散文精选网:What'syourmothertongue?
:Georgia.
:Howmanycharactersdoyouhave?
:About34.Thenhowaboutyours,Sir?
:Letmesee…Maybemorethan5,000.
MoreandmorepeoplelearnChineseasthesecondlanguagenowadays.HoweverMandarinChineseisthemostdifficultlanguageintheworldwhichcangetyourheadaround.WhetheryouarelearningChinesebitterlyorjuststarttolearnChinese,youhavetoknowsomethingaboutit.Let'sseetheviewsfromsomecountries.
:It'sverytiringtospeakChinese.Youhavetomakeyourmouthopenwiderwhenyouspeak.
:Chinesecharactersarejustlikepicturesforabeginner.
:Whenwedescribeanaccentwhichisbeyondunderstanding,thenwewillsaylikethisway:"AreyouspeakingChinese?"
:Writingsystemandtonearerealproblems.
:Forme,Ithinkthehardestpartistheorderfortwosimilarwordslikemifeng(bee,蜜蜂)andfengmi(honey,蜂蜜).Bothsoundexactlythesametome,buttheyaretwodifferentthings.
:Therearesomeweirdwordslike"ningzhi"(凝脂)whichisfromTangdynastypoetBaiJuyi'sTheSongofEverlastingSorrow(长恨歌).Itmeanssomeone'sskinsarewhiteandbeautiful.Idon'tknowwhyI'drememberwordsthatIcan'tevenusenow.
:WhenyoustartlearningChinese,everythingiscompletelydifferent.Likeyouhavenothingtorelateanymore,notculturalreferencenowayofbuildingsentences.
:Learningcharactersishard,youhavetopracticeeveryday.Andthetonesarehardbecauseyouneedtolike,practicetogetthem.
:Ithinktheculturalmindsetisthebiggestcomplicationforus–thegrammar.IknowthatsoundsweirdbecausewhenyoufirststartlearningChinese.Youthinkthere'snogrammar,it'sreallyeasy.Likeyoustackwordsontopofeachother,butactuallywhenyougettohigherlevels,thegrammarbecomesimplicitgrammar.It'smoreintuitivealmost,andit'slikethisculturalkindofthing.FrenchorRussianorCzech,thereareactuallyparticlesandgrammarthatcanhelpyou.Youlearnit,therearepatterns,there'sconjugationtherearetenses,therearegenders.
Message:TheculturedifferencesbetweenChinaandothercountriesisoneofthetopreasonsChineseissodifficultforforeigners.Astep-by-step,bit-by-bitprocessofaccumulationeverydaywillmakeabigdifferenceinChineselearning.
