionary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh5scZgMAxE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLtQ18hE3wI

>>55055351
If you learn traditional you can understand most simplified characters even without studying them, so I would recommend OP to study traditional. I have also heard that it is easier to memorise traditional characters because they preserve the radicals.

>>55055404
>I am sure it will take less than an year to read a newspaper and have a basic conversation.
Basic conversation, sure, reading a newspaper and understanding most of it... no.

>I have also heard that it is easier to memorise traditional characters because they preserve the radicals.

Can confirm, as Japanese is more or less traditional with a few quirks of it's own. Simplified Chinese just looks like an ugly and retarded short hand version, pretty easy to learn though once you know the original symbols.

>>55055584
Well maybe I am wrong about the average time needed, but I have seen foreigners who managed to do that in an year.

>>55055674
Perhaps if you study full time and do an immersion course or something, most people don't have that time. It takes Chinese and Japanese high school students years of tuition and memorisation to learn them, and they're surrounded by it every day. I'm very skeptical someone could learn the 2000+ symbols required for reading a newspaper, not to mention the multiple possible readings for each one, let alone their definitions and the many idioms/proverbs that would be used.

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>>55054290
Definitely DEFINITELY recommend learning Arabic.

If you're gonna learn a language for its literature, poetry, and structure, Arabic is by far the best.

The language is enchanting and exceptionally poetic. I've been learning it for 6 months and I can read/write at the pace of a 3rd/4th grader, but it is definitely one of the most difficult languages out there, comparable to Mandarin.

Pic related. Arabic calligraphy is based.

>>55056002
Rasheed.

Seriously though why the fuck are you learning that language, it's probably the most hostile culture to your own you can possibly find. There's no real opportunities in that region either, and all the ones that do exist you don't need to speak Arabic for.

>>55056002
Arabic was on my radar before, but outside of lit and whatnot I can't really see a use for it anymore. Unlike Chinese it's not a language I can ever see myself putting to use.

>>55055836
We can read a basic newspaper at six years old though, it just takes lots of lessons until we can write a good composition. Memorisation isn't the hardest part actually, the hardest part is learning how and when to use idioms, or to understand classical Chinese. Reading should be relatively easy.

It seems that the time people take to learn Chinese vary a lot.
https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-Mandarin

>>55055404
why are there so many ching chung sounds in chinese?

>>55054290
>german literature
>meme tier
americans, ladies and gents

>>55056181
It's literally either an entire book filled with run-on sentences or political philosophy.
That's IT. Germany never made anything else. And all that stuff is trivially translated into English anyway, so it's not like knowing German is required to read the few good things the country has made.

>>55056148
To be honest I don't know a whole lot about Chinese, I'm just going from my own experience of learning Japanese as well as what I've heard from teachers/fellow students/Japanese people. I just assumed they'd be fairly similar.

>>55056181
American literature shits all over German "literature".

>>55056218
Reading The Suffering of young Werther made me want to kill myself.

>>55056155
I don't know. I think that's a stereotype, shi sounds are more common.

>>55056227
Oh I am learning Japanese too, but I am still teaching myself grammar. Are you fluent?

>>55056218
just because it is translated into english doesn't make it less "german literature".
also the german language has always been praised for it's ability to express practically infinite feelings/situations etc. It is the perfect western language for literature, even if you don't like the topics.

>>55056315
まだペラペラ喋られないけど、どんどんコツが分かってきたよ。君は?

>>55056323
>just because it is translated into english doesn't make it less "german literature".
That's true, but I'm talking about learning a language here, not the merits of every country's literary output.

I took two years of German in high school and it was boring. The language was simpler syntactically than English and I didn't find it particularly hard, but I just didn't see the point in learning it.

>>55055100
They're the same thing
Simplified Chinese(what most of China uses) just means most of the characters have been made simpler to write

>>55056369
I only understood まだ and 君は. That should answer your question ;w; . I will start learning diligently once I finish my exams.

>>55056378
>The language was simpler syntactically than English

It's much easier to learn a strict syntax than it is to learn the gender of each word.

English's very simple conjugation and non existing declination is the reason why you require a strict syntax.

In slavic languages, for example, syntax is much more lax because the function of a word is obvious from its case and precise conjugated form.

>>55056378
>German literature is meme-tier.

not: >German language is meme-tier

I don't want to press any further on a stupid mistake/unfinished thought, but there was no other way to understand this.

>>55056447
Ganbatte kudasai тbh.

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>>55056544
Thank you. I will work hard.

>>55056447
>>55056602
By the way, for your learning benefit, I said: "I don't speak it fluently yet, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. And you?"

>>55056092
Arabic is my 5th language not counting English.

Plus I'm not a bigot and I take Arabic for what it is.

It's a beautiful language and I'm interested in the culture. I like to learn about the world around me instead of dismissing everything I'm not familiar with as "hostile".

But thanks, Liam.

>>55056697
>Liam
?

>>55056676
Thanks. I couldn't understand the second part at all.

>>55056447
When I was in Hong Kong(Causeway bay station), I asked a stranger the way to Victoria peak. She directed me in English at first, but she noticed I am Japanese, then she told me in Japanese. I was surprised!

>>55056751
You gave me a stereotypical Arabic name so I gave you a stereotypical Irish-derived Aussie/NZ name.

>>55056867
*victria park*

>>55056877
Oh yeah I forgot, probably shouldn't have said that.

Well, I still can't wrap my head around why you'd want to learn it, but best of luck with it anyway.

The commie government has destroyed very large portion of that literature, which have never left the Chinese borders.
Even Kuomintang destroyed some old literature in their revolutionary idiocy.

>>55056867
I am glad to hear that. Many people in HK know Japanese, especially girls.

I wouldn't recommend Chinese.

These languages are far too difficult without good reason to study. For example I know two Jap learners one has business there and visits yearly for vacation and another is a former ESL who is going back soon and is learning the language this time round

>>55056227
its certainly possible they have a big notepad and from when i last checked had about 1800 fully memorised over like a 16 month period, they aren't particularly smart either and this is while having a normal job.

Modern China itself I don't find very interesting and I would see little ways to actually motivate myself to learn the language. Also the idea that it will be important is meh, its too difficult to replace English and the Chinese (especially the rich) are learning English rapidly. I don't think it will even overtake French let alone Spanish as a "Global" language it will be more like the German of East-Asia probably like Japanese but with a bit more reach. Also who knows what will happen in China in the future? Its a bit fucked. Taiwan is nice though so you get that for free... I personally would do Korean/Jap because they have more resources, more cultural exports (i.e things to enjoy about the country), and have better opportunities for tourism etc.

Personally if you don't like German (Which I understand, I don't rate it as very useful personally). You say you don't want to do a Romance language but why not try French or Italian they are easy but different to Spanish so you might enjoy it, France/Italy are also great destinations and both have rich histories.

The only other option then is Russian. Its quite a foreign one but its not near the level of difficulty that you find in Chinese. Russia also has one of the best literary histories in the world. Also its quite a useful language.

>>55056369
なんのために日本語勉強してるの?アニメ?

漢字たくさん覚えておくと、中華圏(香港や台湾)に旅行いったときすごい便利だから絶対読めるようにしたほうがいいよ!

我学中文学了四年了。我的中文还有初级水平啦~

>>55056946
I want to learn it because I love languages and I live in NYC, so we have a fuck-ton of different cultures here, Arabian cultures being one of them.

Seeing that you live in China #2, you'd obviously be more partial to East Asian language. I recommend visiting any West Asian country, though, or meeting some Arabs. They're not as bad as people make them out to be.

I lived in Maine (95% white) up until 2011. Moved here, started picking up new languages, and now I'm all over the place.

I've been to Spain, Portugal, Dubai, Hong Kong, Greece, etc. and I'm gonna try to go to as many places as possible.

Recommend learning a 2nd language right away. But yeah, thanks.

>>55056959
The Cultural Revolution was a tragedy, but by no means did a large portion of literature get destroyed. Most of the destruction was to shrines/historical monuments and the deaths of intellectuals/land owners.

>>55057121
加油。從哪裡學?

>>55057062
>アニメ
全然違うよ
>中華圏(香港や台湾)に旅行いったときすごい便利だから絶対読めるようにしたほうがいいよ!
知ってるよ
メルボルンの中華街に行ったら、もう看板とか献立を読める!

>>55057011
>Also its quite a useful language.
You dont need words with Russians, just fists and vodka.

>best literary histories in the world
Post-Prison Dostojevski, Tsehov, Gogol, Korolenko and all the late Tsarist and Soviet camp and prison literature, nothing else is worthwhile. Hell, Ilmari Kianto alone made Finnish literature more worthwhile than Russian.

>>55057062
あっ、忘れた
>なんのために日本語勉強してるの
文化や建物や料理が大好きだから。漢字にも興味がある、実際には書道を学びたいと思う。

>>55057211
じゃあおにゃのこ目的だ〜〜(≧∇≦)

すごい!!私はロンドンの中華街にあるwong keiっていう有名な中華料理屋で漢字なのにメニュー読めなくてクソ不味いものが出てきたトラウマがある

>>55057175
The systematic destruction of literature started during the first Sino-Japanese war, during the Imperial overthrow and continued through the Japanese occupation and the civil war.

And yes, literature was destoyed even during the Cultural revolution. Beijing archives were put to fire for example.

>>55057175
我在大学学习点点。再说我2011年的时在北京留学了。

>>55057314
失礼しました(´Д` )
オージーくんの日本語は完璧だからこれからも頑張ってください!!(もう頑張る必要ないかもしれないけど)

>>55057324
笑笑笑
じゃあ、僕がwong teiのレストランに行くと気を付くよ

>>55057368
I agree that there was damage to literature, but as far as I know it wasn't that severe. Are you sure that a large proportion of literature was destroyed? We still learn a lot of 18-19th century literature.

>>55057397
ありがとう!
絶対に必要があるけど、楽しいだと思うから大丈夫でしょヽ(•̀ω•́ )ゝ

>>55057387
啊,原來如此。你的中文挺好的 :)。

>>55057140
Cherish the oppurtunites you got man. Id love to be on something like that but it'd be impossible cause money you know

>>55057545
多谢你的夸奖兄弟. 你是中国哪里的?

>>55057722
Bro. There is so much money out there to study abroad for almost free. You just need to know where to look.

China Scholarship Council
Confucius institutes
Chinese Government Scholarship

>>55057750
住在香港,故鄉也是香港。你是美國哪個州的?

>>55057140
>Recommend learning a 2nd language right away.
I already speak French, Spanish and Japanese to varying to degrees of fluency, language learning is one of my favourite hobbies. But I decided I'd rather devote my time to mastering those three rather than pick up a few more and be a jack off all trades, so to speak.

>>55057875
Cool, cool. The first language I learned was French but it didn't stick to me very well after I learned Spanish and then Portuguese.
German and Greek were by far the most difficult European languages, though.

虽然繁体字真复杂,可是样子很漂亮。我是 NC 的。想搬家,再出国

>>55058004
Yep my French was fluent at one point but unfortunately it's been fading fast as I've neglected it for over a year. It's also been really difficult to find French language partners for some reason, which is one of the main ways I learn and keep my conversational skills sharp.

>>55058207
對不起,我只懂寫繁體字。你看得懂嗎?聽些鬼佬說繁體有部首,反而比簡體字更易學。你想搬去哪?

>>55058499
我想回中国。可能在台湾教英语。但是所有人觉得老外的老师都是屌丝

>>55060248
不理屌絲不屌絲,薪金應該還可以吧?香港的鬼佬英文老師都好像做得很輕鬆。還有,台灣用繁體你沒有問題嗎?

>>55060813
我应该没问题,听说很多台湾人不仅说台湾话而且也说英文。我错了没?

>>55056002
when you people want to learn a second language for the literature, how are you getting the resources? I'm currently bilingual and learning japanese, but can't seem to find any books, let alone literary books in the language. ive tried looking for japanese picture books in my uni library, nothing.

>>55054290
It's ugly as fuck but that's normal how subhuman the chinks are

>>55061184
>t. jungle monkey whose sister works as a domestic slave in Hong Kong

>>55061283
Don't take the bait.

>>55061184
Chinese inventions during the early Han:
-suspension bridge
-seismograph
-wheelbarrow
-description of the circulation of blood throughout the body
-parachute
-paper
-seed drill
-row seeding

Polish inventions:
-potato vodka
-bagels

>>55061283
I'm glad you wrote your opinion in English because chinese is ugly af, both written and spoken

>>55061373
Poles don't shit on public train

>>55061373
>Indonesian inventions
>

>>55061033
你沒錯。

>>55061111
Reddit is actually very helpful. Otherwise I comb the app store and check them one by one to see if they're useful.

>>55061111
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/
this site is not for picture books but has a lot of Japanese literature whose copyright has expired.

>>55061441
Didn't even realize the different shade of red. Lmao

>>55061559
>fourth most populated country in the world
>completely irrelevant
You have to be pretty bad to be outclassed by fucking Poland in world recognition