Chinese civilization is recognized as one of the oldest in the world. Scientists claim that it is more than five thousand years old. According to statistics, in modern world Chinese is spoken by every fifth person on earth, however, this language is quite difficult to learn.
The goals of mastering the Chinese language can be different: some learn it for interest or communication with friends, others may need it in doing business and expanding business contacts, and others plan to completely move to live in the Celestial Empire.
- the site provides a practical Chinese course for beginners, which consists of 18 lessons. Everyone will be able to take a course of hieroglyphics, learn the basic rules of calligraphy and find a phrasebook with the most popular phrases in communicating with the Chinese. There are also dialogues, key hieroglyphs and audio. There is not only Chinese.
A versatile site about the Chinese language, constantly replenishing its content. Its visitors will find here language learning information, theoretical information, online lessons, grammar, useful materials, blog posts about China, and much more.
A resource that provides easy-to-understand Chinese grammar lessons for different levels. Rules for English language.
An online resource where you can find many useful information for language learning: there is a section about hieroglyphs, about grammar, exercises. There are also some lessons, dialogues, the burning topic of entering Chinese characters from the keyboard, and more.
An actively growing Vkontakte community created for those who want to learn Chinese. Useful audio, video tutorials, tutorials for download and much more.
On the site you can find video tutorials in the format of an entertaining and educational program. You can follow the unfolding stories with interest and learn the language at the same time.
Several useful video tutorials on the phonetic alphabet of the Chinese language.
It will help in the phonetics of the Chinese language. Here you can download a special table with the pronunciation of all sounds. Description in English.
- a site where you can listen correct pronunciation words. Each word is pronounced by a native speaker of a different gender. There are not only Chinese, but also many other languages.
Big Russian-Chinese Dictionary. Here you will find new words, phrases, phraseological units and examples of sentences.
When the basics are taken, it is time to smooth the corners, that is, to polish your knowledge of the language. This will help to communicate with native speakers.
Chinese self-instruction manual quite a lot in the world. Which one should you choose? How not to make a mistake with the choice? Which authors should be chosen? Is it worth using old and proven textbooks or modern ones? What is more effective and better - to study with a self-instruction manual or with a teacher? This article will cover all this and much more.
A Chinese self-instruction manual from scratch must be chosen responsibly. Here it is necessary to take into account the fact that, on the one hand, the literary Chinese changed over the course of several years. As a result, it is not necessary to grasp the “time-tested” textbooks with unquestioning faith, because some information in them may simply be outdated. This does not mean that they are not needed, they should be used by a person who has already advanced in learning the language.
On the other hand, many "modern and advanced" teaching materials may be of dubious validity. Best of all, see what materials have good ratings and reviews, learn, google more. And when you are convinced that this or that material suits you, you can safely begin to study. If we talk about the Internet, now, given the increased popularity of the Chinese language, you can find a considerable number of lessons and tutorials of the Chinese language online.
Let's look at the various options.
Kondrashevsky A.F. Practical Chinese course
Perhaps the most popular textbook in the Russian-speaking environment. It was created based on the famous Chinese textbook 实用汉语课本. It contains all the necessary information regarding Chinese grammar, vocabulary and writing. In addition, the textbook itself contains a lot of useful information about the culture of the Middle Kingdom. Grammar comments are detailed, the volume of vocabulary is beyond praise. The "Practice Chinese Course" contains many exercises, tests and dictations, and the advanced version includes an audio application that allows you to practice Chinese phonetics.
The "practical course" is distinguished by its versatility, i.e. it can be used not only for self-study, but also for higher educational institutions and for teaching in schools.
Huang Shuying, Zadoenko T.P. Chinese language course
Another well-known Russian tutorial is the book by Tamara Zadoenko and Huang Shuying. Today it is considered one of the best Russian-speaking teaching aids and, as they say, in many respects surpasses Kondrashevsky's textbook. As in the first case, it contains a mandatory audio application. The book is intended primarily for students of Oriental studies, but as a self-instruction manual for the Chinese language, it is simply magnificent.
Of the Russian-language books, these two are perhaps the only high-quality textbooks that are worth recommending. Otherwise, in English you can find much more useful materials for learning Chinese.
Is it worth it to study on your own?
Even though there are enough good people in the world teaching materials for self-study of the Chinese language, you should not rely only on your own strength. Of course, you can try, but first evaluate your abilities. Chinese is not Spanish or any other European language. He does not forgive mistakes. And it's not even about hieroglyphs, it's just that you can learn to read them yourself. Their complexity is clearly exaggerated. But what is really difficult in Chinese is its phonetics.
Each word is one syllable, and it often happens that two identical syllables have different semantics. How are they distinguished in this case? That's what tones are for. Depending on the intonation with which you pronounce a particular syllable, the meaning changes. When you study with a teacher, he always makes sure that you pronounce the words correctly. In a different situation, it all depends on your hearing, articulation abilities and introspection skills. If you learn the wrong pronunciation, in the future, no Chinese will understand a single word you say.
Before you know where to start learning Chinese, you need to understand whether it is worth learning Chinese at all and for what purposes?
China- one of the most powerful countries on our planet, which in its power is second only to the United States.
China is the world's largest manufacturer whose language has become official language United Nations.
Since 2016, China's currency, the Yuan, has become a reserve currency, and the presence of a reserve currency gives the state global recognition.
The Chinese are already even releasing Meizu electronic devices, which are competitors to the iPhone.
The Chinese population is the largest on the planet, the number exceeds one billion!
Why all this information? To the fact that China is growing very strongly, which means that the sphere of the Chinese language will be very widespread in many social relations.
The Chinese language will soon be the same international language, as well as English, with the help of which all international trade and all interstate negotiations are carried out.
Is it difficult to learn Chinese?
Learning Chinese is hard, but it's only hard if you don't strong desire, which, unconditionally, is necessary in order to learn Chinese from scratch.
The Chinese language is not like all other languages, it has its own specific features, for the study of which you need to go a little deeper.
In advance, do not be upset about the difficulty, remember, the harder your path, the less competitors there will be at the end, and you will be on top.
Most likely, in 5-6 years, experts in the Chinese language will be in great demand in the labor market, and the niche of a Chinese translator will probably take the place of a niche of a programmer.
How to start learning Chinese?
There are many ways to learn Chinese.
You can go to a Chinese language course where you don't have to build specific modes and study plans for yourself, but you will have to spend time getting to such courses and also spend money.
Few people will listen to this option, because they want to do everything quickly, for free and, most importantly, without leaving the apartment.
Therefore, those people who decide to study at home, take a Chinese self-instruction manual and proceed with determination.
Initially, in order to learn Chinese, you need to know that there are FOUR TONES in the language.
The significance and meaning of the word depends on each tone, even if it consists of the same letters.
Tone 1 pronounce long and monotonous
Tone 2 to be pronounced as a question with sharp surprise
Tone 3 be pronounced oblong and monotonous, but with an accent on the first and last letter of the word
Tone 4 speak loudly, affirmatively, and sharply
These tones must be taken into account in communication, since if you make a mistake in tone, you can tell the Chinese something that can make his eyes widen.
The next thing you need is to learn words and sentences.
On initial stage It is not worth learning Chinese writing, as the hieroglyphs are very difficult to remember.
Initially, try to speak Chinese at the everyday level, and after you feel that you are having a mini conversation with the Chinese, start moving on to written characters.
First study the most base words and phrases such as "Hello", "How are you?", Goodbye" and so on.
We will provide you with a small table of such words and phrases.
Chinese from scratch
I am very glad that my posts are useful to you and we are together. In this post, I want to not just tell something new about the Chinese language or how to learn it, but to answer the most FAQ, which are asked to me by newcomers-Sinologists. The answers to the questions below will be useful to those who are just thinking about plunging into the mysterious and fascinating world of China. So, learn Chinese from scratch!
Although the Chinese language is one of the most difficult languages in the world, but, in my opinion, it is quite real to learn. Here at least compare it with the Russian language, with its cases, declensions, as well as our favorite “no, I don’t know.” How can it be easy, but, nevertheless, most of us are fluent in it.
I also want to dispel the myth that to learn Chinese you need to have perfect pitch and incredible graphic memory. No no need. Naturally, having these talents, you will need less time to learn the language, but everything will work out without them.
The difficulty of the Chinese language lies in the presence of hieroglyphs and keys. But it will only be difficult at first. With due diligence and a responsible attitude, you will soon cope with them.
How long does it take to learn Chinese?
It all depends on how and where we learn Chinese from scratch, as well as how often. The fact is that you can reach the average level of knowledge in a year or two, but only if you fully dedicate yourself to study. If you attend courses or a tutor only twice a week, then this period will increase to an indefinite size.
To make it more clear, let me give you an example. If we learn Chinese from scratch, without particularly straining, then in two years it is quite possible to learn one and a half thousand hieroglyphs. It is important that not words, but hieroglyphs, because you can make any word from them. This amount will be quite enough to communicate with the Chinese, discuss everyday topics and even capture some professional ones.
Is it possible to learn Chinese in two weeks, a month or three months?
There are many different tutorials that are full of titles “Chinese in two weeks”, “Learning Chinese from scratch in three months” and others. Is it possible to learn Chinese in such a time frame? Yes, but you will only be proficient in a few phrases. If you are satisfied with knowing only the words in order to say hello, get to know each other, tell at least about yourself or just explain where to go, then you are here. If your intentions are more serious, then be prepared to devote more than one year to study.
How many letters are in the Chinese alphabet?
When we learn Chinese from scratch, we draw parallels with our native language to find similarities. This is the only way I can explain the presence of such a question, because in Chinese there are no letters, only graphic elements. It is they who add up to a hieroglyph and together carry a semantic load. There are a little more than 200 such elements in Chinese. In order to learn how to read and compose hieroglyphs, you will need to learn the meaning of all graphic elements. All hieroglyphs are built according to a clear structure, this greatly facilitates the process of memorization.
Chinese linguists created a phonetic alphabet called pinyin. This alphabet is based on Latin, therefore it is understandable to a student in any country in the world. However, they should not get carried away, because it was created only for the entry level.
So, we decide where, by what method and with whom we learn Chinese from scratch and forward! After all, it is not as scary as it seems, and the result will not only benefit you, but also reinforce your self-esteem, because you will know one of the most difficult languages in the world!
The best solution is, of course, to go to China to learn Chinese from scratch. Language environment, native speakers around, a well-designed and excellent learning program - all this will save you a lot of time and money. Paid courses in your country only at first glance seem cheaper than studying in China. I myself, having spent more than 50,000 rubles a year on a tutor, still do not understand why I did it. if I completed the same program at the University of China in less than a month.
As the saying goes: if you wish, you can learn Chinese overnight. Well, in 12 hours you, of course, are unlikely to master it, but in a month, with complete immersion in the environment, it is quite likely. Do you want to become a sinologist? We will gladly assist you. and we will select the best program for you.
Learning Chinese is an ambitious task in itself and will require a large number efforts. And for self-study it takes an iron will and self-discipline. In this article, we will give some recommendations for those who are wondering "how to learn Chinese on their own" without the help of tutors and special courses.
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Self-taught Chinese from scratch
For self-study of the subject, the tutorial is a necessary element of the organization educational process. How to start learning Chinese?
Today on the Internet you can find many types of tutorials. All of them can be divided into the following subgroups:
- Study sites. This is a fairly convenient form for self-study. On such sites, in addition to lessons and assignments, reviews and comments from those who use the portal are collected. Many different learning formats can be used - textual information, audio recordings, video recordings.
- Video lessons. Videos that are not part of the courses on various sites are hosted on Youtube video hosting. The advantage of this format is that you can see and hear teacher.
- Audio courses. They are aimed at the formation of oral perception and pronunciation, but listening should always be supplemented by communication with native speakers, since the pronunciation on the recordings does not always fully correspond to free speech.
- Tutorials on paper. This is the oldest format for self-study, and it is still in demand. There are several textbooks that are still popular today. This, for example, is Kondrashevsky's Practical Course, "Fundamentals of the Chinese Language" by T.P. Zadoenko and H. Shuin. They will help lay the foundations for the learner.
Important! When studying the subject on your own, you should not concentrate on one type of benefits, it is better to combine them, making the most of the advantages of each.
Difficulties in learning Chinese
Is it hard to learn Chinese at home? The answer to this question is unequivocal - Chinese from scratch difficult to learn, especially for those people who are used to the alphabetic alphabet. The following factors contribute to this:
- If in languages based on alphabets, words are formed from individual letters, and the letter itself rarely carries a meaning, then with hieroglyphic languages, everything is different. Chinese characters can mean a whole word, and depending on the context, can change the meaning. Also, writing is important for the hieroglyph.
- The pronunciation is quite difficult. Firstly, it has different tonalities, and depending on how the vowel is pronounced, the meaning may change. Secondly, there are many dialects, and the pronunciation can also change from the dialect. Therefore, when teaching, it is necessary to choose The official dialect is Putonghua.
Attention! Despite the complexity, you can learn the subject, for this you need to show enough perseverance and patience.
How to learn Chinese fast on your own
The question of language learning speed is very subjective. In any case, you cannot learn it in a week or a month. Success depends on the number, regularity and duration of classes.
If you devote 3-4 hours of study every day, approach the issue comprehensively and have the opportunity to communicate with native speakers, it is possible to comprehend the basics of Chinese in a couple of months. However, if you practice from time to time - and the result will have to wait much longer.
How do some teachers answer the question "How long does it take to learn Chinese?" daily lessons for an hour:
- In about 3-4 months, you can learn simple everyday phrases, ask a simple question and maintain a simple conversation.
- In 1-2 years, you can begin to speak more freely, express your thoughts in more difficult topics and keep the conversation going, but there will still be topics that are difficult to talk about;
- After 2-3 years of study, you can already say that you speak the language. You will be able to communicate more freely different topics, and the pronunciation will be close to natural.
In any case, the key to rapid learning is regular classes.
How to start learning Chinese on your own
To learn Chinese on your own, you need to set a clear goal and draw up a lesson plan. Even before they start, you can chat on the forums or read the stories of people who taught the subject on their own. So in advance you can understand what difficulties and pitfalls can be.
The sound system is main feature, and its difference from European ones. To begin successful development, you need to understand the principle of constructing syllables. The number of syllables in Mandarin is limited, there are only 414 of them, and each syllable has its own character. Latin spelling of Chinese syllables called pinyin. Therefore, it is recommended to start the study by getting acquainted with the sound system and memorizing it.
An important point is the tonality - 4 tones that can be applied to each of the 414 syllables expand the phonetic composition. The strict limitation of syllables leads to the fact that homonyms are very common. And because of this, context is very important, because it largely determines the meaning of the word.
Chinese characters for beginners
The second point to explore is the study of written language. The hieroglyph is the basis of Chinese. Most words consist of one or two hieroglyphs. Only complex terms or foreign words require designations of three or more hieroglyphs.
The total number of characters is very large, and it is difficult to learn them all. But for ordinary communication it is enough to know 3 thousand. This is the basis of the language, the most common to use.
Testing for beginners as a form of learning
Tests, as an element of learning, are sufficient effective way to assess the assimilation of the material. In training, they can be used in the following ways:
- to assess the memorization of keys and hieroglyphs;
- to assess the perception of hieroglyphs in context;
- using audio materials to assess the assimilation of pronunciation features.
Today, you can find many different sites on the Internet, but the quality of tests on these portals is not always equally good. For a beginner, it is difficult to assess how well or correct the test is. But in general, you can focus on standard materials.
HSK is State exam. It is taken by foreigners to confirm knowledge of Chinese. Therefore, any other test that can be found on many sites must meet its standards.
The state test, unlike many others, is divided into oral and written, and they can be taken separately. At the same time, the oral exam can also be taken for the entry level.
How to teach your child Chinese
For children learning any language happens easier and faster. Despite misconceptions, children quite clearly distinguish between different language constructions and pronunciation. Especially under the age of two, babies learn new information very easily.
The main condition for successful learning is child's interest. Therefore, for him, classes should take place in game form. The game additionally stimulates the imagination and thinking of the child, contributing to better memorization because when playing, he does not just memorize words and expressions mechanically. During the game, memorization goes in context, which means that in the future he will be able to more easily reproduce words and phrases in similar situations.
It will take at least two years of regular classes. With self-study, without resorting to Chinese language courses, much will depend on the ability to quickly memorize and learn.
