Chinese to English
Translation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many people are scared away from learning the Chinese language just because it sounds hard.

Well . . . it isn't easy, but I do think that anybody can and should do it. It's challenging (in a good way), marketable (if you're the ambitious type), and will give you the ability to interact with a very large group of people in their native language--which is really the best way to communicate with someone if you really want to understand what they have to say.

For example, many in the US think of the Chinese as, well, kind of nerdy. In reality, most are absolutely hilarious. Their sense of humor, unfortunately, is a difficult thing for someone who is struggling to speak a language that is even more difficult than their own (English!) to translate.

In this section of the website I've included a few things that I believe may be helpful to someone who is interested in the Chinese language: relevant links, books, and a few tips on how to go about learning Chinese.

• Excellent Books relevant to the Chinese Language

• Excellent Websites regarding the Chinese Language

My Advice for Learning Chinese

I benefited from the opportunity to study Chinese in the classroom for the first several years. Of course it is going to be difficult to make more progress on your own with the language than it will be to do so under the guidance of a professional teacher, so search for opportunities to learn it in the classroom first--whether it be at a community college, university, with a private tutor, or (the best way to learn) by studying abroad. If you do not have this opportunity, however, don't be discouraged.

Since I've graduated from college, I've realized that the rest of my life is going to be a struggle to keep up the language skills that I've worked so hard to earn, so I've tried a few things that I think may benefit others.

Before I get into that, however, I want to pass on some advice that one of my professors gave to me. She spoke several languages and, towards the end of the course, I asked her what the best way to go about learning a new language is if you can't afford to take classes. She told me that she was currently learning Korean this way, and that she had a great system!

She said there were two parts. The first was to use Rosetta Stone. She then said, however, that Rosetta Stone is an absolutely horrible way to learn a language; particularly one that doesn't have an alphabet (such as Chinese). It was good enough though, she said, to get started.

Step number two, she said, was to watch soap operas! She pointed out that Korean soap operas (and I imagine Chinese ones would be the same) deal with every range of emotion and situation imaginable, and that it really helps to see the language in use in such a way.

As crazy as it sounds, and even though I have yet to try this for myself, I have a lot of faith in what she had to say. I have seen a few websites such as YesAsia.com where you can buy popular Chinese movies and television shows.

If you are going to follow a route such as this one, there are surely some things that could be done in addition, such as buying flashcards, some textbooks (check out Nanhai.com for this), and a Chinese dictionary. Also, I've heard GREAT things from a couple of people about ChinesePod.com, a website where you can subscribe to fairly inexpensive audio lessons.

So between all of these things there are quite a few resources out there for you to get started with. There is, however, one glaring omission: Chinese people!

Without actual native Chinese speakers to correct the errors you will naturally be making when you speak, you're in danger of developing some bad habits that will be hard to break later down the road.

I've had great luck with CraigsList.org for finding language partners--someone who you can get together with over a cup of coffee, and trade off helping each other learn your respective native languages. Most cities in the US have a really large Chinese population, and many of these people would love someone to help them improve on their conversational English (just like Americans in China, even when totally "immersed" in another country you typically still end up spending most of your time with your compatriots and speaking your native language).

In addition to this, I've also used CraigsList.org to find a few Chinese pen pals. They email me in English, I correct what they've written then reply in Chinese, and they correct what I've written. It's really helpful.

So, all of that said, the only thing left to tell you is Good Luck! If you have any questions or comments about what I've written here, please email me at MarkAnderson@translatechinese.org.