How good are you in speaking Chinese?
By darlene06
@darlene06 (284)
Philippines
March 4, 2011 5:08am CST
Born in a Chinese family, it is required for me by my family to speak Chinese to who ever knows hows to speak this language whether friends, relatives, teachers, etc. Studying in a Chinese school was also a requirement. From kindergarten upto the time I graduated high school I was studying in a Chinese shool. I'm am fluent in speaking the Fukien Language and can speak at the same time understand little mandarin. After graduating from college, not from a Chinese university by the way, I realized that my knowledge in Mandarin had already faded away. I already have hard time reading and understanding Chinese characters. Now that i'm already working for a Japanese company, studying the Japanese language is a requirement and it now has replaced my Mandarin language. I can even say that I can understand the Japanese language better than the other. Now, realizing this, I'm already craving to bring back my knowledge in Mandarin language.
What foreign language do you speak or study. Mind to share?
2 people like this
16 responses
@irene66 (1669)
• Philippines
6 Mar 11
I am not that good in speaking Chinese.
I had been in China 3 years ago and wanted so much to learn Chinese but I found it difficult.
At first I was enthusiastic in learning but when I tried to speak it with the Chinese it seems I am not understood.
This made me gave up on learning.
Though personally I like to learn it.
This made me gave up on learning.
Though personally I like to learn it.
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
6 Mar 11
I see. The pronounciation and intonation are really difficult. You really have to enroll yourself in a conversational tutorial or the like if you really want to learn speaking it. Listening alone won't help that much. It could help but it's not enough. You've got to get a guide on these.
Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. :)
@irene66 (1669)
• Philippines
8 Mar 11
yeah !
I think they have many intonations and pronunciation in the mainland china.
For Chinese in Hongkong and Macau, you could easily follow and pronounce.
But for mainland china, it seems they do not have the standard mandarine.
If you go to shanghai, they speak differently though the same mandarin.
and if you go to heilongjang or shandong or any part or mainland china, they also differ in their accent.
This makes it difficult to learn which is which.
1 person likes this
@m422698134 (39)
• China
10 Mar 11
Yes,there are various kinds of dialects in China and many of them are hard to understand!I'm a Chinese!I lived in China 25 years.Even I couldn't understand the words of some people in China.But most of Chinese can speak common spoken Chinese!Chinese People from differents areas exchange by common spoken Chinese.If you want to learn Chinese,just learn common spoken Chinese!If necessary,I can provide some help.I am leareing English now.
@llsling (331)
• China
30 Mar 11
Hello,so great knowing you put some efforts in learning Chinese. What most confuses the foreigners is the pronunciation ,cause' in the past there was no standard Chinese anyway,people lived from area to area couldn't understand each other too much .Btw ,they did write the same. But over the past few decades as a consequence of media industry growing fast,now we can talk to people from all over the nation except for some of the elderly and uneducated adults.
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
30 Mar 11
Hi, Yes, it's the pronounciation that makes it more difficult and confusing. But I believe that with practice and constant usage, sooner or later this confusion will just dissappear..
Thanks for sharing.. Happy mylotting :)
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Hello, wow, another language you have there. It's really true that whatever it is that you have learned can be unlearned when not used even language. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. :)
1 person likes this
@kheydia (882)
• Philippines
2 May 11
Wow, i do like to learn different foreign languages, and i don't know any except for english but only a little, i have chinese friend and i am trying to learn chinese from him through chat but that is just rarely, it is very difficult to learn another language when you are not speaking it.Good luck to you...
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
3 May 11
wow.. that's so cool!.. at least you have a friend who can help you even just by chatting. I hope i have a friend like that. :)
Thanks for sharing. Have a great day ahead. :)
@Janexiao (173)
• China
27 Mar 11
Hehe, i am a chinese. i studied japanese by myself for one month, but i didn't persist in. Now i am trying to learn english very well, and also spanish, i am really very interested in language learning. So i will try my best to learn them well. Mandarin is not that hard, think about that a foreigner can speak chinese very good, maybe you can ask your parents to teach you, and speak chinese with you everyday.
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
30 Mar 11
Hi there, thanks for sharing and for your advice. I really appreciated it. Best of luck in learning other languages..
Happy mylotting.. :)
@kamikarin (21)
• United States
2 Jul 11
I was also born into a chinese family so yeah i know the feeling. i also had to speak it but i was sent to chinese school but I never liked it so my parents allowed me stop going. Also at a young age I ha to translate for my dad's construction client which allowed me to continue speaking chinese.
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
16 Mar 12
wow, a translator at a young age! that's amazing! At least, your knowledge for Chinese wasn't put into waste. thanks for sharing. see you around. :)
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
4 Mar 11
I volunteered in a nursing Home for 6 years and there were many different nationalities there and I tried to at be able to say hello to each of them in their own language, there was one Chinese man there so I was say hello to him in Chinese and I would always get a big smile from him..so I can say Hello...
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Wow, that's a wonderful experience. Being able to say hello in different languages. I also love learning new languages. I find it fun and interesting. :) thanks for sharing. Hope you won't forget the languages you learned and even share it with others. Happy mylotting. :)
@sunny5u (2069)
• India
4 Mar 11
Hey nice question but i don't know how to understand chinese first of all. Then how can i talk in chinese. But, in my industry all the equipments are from china.So, many service engineers come from china. And,we talk to them in english and and ask them the meanings of the words in chinese.
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Hi, learning and understanding Chinese the Chinese language really takes time and effort. From reading to speaking to memorizing each character there is. It's good that there are people from your industry who are from China. At least they can somewhoe help you in learning their language. You can start from greetings like "Good Morning" or "Please" or "Hello" before moving on with the more complicated stuffs. Thanks for sharing. Happy mylotting :)
@greenline (14838)
• Canada
20 Mar 11
You are a very gifted linguist. Forien languages are always so interesting to me. I travel a lot to countires in different parts of the world, and I always find so fascinating to listen to people speaking their languages. For Chinese, I did start learning, taking a beginner course at a school. But, didn't get very far because I did not keep in touch. All I can say now is "ni hau". I speak a bit of German and a bit of Thai. I know I should try to improve.
Auf wieder sehen !
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
30 Mar 11
Hi, you're also a very talented linguist. Both Thai and German languages seems to be very difficult for me. I hope that you'll really improve on them.
Thanks for sharing. Happy mylotting.. see you around :)
@LISAANDELYSIA (285)
• China
5 Mar 11
chinese is a language you cant ever bring back.
as a chinese i even sense it everyday that i would slide down quickly in chinese using if i read/wrote/spoke chinese too little,i remember that mandarin is the 3rd difficult language to learn.that's why a lot of people want to let their children stay china before they get to 5 instead of giving birth to them in other countries.
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Hello there. The Chinese Language is really difficult I must admit. But with constant practice, I'm sure anyone would be able to learn or relearn this language. I even saw some of the students from my school in elementary and high school, who didn't have any Chinese blood or doesn't even use the Chinese language in their home, graduate with honors from their Chinese classes because they frequently speak with their teachers using this language. They have already become very good in speaking, writing and reading in Chinese by the time they graduated. So i think it's just a matter of practising and using it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciated it. Happy mylotting. :) Have a great day. :)
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Mar 11
I am a Chinese so I can speak fluent Chinese. 
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
I see. Do you use the Mandarin or the fukien or the Cantonese language. I believe that not everyone who knows how to speak the fukien knows how to speak Mandarin. :) Thanks for sharing anyway. Happy mylotting. :)
@dheckerz (473)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Every summer, I enrol in mandarin classes but it's hard to speak fluently if you are not practicing it daily or having conversation with you friends with this language. I'm half chinese but not all of the siblings learned how to speak and write in chinese. I wish, i started to study when I was younger.
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Yes, it's very true that you'll never learn any language especially Mandarin which is very hard without using it or practicing it. You have to force yourself to speak in Mandarin if you really want to learn or else, what your paying for for your classes will just be wasted since later you'll forget what you learned. Thanks for sharing. Happy mylotting :)
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Hi there, for me, learning Mandarin is fun. I hope we have the same thoughts on it.. thanks for sharing and God bless on your studies. Happy mylotting. :)
@Aloevera521 (178)
• Australia
27 Mar 11
I'd say I'm fluent in both English and Mandarin.
I can understand a little bit Fukien Language, if they do not speak very fast.
I'm currently studying both Spanish and Japanese at Uni. It's really complicated. I can speak JP, elementary level. But it's really difficult to learn both third and fourth language by using the second language.
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
30 Mar 11
Hi, on my side, I can say I'm fluent in Fukien but can only understand a little Mandarin if they don't speak very fast.. :D
Best of luck in your studies.. Thanks for sharing. Happy mylotting :D
@sexyice (873)
• Latvia
4 Mar 11
When I went to high school, I was invited to learn the Chinese language, and I agreed. This lesson was just once a week. We were taught - to read, write and speak Chinese. I loved Chinese character, something totally different and not understood. Now it all just remember to tell - how say hello. Pity, but it was very nice to learn something from the Chinese culture. :)
1 person likes this
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
5 Mar 11
Hello. At least you had an experience of learning a new language. The Chinese characters are really difficult to understand but somehow, once you're exposed to how it all originated, slowly you'll know and understand why each of them looks the way they are. Thanks for responding. Happy mylotting. :)
@darlene06 (284)
• Philippines
16 Mar 12
Hi,you're right, both languages are popular.
Thanks for sharing. see you around :)
