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Q: How long do you need to study to be fluent in chinese?

How long do you need to study to be fluent in chinese?

had any of you mastered chinese in one year?

 

 

8 years 39 weeks ago in  Teaching & Learning - China

 
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Shifu

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If you are a new born baby... then maybe 3...?

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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Depends on you.

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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You can't really master Chinese in one year. Sure you can speak in Chinese in one year but there are lots of slang, idioms etc.

 

To be fluent, I would say about three years if you study hard while in China (or just live here for a long time and pick it up slowly on a daily basis). To master it... I dunno I heard from a guy that studied it for 10 years not to bother wasting your time lol.

 

 

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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I'd say, one's IQ could be very important factor surprise.

dokken:

Didn't you say you hadn't learned any Chinese in 6 years. That means your iq is below retard status. Hahaha I make myself laugh

8 years 39 weeks ago
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icnif77:

It's very low I admit, however considering your posts here, my IQ is like 'big mountain' for you.

8 years 39 weeks ago
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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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It depends on

* How much you use it everyday (varied contexts, every opportunities => faster)

* How much you dedicate yourself to it (1 year doing only that, or 15 mn a day)

 

If you spend one year doing only that, you can be fluent for basic conversation and more. The grammar is the easy part I think. If you live in China, the prononciation will sort itself quickly, especially if you already speak several languages (ie. Spanish + English). The challenge is reading Laughing out loud

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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3000 years at least

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
Posts: 724

Shifu

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If you are a new born baby... then maybe 3...?

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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there is no mastery, just varying degrees of fluency. from your other posts, you expect to do business with Chinese suppliers directly. nothing less than fluency (spoken and written) will be respected by business partners. this level might never be achievable for an outsider.

it's also difficult to gauge your ability, because non-Asians have poor feeling for tones in Chinese language. locals have a habit of pretending not to understand foreigners, too. do they REALLY not understand what you're saying? who knows.

as i mentioned, a Chinese partner you can trust (typically a GF or wife) can achieve more easily what you might not be able to, even with years of practice under your belt. it's best to accept your role as foreign outsider, and look for an insider partner to gain respectability.

Chinese understand gratification. if you are trying to break through stereotypes, challenging preconceptions, you are in a way proving them wrong. nobody likes having their assumptions challenged. if you want to make friends, gratify people. show them you adhere to their stereotypical notions. you're a foreigner, so you:
- are open, honest
- are 'free'
- are friendly (just smile, no cynical humour)
- don't understand China. never contradict.
- like beef (it's the best thing to order because it has no bones or skin)
- like Chinese girls because they are beautiful. (snubbing their women is the worst thing you can do)
- are healthy like a mutt with your 'different' body
- can't read Chinese because the language is too complex for your unsophisticated mind
- have musical talent/soft power (but refuse to show it because you're an important businessman). not hard fighting skill like stoic, manly Han Chinese men (and Japanese dogs). All other minorities and nationalities are either background entertainment or businessmen.
- can't use chopsticks (laying the act on thick now, but few locals will question it)
- are lazy and privileged, and so impressed by Chinese efficiency!

use the stereotypes to your advantage. women believing you are from a 'free' culture is a great card to play, if you like Chinese women that is. it's a dirty way to interact with people, but it's what they understand.

Chinese never communicate in an adult ego state. they are always a form of child or parent in interaction, always with an angle. but also with easily exploitable gimmicks. read up on Transactional Analysis if this confuses you.

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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One year is no where near enough. Just like any other language. Have you learned a language to fluency in one year? No. Don't be stupid.

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Four years to get a good grasp. Between 6 and 10 to be fluent I reckon. I could probably learn German twice as fast as Chinese. Unless you are an autistic savant learning it in one yeAr is an impossibility even for the most gifted and intelligent.

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8 years 39 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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4 years minimum if you eat, sleep, and breathe it every day ( excluding weekends). You will need a good mix of formal chinese classes and self study, distributed between formal chinese, spoken chinese, tv shows, news, newspapers, and your own essays.

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8 years 38 weeks ago
 
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practice makes perfect. Find some local people and chat with them! Recently I've found an app named olla, where there are not only people who want to improve there Chinese but also many Chinese people. It is fun, we can learn by experiencing. Call me if you start to play with it!

macleys:

I downloaded the app but sincerely I don't understand how to use the app in learning Chinese

8 years 33 weeks ago
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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
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Language learning needs a long long time ,of course ,Chinese is difficult,it takes more time.

iWolf:

Ha! I fell into the trap of believing this myth and wasted six months not even trying. Then i suddenly realised that I could recognise the same patterns all the time even though I couldn't understand the words.

 

The myth that Chinese is too hard for foreigners is laughable, in fact, in a recent discussion about this with some friends recently, most agree that getting started is a little difficult but once you get a few sentence structures down and get some vocabulary going it is actually not a big challenge.

 

If you look at how most people under 30 have studied english for around 15 years at school and still struggle with the most rudimentary expressions and then look at the average foreigner who has done zero study and been here for 6 months, they are at about the same fluency level with some exceptions, naturally.

8 years 32 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

This ridiculous idea that Putonghua is somehow much harder than any other language in the world is just the mainlander's ego stretching itself. The only really difficult issue with Putonghua is the tones (this, obviously doesn't include issues such as idiomatic and metaphorical usage - which is a PITA in ANY language). Also, other historical and cultural references (again, a PITA for any language learner, in any language). (remember, GuangDongHua has 7+ tones!)

 

Sure, mastering a difficult (and out-dated) written form is bad, but the spoken isn't that hard!

 

 

8 years 32 weeks ago
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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
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I can speak Chinese but I will never understand them surprise

Karma101:

that's deep man!

8 years 32 weeks ago
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8 years 32 weeks ago
 
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I think you have to decide what "fluent in Chinese' means.

 

Do you mean "survival fluent", "business fluent" or "Da Shan Fluent", for example?

 

Survival Fluency can be reached pretty fast (6 mths to a year) with next to no effort and that will enable you to accomplish all of your daily life issues without problem. This depends upon where you live and the numerical mix of local vs foreign friends and your necessities.

 

Business Fluency requires some effort but is easily achievable in a year or two depending upon the industry. The reading/writing for this is time consuming as the rote memorising of uncommon characters is tiresome.

 

Da Shan Fluency is a pipe dream for 99% of people, so just forget it unless you want to lecture chinese literature at Tsing Hua University to post graduates.

 

To be realistic, if you work in an english speaking environment and are independent then a year without any study will equip you with all you need. A minimal amount of study will, of course, be very useful socially.

 

That said, it can be troublesome to know too much because once they recover from the shock of you speaking to them, they will want to get into a conversation about the most asinine topics. On the good side, you can always play the dumb laowai card at any time and do the Tingbudong for a quick exit.

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8 years 32 weeks ago
 
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