Chinese

[mommaduck]

My eldest child keeps showing interest in Asian languages, particularly Chinese (it's not like we don't have enough languages being learned here already, but if he's interested I should run with it, yes?). He's had this fascination with Chinese since he was little (thank you PBS and Sagwa, The Chinese Cat). What kind of Chinese is most common and would be best to learn? Mandarin?

[Laura Corin]

Yes, Mandarin is the lingua franca of China, Taiwan and Singapore. I would very much recommend getting tutoring from a native speaker at the beginning, as speaking the tones correctly is crucial.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[mommaduck]

Thank you. We have Rosetta Stone, but now to find a native speaker...well, that is another thing.

[Guest judyh]

You may also like to note that not all chinese languages are the same. For example the characters used in China and that of Taiwan are different. China uses simplified and Taiwan uses the tradditional (much more complex) writings. My suggestion is if you so decide to engage a native speaking tutor, choose one thats familiar with both. The simplified version is more commonly used in countries like malaysia, singapore, china, and some asian countries.

[mommaduck]

You may also like to note that not all chinese languages are the same. For example the characters used in China and that of Taiwan are different. China uses simplified and Taiwan uses the tradditional (much more complex) writings. My suggestion is if you so decide to engage a native speaking tutor, choose one thats familiar with both. The simplified version is more commonly used in countries like malaysia, singapore, china, and some asian countries.

This is why I asked what I did. Thanks for the info. Right now a tutor isn't possible

[plansrme]

Thank you. We have Rosetta Stone, but now to find a native speaker...well, that is another thing.

 

I don't know where you are, but I was also a bit stumped by this, even though I live in an Atlanta suburb, and there is a huge Chinese population here. Our church even has a Chinese church that meets on its campus--I often felt like I should stand on their hall with a sign: "Will pay for Chinese lessons."

 

Here are some things I did to find 2 excellent Chinese tutors:

1. I found my first through Craigslist. She was a graduate student at a local college. We lost her when she went back to China.

2. For our second, I e-mailed the contact for the Chinese church I mentioned, and the pastor's wife hooked me up with the sister of one of their members. We still have this tutor.

3. Consider contacting adult ESL teachers in your area. I now teach ESL classes at my church, and I am confident that if someone were looking for a native speaker in Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hebrew or whatever language they speak in Iran, I could get several leads. Many immigrants in these classes are highly educated--I have students who were engineers, teachers and university professors in their home countries, so I assume that they have a pretty good grasp of their native languages.

 

Terri

[mommaduck]

I don't know where you are, but I was also a bit stumped by this, even though I live in an Atlanta suburb, and there is a huge Chinese population here. Our church even has a Chinese church that meets on its campus--I often felt like I should stand on their hall with a sign: "Will pay for Chinese lessons."

 

Here are some things I did to find 2 excellent Chinese tutors:

1. I found my first through Craigslist. She was a graduate student at a local college. We lost her when she went back to China.

2. For our second, I e-mailed the contact for the Chinese church I mentioned, and the pastor's wife hooked me up with the sister of one of their members. We still have this tutor.

3. Consider contacting adult ESL teachers in your area. I now teach ESL classes at my church, and I am confident that if someone were looking for a native speaker in Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hebrew or whatever language they speak in Iran, I could get several leads. Many immigrants in these classes are highly educated--I have students who were engineers, teachers and university professors in their home countries, so I assume that they have a pretty good grasp of their native languages.

 

Terri

 

I live in a small city, mostly dutch, AA, and hispanic. I can ask at my local asian markets though.

 

Q: how much do you pay?

[Matryoshka]

Another possible option - my kids took a great course last summer online, through Guavatalk - the teacher was in Beijing (obviously a native), and they took a one-hour class every night for two weeks. There was a text for homework and reference. They could see the teacher, although he couldn't see them. There was an interactive white board where the teacher and they could write and interact. I was impressed with the course and what they learned, and I'm a tough nut to impress when it comes to language learning.

 

I'm thinkng of having them do it again this summer (but maybe take it 2-3 times a week over a longer period.) They will set up a class for you, depending on your needs. It was very reasonably priced - much less than I would pay for a tutor here.

[Guest judyh]

This is why I asked what I did. Thanks for the info. Right now a tutor isn't possible

 

I will not completely say that a tutor is not possible. It really depends on whether the purpose of learning Chinese (Mandarin is used to describe the 'speaking part' by the way) is more of a conversational skill or a writing skill. The simplified Chinese characters are the norm nowadays and you can safely ignore the 'traditional characters' if you want - although its better to understand both to fully appreciate the culture, it may not be necessary to begin with. A Chinese tutor from Beijing will just do well :)

 

There are some self learning Mandarin programs that i had find useful. One of them is http://mandarinexpress.com. It comes with a pen that will read aloud when you point to a character. May be worthwhile for your child to have a look.

[mommaduck]

Another possible option - my kids took a great course last summer online, through Guavatalk - the teacher was in Beijing (obviously a native), and they took a one-hour class every night for two weeks. There was a text for homework and reference. They could see the teacher, although he couldn't see them. There was an interactive white board where the teacher and they could write and interact. I was impressed with the course and what they learned, and I'm a tough nut to impress when it comes to language learning.

 

I'm thinkng of having them do it again this summer (but maybe take it 2-3 times a week over a longer period.) They will set up a class for you, depending on your needs. It was very reasonably priced - much less than I would pay for a tutor here.

 

This is how our Cherokee classes are conducted, except through Adobe Video Conference.

[marf1273]

I admire you for being a supportive mom and yes, you can let your kid learn Chinese. My nephews learned Chinese in school and I believe that it’s good to expose kids to different languages. Small children learn new languages fast so make sure to get a good Chinese tutor for your little one.

[mommaduck]

I admire you for being a supportive mom and yes, you can let your kid learn Chinese. My nephews learned Chinese in school and I believe that it’s good to expose kids to different languages. Small children learn new languages fast so make sure to get a good Chinese tutor for your little one.

 

:iagree: And this is what we have done. I'm trying to teach/introduce them to what I can now, but have told them to run with it and fully learn whatever languages they want throughout life. It is important they speak more than one language. My eldest wants to go into engineering and has an interest in Chinese culture...he knows this language will benefit him (he's not small though...12).

[cimhog]

Yes, Mandarin is the lingua franca of China, Taiwan and Singapore. I would very much recommend getting tutoring from a native speaker at the beginning, as speaking the tones correctly is crucial.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

As a native Chinese, I totally agree with this. Two more points:

 

- Simplified Chinese is used only in mainland China. However, if you are fluent in simplified Chinese, you won't have much difficulty reading traditional Chinese.

 

- Speaking Chinese is A LOT easier than read Chinese. Write Chinese character is a BIG challenge. And fortunately, speaking is the most important.

[CherylG]

I am so thankful for this forum. I too have a child that want to learn Chinese-bought Rosetta Stone, looked at it and sent it back. It was too much like an "art lesson" for him. Thank you for all of the wonderful posts. The guavatalk site looks like a great resource.

[Makita]

My daughter expressed a similar interest when she was just 5. For a year, I tried to expose her to what I could find online. Since then, we've found a local class for 4-6 yr olds and have made contact with a private tutor with whom I exchange English lessons.

 

I've organized all the resources I've found online on Squidoo.

http://www.squidoo.com/FunWithMandarin

 

:D