Comments on: Conquer the Chinese Language, Conquer the World http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/ kungu fighting dhaba wallah since 1999 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:21:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: BB http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-43179 BB Sat, 31 May 2008 08:59:41 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-43179 Do u think in chinese when speaking mandarin or think in english then translate to chinese? Think again. Do u think in chinese when speaking mandarin or think in english then translate to chinese? Think again.

]]> By: Brian T http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-42482 Brian T Sun, 25 May 2008 08:40:29 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-42482 Awesome! You are also Teo Chew? I'm trying to rel-earn mandarin right now... Awesome! You are also Teo Chew? I’m trying to rel-earn mandarin right now…

]]> By: violet http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-42362 violet Sat, 24 May 2008 09:12:50 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-42362 Hi Adrianna I stumbled upon your blog via surfing on Twitter. I'm Chinese and I speak Teo Chew as well!!! I'm always very excited to find someone else who speaks the same language, as its a rare find for me :) Chinese is such a complex language, but I personally think the characters are beautiful. I studied Mandarin for 11 years and I don't think my Chinese is as strong as it could be. I need to brush up. I can write and read, but my speaking skills are shaky. Anyway, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has these feelings about Chinese. Good luck in your pursuit! violet (www.twitter.com/violet_susie) Hi Adrianna
I stumbled upon your blog via surfing on Twitter. I’m Chinese and I speak Teo Chew as well!!! I’m always very excited to find someone else who speaks the same language, as its a rare find for me :)
Chinese is such a complex language, but I personally think the characters are beautiful. I studied Mandarin for 11 years and I don’t think my Chinese is as strong as it could be. I need to brush up. I can write and read, but my speaking skills are shaky. Anyway, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who has these feelings about Chinese. Good luck in your pursuit!

violet
(www.twitter.com/violet_susie)

]]> By: aaron lee http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41860 aaron lee Sun, 18 May 2008 20:26:00 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41860 I found your blog when I was searching for "tippi jungle girl". It's a good place here. 祝你有更好的人生！ I found your blog when I was searching for “tippi jungle girl”.
It’s a good place here.
ç¥Âä½ æÅâ°Ã¦âºÂ´Ã¥Â¥Â½Ã§Å¡â人çâŸï¼Â

]]> By: popagandhi http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41675 popagandhi Fri, 16 May 2008 01:05:58 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41675 Singaporean Chinese ad Malaysian Chinese are able to communicate with Mainland Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin speakers fairly smoothly. We may not always be able to understand each other perfectly (different vocabulary from ages of living somewhere else, and strange accents) but I think if one is proficient enough at Mandarin, you'd be able to 'code switch'. Even without being able to code switch one can have fairly decent conversation with a mainland Chinese person. Not too different from English being spoken differently in various places. With other dialects, it depends on what the dialect spoken is. Cantonese is fairly reasonably easy since it's so widely spoken and so much of pop culture (movies and music from Hong Kong) one definitely has some frame of reference to understand Cantonese with. Not to mention that many Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese ARE Cantonese, in the first place (they speak Cantonese almost exclusively in Kuala Lumpur). For me, I understand about 60% of Cantonese without ever once being interested in Cantonese movies or music, but because of shared grammar and structure and how my family speaks it. Once you gain a certain level of proficiency in Mandarin, I think you will find it stretches further than you think! After all, it is the main 'unifying' language among the various Chinese.. now more than ever. Singaporean Chinese ad Malaysian Chinese are able to communicate with Mainland Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin speakers fairly smoothly. We may not always be able to understand each other perfectly (different vocabulary from ages of living somewhere else, and strange accents) but I think if one is proficient enough at Mandarin, you’d be able to ‘code switch’. Even without being able to code switch one can have fairly decent conversation with a mainland Chinese person. Not too different from English being spoken differently in various places.

With other dialects, it depends on what the dialect spoken is. Cantonese is fairly reasonably easy since it’s so widely spoken and so much of pop culture (movies and music from Hong Kong) one definitely has some frame of reference to understand Cantonese with. Not to mention that many Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese ARE Cantonese, in the first place (they speak Cantonese almost exclusively in Kuala Lumpur). For me, I understand about 60% of Cantonese without ever once being interested in Cantonese movies or music, but because of shared grammar and structure and how my family speaks it.

Once you gain a certain level of proficiency in Mandarin, I think you will find it stretches further than you think! After all, it is the main ‘unifying’ language among the various Chinese.. now more than ever.

]]> By: chym-a http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41670 chym-a Thu, 15 May 2008 22:40:00 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-41670 The question that I always have about 中文 is how far Mandarin can go. I have been learning Mandarin Chinese for a couple of years already without using it much. I now got to catch words and phrases in movies and radio. If it is about Kantonese, it just becomes a matter of exercising imagination based upon the knowledge that I aqcired phenetically and literally. Can a Singaporean Chinese or Malaysian Chinese communicate with Mainland Mandarin speakers or some other dialect speakers without a hitch? I thought you wrote on this kind of subject in your past entries but it was more about cultural differences than simply the linguistic one. The question that I always have about 中æââ¡ is how far Mandarin can go. I have been learning Mandarin Chinese for a couple of years already without using it much. I now got to catch words and phrases in movies and radio. If it is about Kantonese, it just becomes a matter of exercising imagination based upon the knowledge that I aqcired phenetically and literally. Can a Singaporean Chinese or Malaysian Chinese communicate with Mainland Mandarin speakers or some other dialect speakers without a hitch? I thought you wrote on this kind of subject in your past entries but it was more about cultural differences than simply the linguistic one.

]]> By: rebecca http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40949 rebecca Wed, 07 May 2008 06:32:13 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40949 hey babe, i recommend www.douban.com, where people share their reviews of chinese books, movies, music, etc. the writing there is great! and yes, the chinese language is so beautiful, i just wish more people would learn to appreciate it! hey babe,

i recommend http://www.douban.com, where people share their reviews of chinese books, movies, music, etc.

the writing there is great!

and yes, the chinese language is so beautiful, i just wish more people would learn to appreciate it!

]]> By: Edmund http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40948 Edmund Wed, 07 May 2008 05:49:43 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40948 Just want to encourage you on your pursuit of improving your Chinese. Personally, I'm on a personal project to learn all the S.E.A languages. Have done Thai for nearly half a year and have been pretty pleased with my results so far. I write to a pen-pal consistently and I've begun to surf some Thai websites. While I continue with my journey of Thai, I've also just started with Bahasa Indonesia. I hope that once I master an adequate command of it, I'll be able to speak to more people of this world. Yes, apparently in Pri 1, the children are learning hanyu pinyin exclusively for the 1st quarter. I do not know if this really helps their learning. The beauty is all in the Han Zi. Just want to encourage you on your pursuit of improving your Chinese.

Personally, I’m on a personal project to learn all the S.E.A languages. Have done Thai for nearly half a year and have been pretty pleased with my results so far. I write to a pen-pal consistently and I’ve begun to surf some Thai websites.

While I continue with my journey of Thai, I’ve also just started with Bahasa Indonesia. I hope that once I master an adequate command of it, I’ll be able to speak to more people of this world.

Yes, apparently in Pri 1, the children are learning hanyu pinyin exclusively for the 1st quarter. I do not know if this really helps their learning. The beauty is all in the Han Zi.

]]> By: donaq http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40902 donaq Tue, 06 May 2008 15:10:27 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40902 The word to describe cong1 cong2 cong3 cong4 is "tonal". Chinese is a tonal language. According to Wikipedia, this gives us another advantage in music: there is a higher incidence of absolute pitch among speakers of tonal languages. :) The word to describe cong1 cong2 cong3 cong4 is “tonal”. Chinese is a tonal language. According to Wikipedia, this gives us another advantage in music: there is a higher incidence of absolute pitch among speakers of tonal languages. :)

]]> By: cheryl http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40855 cheryl Tue, 06 May 2008 03:08:25 +0000 http://popagandhi.com/732/conquer-the-chinese-language-conquer-the-world/#comment-40855 babe, you don't know just how much you've just inspired me. you're right about how horribly they teach Chinese here. There was only 1 sole teacher I had who actually made a difference in my Chinese. I managed Bs when I was under her! After that, it was Cs again for the rest of my secondary sch life. I used to think I didn't have enough brains to master Chinese well! better late than never eh? I hope to improve mine to the point where I can manage a conversation in Chinese without having to rely on a single English word! babe, you don’t know just how much you’ve just inspired me. you’re right about how horribly they teach Chinese here. There was only 1 sole teacher I had who actually made a difference in my Chinese. I managed Bs when I was under her! After that, it was Cs again for the rest of my secondary sch life. I used to think I didn’t have enough brains to master Chinese well! better late than never eh? I hope to improve mine to the point where I can manage a conversation in Chinese without having to rely on a single English word!

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