Learn Chinese on your own at home. What do those who want to learn Chinese from scratch need to know on their own? The simplest thing in Chinese

Thank you everyone! Many people would like to learn Chinese on their own. The reasons are obvious: not everyone has the opportunity to travel to China, and perhaps there is no time or extra money to enroll in Chinese language courses. Everyone has their own situation. The easiest way out is to search for suitable resources on the Internet.

The only problem is that many are either paid or have scant material, which you still need to put together into a common mosaic, which, you must admit, is not very easy for a beginner. What then, give up this whole business related to independent study of the Chinese language? Of course not, because retreating is not our thing! And since you are reading this article, I’ll tell you a secret: you have already taken the first step towards your goal, and for some, even dreams.

When learning Chinese on your own, you need to demonstrate two qualities. Sometimes it seems to me that many economically developed Asian countries have them engraved on their hearts.

It's simple: it's curiosity and perseverance. The first thing you have by nature, every person is interested in something. The second needs to be cultivated through daily activities! For a beginner, you need to spend 3-5 hours if you want to make real progress. Again, these are approximate figures. Each person is unique by nature, you may need less or more time.

One thing I know for sure, it doesn’t matter what language you learn, the only important thing is why you do it and how you do it. If there is no interest and you force yourself to do it, only because it is necessary or because everyone is doing it because it is fashionable, then my sincere advice to you is to quit this activity, do not waste your time, because the Chinese language will easily take away your you the lion's share of the time.

Better do what you really enjoy. Well, if you are serious, and even better, like to enjoy the process itself, then welcome!

So, as we already know, there are four basic skills in language on which all language learning is based. Chinese is no exception in this regard.

Speaking skills.
Listening skill.
Reading skill.
Writing skill.

There is also grammar, but in reality it is not a skill, but only a set of rules that you need to understand in order to correctly structure your speech in speech or writing. Before studying, analyze what personality temperament you belong to. From my own experience, I can say that if you are an extrovert and like to chat, then you will be better at it than introverts.

Introverts, in turn, may have to change their habits a little. To improve your speaking skills, reading books out loud every day will help you. Books are good, books help us expand our vocabulary. But anyone who learns a foreign language will tell you that communicating with a native speaker is an integral part of the foreign language learning process.

What do you need to know before learning Chinese?

Before you start learning Chinese, you need to know a few key points, knowing which you will decide for yourself whether it is difficult to learn Chinese at home or not:

About hieroglyphs

The Chinese language has no alphabet, which means there are no letters. Instead of letters there are hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs and letters are completely different things. Let me try to clarify: in the alphabet, each letter has its own sound: the letter “a” carries the sound [a], the letter “b” carries the sound [b]. Separately, letters do not carry meaning, but they acquire it when they are combined with others and a word is created.

Since ancient times, hieroglyphs have been used to record meaning, not sounds. Very often, just one small hieroglyph, even alone, carries a certain meaning, and it is often pronounced as a whole syllable: 马 - - horse.

So, due to the lack of an alphabet, in order to read, speak and understand hieroglyphs more or less fluently, you will have to learn about 2000 of them (on the simplest everyday topics) and about 5000 in order to more or less fluently understand TV series and films.

You can easily find a lot of materials about hieroglyphs on the Internet, as well as in Chinese textbooks.

About phonetics

There is no alphabet, but there must be something instead! Naturally! Otherwise, how to speak it and how to listen to it? So, the Pinyin transcription system is responsible for pronunciation, which includes the familiar Latin letters or a combination of letters, but their pronunciation sometimes differs from the original. There are not many of them, you learn and remember them quite quickly.

In addition to letters, there are tones known to everyone. There are four of them and the fifth is neutral. This means that you can pronounce one syllable in five different options, and each time it will have a different meaning.

You shouldn't be afraid of them. The main thing is to pay attention to this moment at the very beginning, when pronunciation is being put Special attention so that there are no problems in the future.

This part is perhaps the most problematic for those who are planning to learn Chinese on their own. Of course, a teacher, or even better, a native speaker teacher, would be extremely useful for setting up pronunciation at the very beginning. But if you don’t have this opportunity, then we use the “work on mistakes” method using a voice recorder (record yourself, and then listen and correct the pronunciation), or we look for speakers through special services - both paid and free.

About grammar

Grammar in Chinese is much easier than in Russian: there are no endings, prefixes, just a few suffixes, words do not change at all（breathe freely!）But there is a certain order of words in a sentence and various particles and prepositions, which compensate for tenses, genders , endings, etc.

Currently there are many teaching aids, as well as a lot of information on the Internet about Chinese grammar.

About vocabulary

In my opinion, it is vocabulary that becomes a big stumbling block when your vocabulary has long been full of everyday words that carry specific meanings. At this moment, the era of endless synonyms begins, which the Chinese have come up with in great numbers. And each has its own nuances in meaning and use. It’s not for nothing that at state levels. The HSK exam has a whole section devoted to this section.

You can expand your vocabulary yourself using certain services or simply by reading texts.

About logic

In my opinion, it’s worth saying a few more words about Chinese logic. While learning a language, it often happens that you seem to know all the words in a sentence, but you just can’t understand its meaning. And all because our thinking is very different from the Chinese. Therefore, when learning Chinese, be prepared for a partial restructuring of your thinking.

You don't need a teacher to understand Chinese logic. Just show more interest in their culture and habits.

And now for the good stuff, learning hieroglyphs will increase the number of neural connections in your brain, which in turn will strengthen your memory and speed of thinking.

Setting up equipment

Before we start learning the language, let’s set up our little “helpers” - a phone and a computer - to make learning Chinese more comfortable and effective:

Installing a Chinese keyboard

Let's start with the computer. This is very easy to do. Go to Start (in the lower left corner), then control panel, select clock, language and region. – change the keyboard layout or other input methods – change the keyboard – add – find “Chinese (Simplified People’s Republic of China!!!)” – in the drop-down list select: Microsoft Pinyin ne input style. – press ok and see that it has appeared in our list of installed keyboards – press ok again and exit the control panel.

Now try changing the language. We do this using the alt+shift hotkeys, and you can simply click on the language icon and it will change to the next language installed on your computer. Select Chinese and try typing something in a notepad, for example.

Now let's move on to our mobile assistant: install the keyboard on the phone. Go to the application service and download the Chinese keyboard. The Chinese themselves often use a keyboard called 搜购输入法 (sōugòu), but you can download another one, the main thing is to download simplified input or input of simplified hieroglyphs.

We sorted out the keyboard. What other programs might we need?

Dictionaries

First, we need to save several dictionary sites in our bookmarks, with the help of which you will be able to view the translation in the future the right words, their pronunciation, as well as examples of use. From online dictionaries we use the well-known BCRS - a large dictionary of the Chinese language (https://bkrs.info). By going to the main page, you will see an input field where you can enter the desired hieroglyph and thus translate from Chinese to Russian online.

Chinese characters with translation into Russian can also be found using Jong's dictionary. (http://www.zhonga.ru) You can also save it in your bookmarks, since sometimes controversial issues arise and you have to look up the meaning of some words in different sources to better understand the meaning. But wait! There is one more good thing in Jong: it is a table of keys, which a novice sinologist cannot do without. The link to the plate is http://www.zhonga.ru/radicals, save it for yourself.

You may not always have access to the Internet, so we recommend that you also download offline dictionaries to your phone. You can again download the dictionary from BCRS. How to do this is described in detail on the website itself.

We also use the Trainchineese dictionary. Its convenience lies in the fact that you can see how the hieroglyph is written, what part of speech it belongs to, and also the corresponding counting words. You can download it from the play store.

For those who are good at English language The option with the Pleco dictionary is also suitable.

Other services

Let's also bookmark Chinese YouTube in advance - youku.com - where a huge amount of video materials have been collected that we will definitely need in the future, and there are also many films in Chinese.

It would be a good idea to download the Anki program. There you can enter learned words and repeat them regularly, or use ready-made sets and learn words from them. How to do this in detail in our article about this program.

In addition to Anki, there is another service that is very convenient for replenishing vocabulary - https://quizlet.com/ru Save it to your bookmarks, or download the application to your phone. Here, again, you can create your own decks, or you can use those that have been uploaded by other users using the search field. The advantage of the service is that you can not only learn words, but also test, train, check yourself in every possible way - and sometimes even in a playful way.

Another program that you will sooner or later have to download is a Chinese messenger called 微信 or WeChat. Most Chinese people use this program for communication, so you can easily find someone to practice Chinese with there. In general, the program is very versatile with many functions, and is especially indispensable for those who are planning to learn Chinese on their own. You can download it in the same play market or on another third-party service.

The preparatory work has been done, which means it’s time for the Chinese language itself!

Step-by-step instructions for learning Chinese

We go through phonetics, or to be more precise, we learn the transcription system, master the rules of pronunciation and tone. We practice more, listen to our own pronunciation or send our recording to a Chinese friend or Sinologist.
Have you studied pronunciation? So it’s time to move on: let’s get acquainted with the hieroglyphs. Firstly, familiarize yourself with (did you think everything was so simple?) And in their writing.
Read about or otherwise radicals that will help save time and effort when studying hieroglyphs. Learn the most common ones.
Don’t forget to read the very useful article “,” which can make memorizing hieroglyphs much easier.
We begin to expand our vocabulary. Let's start with the most common words and phrases that will be useful to you in Everyday life. Say each phrase several times until it automatically pops out of your mouth without any hesitation. Another option for expanding your vocabulary is to open a list of words and learn the words given in it. When you learn words, don’t forget to look at examples of their use, as well as make up your own. Enter new words into the Anki program every day, or you can repeat them according to the method.
When you have at least a few words in your vocabulary, you can slowly begin to study the appropriate level.
Mastering grammar will take time, so at the same time we are expanding our vocabulary with the help of dialogues and it is advisable to find texts with voice acting for beginners. Listen to the announcer several times. Then look at which words are unfamiliar to you. You can translate them using a dictionary. Pay attention to how this or that word is used in the text. After all unknown words have been translated and learned, read the text several times. Record yourself again on a voice recorder and compare the sound.
When your vocabulary of words is approximately equal to level 4 (this can be determined by opening 4 levels, going through them and figuring out how many of them you know), start watching children's cartoons or simple TV series on everyday topics. Read more texts in Chinese, again starting with the simplest ones, listen to Chinese radio.

Methods for learning Chinese on your own

Make a plan to learn Chinese. Set aside time in your daily schedule when you will study Chinese, also do not forget about this very important element in learning. As they say, repetition is the mother of learning!

I advise you to study a language in the morning, since it is at this time that information is best absorbed. Still, we are all different and not everyone wants to change their habits overnight, so watch yourself at what hours your brain activity peaks, and study diligently at this time.

If it’s really hard to remember a huge flow of information, break it down into several subtasks and complete each one with a certain period of time.

Example: in the morning you can learn words, at lunchtime you can find time to write, in the evening you can listen to audio recordings and read. Repeat everything before going to bed. Experiment, see what works for you.

I would like to wish you diligence in such a difficult task as learning the Chinese language.

Learning something new is a difficult process, but very exciting. Especially if we're talking about about learning Chinese from scratch: for many, this seems like an almost impossible task. But the specialists of the Taishan center know for sure that this is not so!

Without a doubt, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world. More than 3,000 hieroglyphs are used for writing and reading, many sounds are difficult to pronounce... And yet, we advise you to try to learn Chinese: the introductory course at our center is intended for people without prior preparation. All that is required of you is a desire to learn and a willingness to work hard!

Is it possible to go through on your own? Chinese course for beginners?

Modern technologies offer distance learning, various audio lessons that are easy to find on the Internet, and a lot of literature on this topic. But when learning Chinese on your own from scratch, you need to be prepared for possible difficulties.

A tutor will help you learn a language much more effectively than video courses

The greatest difficulty lies in memorizing hieroglyphs. In total there are more than 70,000 of them, the most frequently used are “only” 3,000. To ensure that Chinese language lessons for beginners from scratch do not pass without a trace, you need to constantly replenish your vocabulary and stock of hieroglyph meanings. Cards with images of these “letters” and direct translation can help with this. By placing such pictures in front of your eyes, you will be able to remember many things faster.
You may also encounter the problem of selecting textbooks: not all of them are adapted for beginners. When taking Chinese courses from scratch, it is important to understand that it belongs to a completely different linguistic group, so even those who have previously studied English or German will not have an advantage.

Advantages of a Chinese course for beginners at the Taishan center

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I am often asked how difficult Chinese is and whether it is worth learning. In this post I will talk about some features of the Chinese language and, thereby, try to answer questions. And then it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth getting involved in this matter.

Book of Songs (Shi Jing), Ming edition

Chinese writing is hieroglyphic. In classical Chinese (文言 wenyan) one word was written with one hieroglyph. For example: 名 min- name, title. In modern Chinese, a word can be written with one or two, less often three or more characters: 历史 deprive— history, 百科全书 bike quanshu— encyclopedia (literally “a complete book of one hundred disciplines”).

In order to read the press and popular literature fluently, knowledge of 3-4 thousand hieroglyphs is required - approximately this is what a full-time graduate should know. high school in China. To read specialized literature, understanding 5-8 thousand hieroglyphs is enough. The minimum literacy level for peasants is 1500 characters, for workers and employees - 2000 characters. The total number of hieroglyphs is very large - several tens of thousands.

Hieroglyphs have a clear structure. In the II-I millennium BC. a list of basic signs (graphemes) has been formed, which are still used as independent hieroglyphs, and are also part of more complex characters. Graphemes consist of certain strokes (horizontal, vertical, folding, with an angle, with a hook, a dot), which are written in a strictly defined order. Examples of graphemes: 口 kou— mouth, 手 show- hand.

However, about 90% of hieroglyphs are so-called. phonoidograms. They usually consist of two (or more) graphemes, one of which indicates the approximate reading (phonetic), and the other indicates the meaning (key). For example, in the word “mother” 妈妈 Mother, consisting of two characters, the character 妈 ma includes two graphemes: 女 nude- woman (key, indicates approximate value) and 马 ma- horse (phonetician, indicates approximate reading). There are hieroglyphs-ideograms, where the graphemes included in their composition indicate only the meaning. For example, the character 好 hao- good, consists of graphemes 女 nude- woman and 子 zi- child: a woman who gives birth to children is good.

In the 50s of the 20th century, work began in China to simplify hieroglyphs with complex spellings. In 1964, a corresponding list was published, containing about 6 thousand characters. Examples of full and simplified characters: 國 - 国 th(country, state), 說 - 说 sho(to speak), 樹 - 树 shu(tree). In China, simplified characters are now widely used. However, reading old books requires knowledge of the full hieroglyphs. In Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, complex writing of hieroglyphs is also still common. Although the principles of simplification are often intuitive, there are two types of spelling worth learning.

The phonetic alphabet is used for transcription Pinyin Zimu pīnyīn zìmǔ拼音字母, based on the Latin alphabet and diacritics.

Thanks to hieroglyphic writing, it is possible to read texts written many centuries ago. In addition, you can read literature from other countries where Chinese characters were or are still used (old Korean and Vietnamese texts, Japanese texts, etc.).

Pronunciation

Usually foreigners study Mandarin普通话 (literally "universal language"), based on northern dialects, Beijing pronunciation and focused on modern spoken language. Education is conducted in Putonghua, radio and TV are broadcast.

Chinese is a tonal language. There are four main tones in Mandarin and a neutral one. The meaning of a word depends on the tone. Example with a syllable ma(written in Latin): 妈 mā(mother), 麻 ma(hemp), 马 mǎ(horse), 骂 ma(scold), 吗 ma(interrogative particle).

A certain difficulty is presented by the presence of words that are pronounced the same, but spelled differently. Various signs, jokes, and wishes are associated with them. The presence of homophones does not allow us to switch to alphabetic writing. Sometimes the number of homophones can reach several tens or even hundreds.

Dialects

There are also many abbreviations in Chinese. For example, the phrase “Beijing University” in Chinese is 北大 Beida(“north” + “big”). This is a contraction of the four syllable 北京大学Beijing Daxue(“ ” + “university”).

Chinese characters have a huge semantic field, which is reflected in a large number of different meanings. Sometimes a paradoxical situation occurs when all the hieroglyphs included in a phrase or sentence are familiar, but the general meaning is not clear. You have to use a dictionary to clarify the meanings of hieroglyphs and their combinations. Now there is a large number of electronic dictionaries (on the Internet, in smartphones), which greatly facilitates this work.

If Chinese is so difficult, why learn it?

I think you have already realized that Chinese is a very, very difficult language. It is based on completely different principles than the Indo-European languages we are familiar with. And yet there is something in it that makes you spend time and effort on it.

First of all, Chinese is spoken by almost 1.5 billion people. China is a country of ancient and rich culture, whose writing dates back almost 3.5 thousand years. Beautiful philosophical treatises, literary works, and magnificent poems have been written in Chinese. It is impossible to adequately translate them into Russian, preserving all the diversity of meanings and meanings. As the famous translator of Buddhist texts Kumarajiva (IV-V centuries) said, translation is like chewed food: the food remains, but its taste is terrible.

Currently, political, economic, and cultural relations between Russia and China are at a high level and there are prospects for their further development. This means that specialists with knowledge of the Chinese language will be in demand.

But... Very often you will curse the Chinese language and furiously throw your textbooks on the floor. You will scold yourself for getting involved in this crazy adventure. It will seem to you that all your efforts are in vain and that you have not advanced one iota, although you spent many years learning the language and during this time you could have perfectly learned several European languages. Hieroglyphs will be constantly forgotten, despite the fact that you diligently write them down, wasting tons of paper. You may have nightmares where hieroglyphs haunt you or you struggle to translate something. Sometimes your eyes will hurt and the cheekbones on your face will ache. When you speak to a Chinese person for the first time, you realize with horror that neither he nor you understand him at all.

All this is true. But if you still dare, read here for inspiration.

So, have you decided to learn Chinese? Or perhaps you prefer ?

Personal experience of self-studying “Chinese literacy”

First of all, I appeal to those who independently study the Chinese language, as well as to those who are interested in the Chinese language, but are not studying yet, because they do not know where to start or are so busy with their main job that they do not have time for it.

In this article I will present the training materials I have developed and offer my own answer to the following questions:

Where to begin self-study Chinese language?

How to learn a language with only half an hour a day?

Problem and solution

For a person who has decided to make knowledge of Chinese his profession and has entered the appropriate university, the question “where to start learning” most likely will not arise. But what about those specialists for whom knowledge of the language is not a profession, and who are so busy at work that they can devote very little time to studying it, say, about half an hour a day? Do they have the opportunity to start accumulating language experience and realize their interest in Chinese now? And in general, where can you start learning a language in such conditions?

In short, you can start by writing hieroglyphs.

The more detailed answer has two parts: “why” and “how.” Why you need to start with writing hieroglyphs and how best to do it.

Let's start by answering the question "why".

Firstly, because it is doable. The fact is that of the four basic language skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing - not all are good for independent study.

Speaking is least suitable for independent study: here there is a high probability of acquiring incorrect pronunciation skills.

Without speaking, there is little point in listening, since, according to I. Kochergin, a specialist in Chinese language teaching methods, “success in developing listening skills directly depends on success in developing speaking skills.”

That leaves reading and writing. However, reading requires knowledge of words, grammar and working with dictionaries, so mastering it “from scratch” without interrupting your main job will be problematic. Thus, it is most beneficial and convenient to start with a letter.

Secondly, starting with writing hieroglyphs is useful. It will be much easier to recognize and remember hieroglyphs when reading if you first master the principles of writing them. In addition, it is believed that for Europeans, hieroglyphs are one of the main obstacles in learning Chinese. Therefore, by getting comfortable with it now, you will save yourself a lot of time in the future when you find the opportunity to take up language learning more intensively.

And thirdly, it’s interesting to start learning a language by writing hieroglyphs. After all, hieroglyphic writing is the essence of the Chinese language and culture. It is no coincidence that the concepts of “culture” and “writing” are denoted in the Chinese language by the same hieroglyph “wen”. It is believed that practicing calligraphy strengthens the spirit and prolongs a person’s life.

Let's say you decide to start learning Chinese on your own by writing characters. How to do it?

Instead of the usual writing of individual hieroglyphs, I offer you the following. When the time comes for your lesson, place in front of you a sample with a saying in Chinese and instructions for writing the characters included in it, take a sheet of paper and a pen. Your task is to rewrite this saying so that each hieroglyph is as similar as possible to the sample. Take your time. Try again and again. At the end of the lesson, pay attention to repetition - write down from memory some of the sayings that you managed to master in the previous days.

You can take one saying or proverb per week. This way you will become familiar not only with Chinese characters, but also with Chinese thought.

After several months of such classes, take a blank sheet of paper and write down all the proverbs and sayings that you remember. Does hieroglyphics still pose a huge barrier to language acquisition for you? Hardly. Rather, she has already become your ally.

It turns out that while continuing to work in your main specialty, you did not miss this time in terms of learning the Chinese language. You have mastered the basic principles of writing hieroglyphs, got used to them, and have memorized many hieroglyphs. Now your capabilities have increased and allow you to take on more ambitious tasks, for example, a deeper study of writing or learning to read Chinese.

A feature of the proposed method of studying Chinese writing is the absence of a gap between learning and practical application. By rewriting a saying, you learn how to write hieroglyphs (learning) and, at the same time, use hieroglyphs to write down an interesting thought that has value in itself (application).

Of course, this is not enough to master the Chinese language, but this will give you the opportunity to start getting acquainted with it now, even if you “don’t have time.” All you need to get started is your decision and educational materials with samples and instructions.

Where to get study materials

The last point - educational materials - is very important, since from the very beginning you need to get used to the correct writing of hieroglyphs and understand what you are writing. However, there are simply no manuals with such materials as I just described. Apparently, those who study the language professionally do not need this, and no one has thought in this direction about those who independently study writing for half an hour a day.

The maximum that can be found on websites and in books is the text of the saying in Russian and Chinese plus transcription. At the same time, neither a sample of writing hieroglyphs nor an indication of the order and, especially, the direction of writing strokes is given. And not every saying is suitable for educational purposes.

In the end, I had to prepare the necessary study materials myself. These materials are a set of tables, each of which allows you to master the writing of one Chinese proverb or saying. Each table fits on A4 sheet and contains:

sample hieroglyphic writing of the saying;

translation of the saying;

instructions;

a list of hieroglyphs included in the saying;

transcription of each hieroglyph;

translation of each hieroglyph;

an indication of the order and direction of writing the features of each hieroglyph.

I selected proverbs and sayings for educational materials according to a number of criteria. The sources were Confucius's Conversations and Judgments, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West, as well as various lists of Chinese proverbs.

The hieroglyphic spelling of each saying was checked from several sources. When choosing a Russian translation, all available options and comments were taken into account. The translation of individual hieroglyphs was carried out using three dictionaries: the “Big Chinese-Russian Dictionary” edited by I. Oshanin (1983), the “Modern Chinese-Russian Dictionary” edited by A. Kondrashevsky (2008) and the “Chinese-Russian Dictionary” of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages (2004).

I will post the created tables on the website “Hello, China!” in the photo album “Where to start learning Chinese.” Copy them, print them, and use them to learn Chinese writing.

Now, even if you can devote only half an hour to studying Chinese, this time will be spent on learning the language, and not on wandering through books and the Internet in search of missing information.

Practical advice for beginners

What do you need to know when starting to write hieroglyphs?

First, keep in mind that each hieroglyph is not a chaotic pattern, but a system of standard strokes (traits) that are written in a certain order. A dash is an element of a hieroglyph that is written without lifting the writing element from the paper. To write a hieroglyph correctly, it is enough to have a sample, as well as

distinguish individual features in a hieroglyph,

know the direction of writing each stroke,

know the order of writing strokes in a hieroglyph.

All this information and writing samples are in the tables I compiled. Even if you are just starting to learn a language, having a sample and indicating the order of strokes will allow you to write hieroglyphs correctly, and having a translation and transcription will help you understand what you are writing.

Regardless of the number of strokes, all hieroglyphs of one phrase fit into squares of the same size. Therefore, it is most convenient to take paper in a cage. If the cell is large enough (six or more millimeters) - write one hieroglyph in a square with a side of two cells, if small - in a square with a side of four cells. It is better to take a helium pen, then you will not have to draw in the same place several times to draw a point.

Now I invite you to go to the “Photo Albums” section, go to the photo album “Where to start learning Chinese” and familiarize yourself with the tables posted there. I would be glad if you share your impressions and wishes in the comments to the article and photo album or in the chat.

Konstantin Grebenyuk

Being able to speak Chinese opens up great opportunities, but is it easy to learn quickly? Is it difficult to do it yourself and how long will it take? Let's try to find out.

This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age

Have you already turned 18?

There are many benefits of learning Chinese, let’s highlight some of them:

China is a country with a wonderful culture, a complex history and a lot of attractions that are worth seeing with your own eyes, and knowledge of the local dialect will give you a chance to spend a quality holiday and with great comfort;
This dialect is spoken by a fifth of the world's population, so translators, tour guides, tour guides and simply good employees with knowledge of this dialect will always be needed;
Will it be difficult for you to establish business relations with eastern partners? If you speak Chinese even at an elementary level and can show your willingness to cooperate and develop, which is very valuable;
the Chinese government is launching many different educational programs, courses, and scientific projects in which it attracts foreigners;
You will be able to seamlessly shop on Chinese online sites or order food with complete confidence in your order.

As you can see, there are many reasons to start studying this difficult, but such an interesting syllable. No one can answer how long the process may take. For some, two or three years are enough to achieve the desired result, others take more time to learn it, and still others devote their whole lives to comprehending this literacy.

How to learn Chinese from scratch?

It is possible to learn Chinese on your own, but it may take a little longer than with the support of a teacher. To the natural question, where to start, the answer is simple - with manuals for beginners. You can use textbooks for children that present lessons in a simple manner, with pictures and explanations in easy-to-understand language. These are the books that are perfect for learning yourself at home, or for learning Chinese for a child.

For beginners, there is also a lot of interesting material on specialized websites that tell about the culture, history and literature of China, and give an idea of the capabilities and features of the Chinese language.

Particularly suitable for beginners who want to learn Chinese writing, handbooks for developing calligraphy, and textbooks with basic grammar.

No matter what age you start learning Chinese, playful learning methods are a great way to learn Chinese. These include cards for learning words that can be hung on objects in the house. On them you can write a hieroglyph, its sound, meaning and the words that he creates with his other comrades.

Features of learning Chinese

This eastern dialect is difficult to study due to the fact that it does not contain letters, signs, or grammatical structures that are familiar to us. The basis of this writing is hieroglyphics. In order for you to be able to communicate and read fluently, you need to learn about 3,500 characters. How to start learning these symbols? How to learn how to draw hieroglyphs yourself? There are several tips for this:

watch several master classes on calligraphy from scratch, read books for those who are interested in Chinese writing;
each character is not a chaotic set of dashes, but a special system in which each element must be written in a certain sequence, so pay close attention to this;
in order to be well versed in the Chinese hieroglyphs, you need to learn radicals (keys) and be able to find them;
write. A lot and often. Our hands themselves remember the system for writing this or that symbol, so get a notebook in which you will draw signs.

Methods for learning Chinese

If you have already figured out whether it is difficult to learn Chinese, have found motivation and know why it is necessary and beneficial to you, then it’s time to start studying.

In addition to purchasing textbooks, manuals and copybooks, you can also purchase books for children with pictures. They don’t have a lot of text, but they are simple and understandable, and the opportunity to read even a children’s book on your own is a big plus for motivation.

In the Chinese dialect, not only the writing is complex, but also the phonetics and tones on which the meaning of the word depends, so it is worth paying special attention to them. Is it easy to figure this out? Yes, if you put in a little effort and time. Listening to songs and the radio is very good for listening comprehension. Even if you don’t understand anything yet, you will be able to grasp the peculiarities of melody and phrase construction.

Another way to learn to speak Chinese well is to watch movies. To begin with, you can choose cartoons, and over time move on to more serious films. You should not choose to study Hollywood movies with Chinese translations, as they will not be able to convey all the nuances and beauty of the language. It is best to choose Chinese films on a historical theme, with a description of culture and life, features of development.

Where can you learn Chinese?

We have already talked about the fact that you can learn Chinese literacy on your own at home and realized that this is quite possible and not at all difficult. But what to do when self-control and motivation are not enough to study Eastern writing at home? If on the way to perfect knowledge of the language there are insurmountable difficulties that you cannot cope with on your own? Where can you learn the basics of Chinese from scratch or with a certain level of knowledge, and is it easy? In our country, there are many ways to master this most difficult language, the main thing is to choose the one that will suit you best in terms of time, cost, availability, resources and prospects after studying.

You can learn Chinese in the following places:

a school with in-depth study of oriental languages, including Chinese. Suitable for both children and early age began to learn a new language, and for adults who can attend evening classes;
language and culture learning centers at the Chinese Embassy - usually such lessons are free, they are taught by native speakers or those who have been there for a long time;
universities and colleges with faculties and departments of Oriental philology, which collaborate with colleagues from China, have a number of programs for studying the language among native speakers, and invite teachers to exchange experiences. In addition to complete higher education, they provide additional courses for those wishing to study Chinese literacy;
In addition, you can study Chinese in special linguistic schools, in groups with different levels of difficulty. Such courses are not free (unlike previous options), but have a flexible schedule and a small number of students, which is convenient for learning.

As you can see, there are many places where you can learn Chinese, you just need to choose the option that suits you best.

Programs for learning foreign speech

In addition to regular classes with textbooks, notebooks and books, there is also the possibility of distance learning of the language. The essence of this method is that you receive a certain number of tasks via personal email, and after that you pass a control test to determine the quality of the information you have learned.

With the development of modern technologies, special programs have become popular that can be installed on your smartphone, tablet or laptop completely free of charge. The advantage of a device with such an application is that it is mobile, so you can learn the language on the way to work, during your lunch break, or at home before bed.

The programs combine different methods assimilation of knowledge: listening to audio, and copybooks for hieroglyphs, and game moments for memorizing words and structures. In addition to all this, you can install a Chinese dictionary on your phone, download several cartoons or simple books and start acquiring knowledge at any time available.

Having understood all the pros and cons, the prospects for studying and the difficulties that await you on the path to knowledge, having realized whether it is worth starting at all and why to do it, feel free to move in the most interesting direction of learning Chinese!