I have been studying Japanese for the past two years and have finished the program offered at my school. This semester, I decided to take Chinese 1, is this a good idea or should I GTFO?
The tones are confusing me
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Anonymous2007-09-07 14:56 ID:9Zf6VCbX
Tones will be a lot easier after the first some lessons, there are only four, you'll get used to them. :) The good part is, most hanzi only have one decent pronunciation, not half a dozen like in Japanese. IMO Chinese's definitely worth a try beside Japanese.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 15:35 ID:nCT+8Tho
Yeah, after practicing them this morning, I think I'm starting to get the hang of the tones and pronounciation of pinyin. Practicing both Japanese and Chinese is going to be an interesting endevour.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 16:25 ID:3IKsWa39
>>2
Single reading ftw. Seriously, hanzi in Mandarin must be 3-5 times easier than the average jpn kanji.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 19:38 ID:fs76a/P+
Especially if you're using simplified characters. Mao might've done some bad shit, but at least he tried to fix some characters!
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Anonymous2007-09-07 19:42 ID:fs76a/P+
I think the "r" as in 日 or 人 took me the longest. I finally realized that you were supposed to do some curling with your tongue, but I still don't feel entirely comfortable with it. Still, Chinese gets a bad reputation. Once you get an ear for it, I really think it's kind of pretty.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 20:12 ID:hwoRupRm
In past experience, when I tell my friends how to say random words in mandarin, the hardest sound for a foreigner to pronounce is "ü", as in 魚 (fish) I always try to describe it as like a "u" and an "r" pronounced together, but no one ever gets it right =\
Good luck on the tones! They're probably the hardest part about learning chinese. The grammar structure and syntax is surprisingly simple.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 20:59 ID:9QzZZdAW
Just ignore the tones. Chinese people will understand you.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 21:38 ID:wGSw1xLN
The hardest part is memorizing which tone to actually use. Most of the time you'll forget which tone to use but you'll remember the pronunciation but don't worry it happens to native speakers and ABC's too. As >>8 said, most Chinese people should understand you even if your tone is off. Back in China the tones are off since there are tons of Chinese dialects and everyone has accents which include accents tones are mixed up. If the Chinese guy you are trying to talk to still doesn't understand you...tell him to STFU you communist dog.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 22:41 ID:fs76a/P+
PROTIP: If you can't remember the tone, just say the word really fast.
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Anonymous2007-09-07 23:11 ID:tT1TQRrl
DO YOU WANNA FUCK A CHINESE GIRL?
IF YES, THEN YOU BETTER GET A FUCKING BRAIN AND LEARN THAT SHIT MOTHERFUCKER.
THEN, YOU CAN FUCK AS MANY CHINESE GIRLS AS YOU WANT.
GET TO WORK, NIG
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Anonymous2007-09-08 2:00 ID:BTtP9EPo
Chinese /lang/ers- I find it possible to remember the tones, but I find it takes fucking Forever to say a simple sentence, especially when I've got a lot of the rising-falling tone. Is this something that just comes with practice or am I messing something up?
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Anonymous2007-09-08 3:07 ID:YvSItEwM
>>12
Yes, you keep pushing your limits and you get better.