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Chinese challenge: crowds fill language classes despite difficulty of learning

Everybody, it seems, wants to learn Chinese. Both UCLA and USC are bracing for a huge demand this fall in classes that combine language learning and Chinese business know-how.

"It used to be that students taking Chinese language classes were heritage students or had friends with a Chinese background, but now you see students with no background at all," said Audrey Li, professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at USC and director of the Chinese Language Program.

But it's not easy. Students must learn upwards of 3,000 characters in the Chinese writing system.

While it can take at least three years to just reach the conversational stage, China's position as a global power has provided a lure for career-minded students.

"More and more students are enrolling in Chinese programs for practical reasons," said Yihua Wang, Luckman Distinguished Lecturer at UCLA and the director of a course taught in Shanghai over the summer. Wang, who began her program six years ago, requires at least a third-year proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.

But demand is still rising (this year 50 students applied for 20 available spots) and she is thinking of expanding the program.

Los Angeles Business Journal, by Katherine Gray COPYRIGHT CBJ, L.P. and Gale Group

Learn Chinese Language Tips and Techniques

There's no doubt learning any foreign language requires effort, time and commitment. This holds true even more, especially when there's a big difference between one's native tongue and learning a new language.

On the other side, knowing the tips and techniques of learning a new language can make all the difference on how effective and successful you can achieve.

Based on personal learning experiences, along with others(either online or offline), here are some of the learning Chinese language tips and techniques on becoming successful in mastering the Chinese language.

By using one, or a combination of these tips and techniques, will maximize your effectiveness, minimize your time, and at the same time, make your learning fun and enjoyable.

Step I - Where to start?

Start from learning the Chinese pronunciation.

Learning Chinese Pinyin should be the first step of learning Chinese language. Pinyin contains all the Chinese phonetic alphabets where they are used in the pronunciation of Chinese characters. To distinguish the different tones, pay close attention to the four types by reading the Pinyin letters, initials, finals, and all possible combinations.

The objective of this phase is for you to be able to read any Chinese character with marked in Pinyin and also write a given pronunciation in Pinyin format. Be warned: learn the correct pronunciation from the start, do not build bad habits!

Step II - Listen, practice and memorize simple Chinese vocabulary and sentences

Tips:

Take a local community Chinese class, do the practice drills with your study partner. The more you speak, the easier it will be for you to learn.

Get a good dictionary and make sure it has the phonetic spellings of the words.

Find a native Chinese speaker to converse with, many Chinese students would like to practice their English as an exchange to teach you Chinese.

Visit a Chinese restaurant or Chinese community center where Chinese is spoken natively.

Read out loud, listen to and repeat after tape or online radio, watch Chinese movies and TV programs. Listen carefully to the new sounds. Repeat them as accurately as possible, try to forget the sounds of your native language.

Sing Chinese songs.

Borrow cassette tapes from the local library, review and listen to the tapes frequently until you're able to speak the words and sentences all by yourself.

Review older vocabulary every so often to refresh your memory. Step III - Write Chinese Understand Chinese writing strokes and rules

Read our Writing Chinese section ( http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com/writing-chinese.html ) to understand Chinese writing strokes and rules. This will provide a good solid foundation on how Chinese characters are formed.

Tips:

Only way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them, practice writing a character on paper until you remember it. Start from easy ones, which also include all the strokes, for example, 一(one), 十(ten), 中(middle), 山(mountain), 上(above), 火(fire), 河(river), 入(enter).

Rather than writing one word many times before doing the next one, write each word once or twice then go through the whole list again until you've done the required number of repetitions. This will reinforce the new words more firmly in your memory.

Read Chinese newspapers, booklets and books found at your local library or Chinese market

Watch movies or TV programs with Chinese subtitles, it is a great way to learn Chinese speaking and writing at the same time in a simulated real-life scenario.

Use post-it notepaper to write down the characters and stick them on the objects you are about to learn.

Write vocabulary words using index or flash cards on one side with the definition on the other side.

Use your imagination by linking the shape of the new word by first glancing to something you are familiar with. Play vocabulary by creating a 3-column vocabulary sheet with characters, pinyin, and English definitions. Fold the paper with only one or two columns showing and then take practice written tests.

After a while, you will notice that many characters have elements in common, either related to meaning or pronunciation. Note the common elements and use them to help you remember new characters.

Take advantage of free learning Chinese resources online. If you can memorize about 1,000 - 2,000 characters, you will feel comfortable with reading and writing modern Chinese.

Step IV: Grammar?

Learn the basic grammar, but try not to worry and be constrained by the rules. After all, languages are spoken as a way to express meaning.

The basic grammar elements are almost identical with different languages; however, the sequence may be different. Pay particular attention to the differences and practice on them.

The most important points on learning new foreign languages:

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Being self-conscious can be an obstacle in learning a language. Remember, most people are willing to helping you rather than laughing at you.

Don't be discouraged by the difficulties at first attempt. Practice, practice, and practice! you will be amazed by your own progress!

Be persistent. Allocate a set time on studying and follow the schedule. Studying a little every day is more effective than studying for a long period at once.

Author Rosie Wang, Rosie From Learn Chinese Language Online (http://www.chinese-online.info)

The goal of Learn Chinese Language Online (LCLO) is to reduce the Mandarin Learning curve, promote and introduce the most efficient way to grasp the broad foundation of Chinese language.

Since Mandarin Chinese is the main language in Mainland China and is used on a day to day basis by more than 50% of the population it make sense to learn Mandarin Chinese.

While there are a number of dialects spoken throughout Chinese provinces, the number of users of Mandarin Chinese is constantly growing, along with the growing status that now recognizes Mandarin as China's official national language.

People right across the world learn Chinese language for a variety of reasons including to improve their chances of employment, to help them negotiate internal business agreements or to enhance their travel experiences. While in the past, you may have been concerned about which Chinese language to learn and master, take heart that Mandarin is the second language of over 40 million people of Chinese descent throughout the world and so it is the natural choice when it