Chinese Communist Control over the MSM

[TheParser]

...

Well, I guess that anyone with determination can learn to speak Mandarin to be understood more or less.

But forget about memorizing thousands of characters in order to read and/or write it.
....

Actually, you've got it backward.

Thank you very much for your opinion.

Other people (including me) feel that it is easier to learn how to speak a foreign language than to read and write it (especially like Chinese, which uses characters instead of an alphabet).

Have you ever tried to learn Mandarin?

Yes, I studied a little in about 1960(!) with a gentleman who was a journalist in war-time Chungking.

Because I do NOT have an ear for languages, I personally found it easier to write it than speak or understand it. When I was younger, I would "correspond" with people in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Of course, I butchered the language, but they apparently got the essence of what I was trying to say. As you know, there is no conjugation of Chinese verbs, thank goodness.

I have read that some American students have great joy in speaking Mandarin and eventually in understanding it. For example, like those flight attendants who can learn some common phrases to use with passengers. To read and to write characters, however, would probably discourage all but the most dedicated students. Even with simplified characters, all those different strokes to memorize can be daunting.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

...

Well, I guess that anyone with determination can learn to speak Mandarin to be understood more or less.

But forget about memorizing thousands of characters in order to read and/or write it.
....

Actually, you've got it backward.

Thank you very much for your opinion.

Other people (including me) feel that it is easier to learn how to speak a foreign language than to read and write it (especially like Chinese, which uses characters instead of an alphabet).

Have you ever tried to learn Mandarin?

Can't be as hard as Kansai-Ben.

It's a lot harder to pronounce (for a native English speaker) than Kansai-ben.

I believe that.

Once you get the flavor of Kansai-Ben (or even Hyojungo) it's easier to sound like a native (although a nonnative would like never sound completely native).

I know that both the German and Russian Languages have pronunciations that non-natives can never hit. It does not surprise me one bit that Mandarin would have the same problems for non-natives.

 

[Unkotare]

...

Well, I guess that anyone with determination can learn to speak Mandarin to be understood more or less.

But forget about memorizing thousands of characters in order to read and/or write it.
....

Actually, you've got it backward.

Thank you very much for your opinion.

Other people (including me) feel that it is easier to learn how to speak a foreign language than to read and write it (especially like Chinese, which uses characters instead of an alphabet).

Have you ever tried to learn Mandarin?

Yes, I studied a little in about 1960(!) with a gentleman who was a journalist in war-time Chungking.

Because I do NOT have an ear for languages, I personally found it easier to write it than speak or understand it. When I was younger, I would "correspond" with people in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Of course, I butchered the language, but they apparently got the essence of what I was trying to say. As you know, there is no conjugation of Chinese verbs, thank goodness.

I have read that some American students have great joy in speaking Mandarin and eventually in understanding it. For example, like those flight attendants who can learn some common phrases to use with passengers. To read and to write characters, however, would probably discourage all but the most dedicated students. Even with simplified characters, all those different strokes to memorize can be daunting.

...

Well, I guess that anyone with determination can learn to speak Mandarin to be understood more or less.

But forget about memorizing thousands of characters in order to read and/or write it.
....

Actually, you've got it backward.

Thank you very much for your opinion.

Other people (including me) feel that it is easier to learn how to speak a foreign language than to read and write it (especially like Chinese, which uses characters instead of an alphabet).

Have you ever tried to learn Mandarin?

Can't be as hard as Kansai-Ben.

It's a lot harder to pronounce (for a native English speaker) than Kansai-ben.

I believe that.

Once you get the flavor of Kansai-Ben (or even Hyojungo) it's easier to sound like a native (although a nonnative would like never sound completely native).

I know that both the German and Russian Languages have pronunciations that non-natives can never hit. It does not surprise me one bit that Mandarin would have the same problems for non-natives.

The pronunciation of Mandarin is even 'worse' than that. There are four tones in spoken Mandarin, and the use of the wrong tone can alter the meaning of a word, making an utterance that is all but gibberish to native Mandarin speakers. Say something the wrong way and you could form a question without intending to, or you might even call someone's mother a horse! It's a literal tongue twister for native speakers of atonal languages like English.

Chinese characters, though they are many, are made of components that can be learned in a sequence that makes the more complex characters easier to break down and understand.

 

[Unkotare]

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Once you get the flavor of Kansai-Ben (or even Hyojungo) it's easier to sound like a native (although a nonnative would like never sound completely native).
...

Seems to me that 90% of Kansai-ben is being able to insult people well.