The best way to learn mandarin–online course

One can’t think about the best way to learn Mandarin without realizing that the Internet has changed our lives in so many ways, and has revolutionized the way we do a great many things. In the old days learning Mandarin was a difficult process at best. You would not only have to sign up for a class, but in all probability, if you wanted to truly perfect your knowledge of the language, you would have to sign up for a language club as well. Actually, an online Chinese language course might be the best way to learn and speak basic Chinese. Language clubs can offer their members a lot of interesting and highly beneficial activities, including interactive games, speaking with others who are also learning the language and absorbing more advance level of the language form those members of the club who have more knowledge of it. As it goes, this is an effective enough approach to study a language, the only drawback being that it can take up a lot of your time.

If learning Chinese is your only interest, of course it does not matter much, but if you work at a full time job or if you have a lot of other interests, or if you have a family, you might find going to both a Mandarin class and attending a language club to be too time consuming to suit you. The good news is that with the Internet today things are a great deal more simple, and the internet might be an easy way to learn Chinese. While there is much to be said for on site classes, there are great many more advantages to using the Internet. One of the most important factors is price. Programs in the Internet are much cheaper than a college class, for example, sometimes as low as the fifth of the price. Another advantages that the lessons are usually created by people whose level of the language is that of a native speaker.

Accent is all important in a language, and your local class may not always have a teacher with a perfect command of the language. With an online course there are many innovative and interesting methods of learning the language available, as well as interactive multimedia resources and of course audio and video available for download. In other words, an online course is the best way to learn Chinese language because it matches a college class for the level of knowledge you experience while retaining all the advantages of a more interactive approach. And now we come to the final advantage of an Internet training course for Mandarin – convenience. Learning over the Internet means that you can learn at whatever time you choose and at whatever pace you choose.

You no longer have to fit your Chinese class and Chinese language practice into your schedule. Instead, you can learn Chinese online over the Internet whenever you have a little time to spare and whenever you find it to be convenient. Isn’t that the best way to learn Mandarin? So, Internet training uses all the interactive capabilities of a modern computer, trains you in the fluency and accent of a native speaker, and best of all, lets you learn whenever you like. And that’s why I feel that learning over the Internet is the best way to study Chinese.

best methods to learn Chinese characters

I’m learning Chinese at beginner level and I really struggle when it comes to learning Chinese characters by heart.

How to learn the character?

I think at the beginning, it is to make a story for each character and that can make you interested in it very well and it can help your learning easily. But when you have learn more than 200 characters, this way is not the best way and you’d better know how to write the characters, the order and the mearning for each part.

I learn new 5 words with characters write every day and all time repeat characters with I learn in past.

I think its wrong to learn chinese language and dont learn Chinese characters how write. Yes, its much longer but its right. I have only one problem, I dont know how to pronunciation right some words. I have teacher, I learn chinese on-line.

As you begin to learn Chinese characters, you will find that Chinese characters play an important part. But for many learners, they think the Chinese characters are hard to learn with its written structure and Pinyin. Actually, the Chinese characters are all formed according to a set of rules.

The structure of the Chinese characters is divided into two main types-single characters and compound characters. There are also different forms of compound characters such as the left-right structure, up-down structure, half-encircled structure and so on. You should be clear about these rules of Chinese characters, and then learning Chinese characters will be much easier.

I heard a method that you can watch a flash with the expression of how the real things like a fish become a word” 鱼” it’s interesting and easy for the foreigners to learn chinese. But I can not find some educational material like that. Maybe it will appear later.

Just learning the Kanji without Context won’t do you any good, you will have problems memorizing if you learn them totally out of context.

If I were you, I’d get myself a self-study book on Chinese and start with the simple lessons, both learning language and the Kanji at the same time. Keep also in mind that you will !not! learn to use the Kanji if you don’t master one of the transscription systems (I’d recommend pin’yin).

While you learn simple Chinese words, also try to learn and memorize the Kanji being used in thes sentences so that you are able to say what you read and to write what you say.

As for the actual memorization of the character – the keyword to that is “repetition”. You have to be disciplined enough to repeat your vocabulary EVERY day, if possible. Just going through your cards or lists once a week won’t yield much results.

Now for the actual learning process: Some prefer learning with paper cards – you know, writing the chinese character on the one side and the reading and meaning of this character on the other. Personally, I prefer learning with vocabulary programs.

The program I use, Anki, essentially works the same way those cards do; you’re being asked a meaning or a character, write that down, then look up the solution and then rate yourself. The program then schedules the repetition cycle of that card, this means, that, based on your rating of your own knowledge, it calculates when you’re being asked that card again. I am using that program for almost a year for learning Japanese now and I can only recommend you to have a look at it – the name of this program is Anki.

I’m fond of Chinese characters. They are so interesting and beautiful. And I have learned many Chinese characters in eChineseLearning’s dictionary which is so useful.

Get a Chinese Name-How to Translate an English Name Into Chinese

Learn how English-to-Chinese name translation works, and how to learn mandarin Chinese language are used to write English names.

Why do English Speakers Transliterate Their Names Into Chinese?

Because English and Chinese are such remarkably different languages, it is difficult for English words to be written and pronounced in Chinese. To begin, the phonetic systems of Chinese and English are so different that many sounds and sound combinations are not mutually shared.
Added to this is the fact that the writing systems of English and Chinese are different. English has an alphabetic script, which allows for many combinations of individual phonemes and letters. On the other hand, Chinese employs a logographic script that uses characters to represent both a particular meaning and one whole syllable (rather than one phoneme or letter).

As a result, most English names cannot be pronounced or written according to the rules of the Chinese language. This means that rather than pronouncing English names as they are pronounced in English, they are transliterated in order to create rough equivalents that can be written and pronounced in Chinese.

How do Chinese Translated Names Work?

To illustrate how name transliteration works, take the names “Mark” and “Aaron”. “Mark” is often transliterated into Chinese using two Chinese characters. The pronunciation of these characters are “ma” and “ke”. The name “Aaron” might be translated using characters that are pronounced “an” and “ran”.

When choosing Chinese characters for a Chinese name, it is important to consider not only the pronunciation but also the individual meanings of these characters. The meanings of learning Chinese characters can be positive, neutral, or negative. It is always best to learn Chinese language characters with positive meanings and connotations. If not positive, characters should at least have neutral meanings.

For the name “Mark”, the characters used have the meanings “horse” (ma), and “gram”(ke). These are rather neutral meanings. The characters used to transliterate “Aaron” are “peace” (an) and “benevolent” (ran). These can be considered positive meanings.

What is the Best Way to Get a Transliterated Chinese Name?

There are several ways to get transliterated Chinese names. The best method is to consult with someone who has a deep understanding of both English and Chinese languages. This will help ensure that the Chinese characters chosen have positive connotations and are phonetically suitable.
Another option is to use websites and online tools that transliterate English names. These should list several different character combinations and options for each syllable of the transliterated name. This gives people more control of their final name, and the ability to learn Chinese language and choose characters with meanings that they might especially want as part of their names. However, consultation with a bilingual Chinese speaker should always be sought before making a final decision.

Extra for Experts: Non-transliterated Names

When choosing a Chinese name, it does not necessarily have to be a transliteration of an English name. Instead, a “real” Chinese name can be adopted. This is much like Chinese people adopting common English names such as “Paul” or “Jessica”.

Translating an English name into Chinese is essential for anyone who is learning Chinese, interacting with Chinese culture, and is useful for people traveling through China. Those who are interested in having their names transliterated into Chinese should consult with someone who has a good understanding of both Chinese and English to ensure that suitable and positive characters are chosen.

Top 10 Reasons to Learn Chinese!

1.China is emerging from a period of stagnation and again taking it’s place as one of the great powers of the world. China currently has the second largest economy in the world. To take advantage of this huge economic shift and opportunities, learning Chinese is a great way to give your children an advantage in the increasingly competitive business world. Between equal foreign competitors courting a Chinese company, who will the company choose to associate with: a Chinese-speaking foreigner or a foreigner with a translator?

2.China has become the factory of the world and is moving up the technology food chain. Look at the balance of trade between the US and China. Per Nobel Prize Winner Robert Mundell China will become the factory of the world, in my opinion it already has. Now products are built, as well as designed in China.

3.China is a huge export market for the US. 1/5th of the world’s population lives in China. Overseas Chinese dominate the economies of many countries in Asia, and learn Mandarin gives you an edge in doing business with them. Countries with large overseas Chinese populations include Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. China has become one of the largest trading partners with the US. Over 16,000 US companies sell products in China. Trade is not only from China to the US, but also the other way. $41.8 Billion in 2006.

4.The world is becoming a global economy. Per a famous book, the world is becoming flat so communication, ideas, and goods are traveling faster and faster between countries including the US and China. Learning Chinese gives you the opportunity to take advantage of this change. It’s a great ice breaker when working with people from China if you can say a few words in Chinese. This helps especially when dealing with business people on the other side of the world via conference call.

5.Chinese has become very useful in government. The Austrian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.. The US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geitner learn Mandarin and attended Beijing University. The former Utah Governor, now Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman is fluent in Chinese (he learned it as a missionary in Taiwan and has an adopted child from China).

6.Chinese culture is over 5000 years old. By learning Chinese Language, you will learn another culture. Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the Chinese grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them. There is a lot of Chinese Poetry that lose some meaning when translated.

7.Learn Chinese language gives you another viewpoint. When a child uses a word, this word also triggers associations in the brain, brought about by the other languages the child knows. Maybe this is why it seems people who know languages seem smarter. The numerous mental associations playing in their brain, opens new ideas. It also helps as people age. I once had a fun talk with a programmer explaining how learning a new computer language helped keep his mind fresh. At the very least, it will help you when ordering Chinese food.

8.Learning Chinese will give a student a competitive advantage. Chinese is the fastest growing Foreign Language being taught in US schools. I like Mayor Daly’s quote: “We want to give our young people opportunities to advance … and [Chinese] is a great opportunity to survive in today’s economy.” Students can get higher grades in when they take Chinese subjects in school because they started early at home.

9.Mandarin Chinese is the most taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese are learning it, shouldn’t people in the US? The Japanese have a sharp scent on who or what is arriving.Learn Chinese language is the most used language on the Internet.

10.Family and Community – If you have relatives who don’t speak English, but only Chinese, it’s so great to be able to speak with them in Chinese. If you also live within a Chinese community, it’s nice to be able to relate to neighbors and friends speaking their language. I can’t tell you how proud my wife is that my daughter got selected to be the announcer this year for her Chinese Choir! There are big Chinese communities all over the world. Whether for business or to establish personal ties, knowing the language is not only useful, but endears you to people you want to connect to.

Why study Chinese?

What you might already know

1. China is one of the world’s oldest and richest continuous cultures, over 5000 years old.

2. China is the most populous nation in the world, with 1.28 billion people.

3. One fifth of the planet speaks Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the mother tongue of over 873 million people, making it the most widely spoken first language in the world.

4. In addition to the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese is also spoken in the important and influential Chinese communities of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, and Mongolia.

5. China is the second largest economy in the world.

6. China is one of largest trading partners of the United States.

7. Many US companies do business in China and have long-term investments there.

Things to consider

The study of the Chinese language opens the way to different important fields such as Chinese politics, economy, history or archaeology. But to study Chinese finally means to study a culture, a people. At the heart of Chinese civilization is its rich heritage of novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and, more recently, film. They reflect the values, the struggles, the sensibility, the joys and the sorrows of this great people and often offer insights even into the most intimate feelings of people in the past or into high-level Beijing politics at he present that cannot be found anywhere else. These works help you understand what is behind the language, what makes it powerful, and how it actually functions in Chinese society. To be at ease and effective in a Chinese environment learning the language is half the battle, but knowing about the culture behind the language is the other.

Some surprising facts
Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. Unlike French, German or English, Chinese has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g., gender and number distinctions). For example, while someone learning English has to learn different verb forms like “see/saw/seen,” all you need to do in Chinese is just to remember one word: kan. While in English you have to distinguish between “cat” and “cats,” in Chinese there is only one form: mao. (Chinese conveys these distinctions of tense and number in other ways, of course.)

The basic word order of Chinese is subject — verb — object, exactly as in English. A large number of the key terms of Mandarin Chinese (such as the terms for state, health, science, party, inflation, and even literature) have been formed as translations of English concepts. You are entering a different culture, but the content of many of the modern key concepts is familiar.

Remember these two facts:
1. Currently Mandarin Chinese is spoken by over 1 billion people around the world, about one fifth of the global population;

2. Each year more and more students around the world whose mother tongue is not Mandarin are learning Chinese with enthusiasm and success. If they all can learn it, so can you!

The study of Chinese literature and culture will help you bridge the cultural gap, better understand your Chinese counterparts, and create a platform of knowledge and understanding with them that is crucial for effective communication.

Chinese is important for your career!
1. International businesses prefer to hire people who speak more than one language. China has become a huge market, and business leaders are looking for people who can speak Chinese and operate successfully in a Chinese cultural context.

2. Knowing Chinese may give you an edge when competing for an important position.

3. China will play a major role in world affairs in the future. As China now has opened up to the West, there are opportunities for employment in all areas.

4. China is a wonderful country in which to teach English while developing your language and cultural skills. The experience is great, and it’s something you will never forget.

5. Teach in China A program offered through the Council on International Education Exchange.

6. China Employment Center at China Online.

7. Greater China Job Listings from Wang & Li Asia Resources.

8. Job Information Journal: China ESL Cafe’s journal of various job experiences in China, including places you should avoid when looking for employment.

Study Abroad
At Boston University we offer a program in Chinese Studies and an Internship Program in Shanghai located at Fudan University, one of the top five Chinese universities. This program gives students the opportunity to spend a semester engaged in an intensive study of the Chinese language and culture in the vibrant city of Shanghai. The program offers two different possibilities: a Chinese Studies track or an Internship track. No prior knowledge of Chinese language is required for the Chinese Studies track, but students will be required to study Chinese in the program. You study two semesters’ worth of Chinese in one term. For the Internship track, five semesters of college-level Chinese language or the equivalent is required.

Chinese Events

Each year students and faculty organize a celebration of the Chinese New Year with food and student performances. More than a hundred students participate. There also is a student competition and prize for the best Chinese-English translation, the best short story and the best essay or poem written in Chinese. We also invite guest speakers to talk about China-related topics. The lively Chinese-language club is one of the more active student organizations on campus.

methods for learn Chinese(online)

Native Speakers for Teaching Chinese

       On method for those households that don’t have a native speaker is hiring of a nanny who speaks Chinese. The NY Times had an article noting the increase in au pairs from China. It is also possible to arrange play dates with other children who are learning Chinese as well as finding a Chinese speaking babysitter. Local universities will often have spouses of Chinese working on Masters and PhD’s who are looking for extra income. Another option is finding a local nanny, and there are a number around. If you are in public service, please remember Zoe Baird on the requirements for legally hiring a nanny. Truth to be told, there is a large population of people in the US from China who don’t have papers who work as nannies, so be careful. Nannies are also taking care of your children, so picking the right person is extremely important, especially if they live with you. Friends of ours have gone through multiple nannies and it was not a good experience.

Online Programs for Teaching Chinese

       There are also programs to expose Children to Chinese at a young age. I am not aware of any that are online for English speakers at this time. There are online programs for adults learn Chinese online as well as native speakers.

Private Chinese Schools

       Traditionally non-public Chinese Schools in the US start teaching children when they are old to sit still and copy characters. Most schools are still using traditional teaching rote teaching methods still used in Taiwan and China. For the most part with children in the US, it does not work due to culture classes. There is a huge amount of independence in children in the US and using boring teaching methods that do not capture the interest of the child so they want to go to school without a lot of parental pushing will end up in failure. With the child being forced to go to school and often treating it as just babysitting, and not learning Chinese.

       An alternative is finding a school that uses more of a Montessori Method or what is used in ESL where there is a lot of conversation. I was pleasantly surprised by my daughter’s public school language teacher who spoke of using this method in the classroom, instead of the traditional focus on grammar in learning many foreign languages. At a young age, I would suggest programs that teach using a lot of singing and other fun activities.

Summer Chinese Camps

       Going to a summer Chinese camp in a full immersion environment is a great way to learn Chinese! Each year ChildBook publishes the largest list I have found of Summer Chinese Programs. These range from weekend programs in the US to programs that include a boarding school to programs in China and Taiwan. I favor the full immersion process as a great way to Learn Chinese.
Chinese Learning Products

CD’s for Learning Chinese

       CD’s come in two different types. One is products that are 100% Chinese of Chinese Children Songs or stories only in Chinese. Some products include a book of lyrics in Chinese, and other’s don’t. Other products are designed to teach Chinese and have a booklet with lyrics in English, Pinyin, and daily Chinese. The teaching Chinese products are both from from the US (the majority) and a series from Singapore. The products for Teaching Chinese are bilingual, so the songs are sung in both Chinese and English. What I like about the CD’s is they give a parent a chance to be part of the process where they can Sing Happy Birthday in the Teach Me Chinese CD and Book in both English and Chinese (this series focuses on popular songs in Chinese and English). The other series have specially written songs for Teaching Chinese. The Teach Me Chinese Series has Teacher Guides available. The Sing & Learn Chinese CD & Book includes a track of the songs without words (like Karoke). Let’s Sing Chinese is a 3 product series from Singapore that has both familiar songs and new ones. 3 is the most I have seen of any series of Cd’s for Teaching Chinese to Children.

Video’s for Learning Chinese

       Video’s such as from Mei Mei use more of a hands on approach teaching basic Chinese vocabulary and she currently has five video’s in her series. From the first one that teaches counting and parts of the body with songs through an approach that children love to later ones that progress such as her Play and Learn Chinese with Mei Mei where an actual Chinese Kindergarten is visited. What is great about this video is it gives your Child the chance to compare their experience and see the differences between their school and the one in the video. From lunch to PE to naps. To select the right video for your child, I recommend reading the reviews (both good and bad).

Books for Learning Chinese

       A great book for those just beginning to Learn Chinese is I Won’t Bite. It’s a touch and feel book that has Pinyin, Chinese Characters, and English. The challenge of using a book is often you need to know how to read Chinese, in order to teach from it. A fun book for exposing Children to Chinese Characters is Long Is A Dragon by Peggy Goldstein A selection of books for Learning Chinese Characters

Software for Learning Chinese

       Any day some Software should arrive that has been highly recommended by customers.

chinese summer school

    So, my first week of summer Chinese class is over. If I were to compare my week to a week during the normal two semesters, I would say that it was more enjoyable, primarily due to the fact that my favorite professor teaches the Chinese summer program, and I’m surrounded by people who want to be in the class. Since it is a short 15 day class, much of the topics covered are surface topics, but they can go into depth if suitable interest is shown and the right questions are asked.

    I’ve been taking Chinese summer program and History, which is one of my options for my Asian Studies minor, and after this class, I only have two more to take- I’ll be finished with my minor in the spring of 2011, at the earliest. The itneresting thing about china, and the thing that allows me to connect to it and its history is china’s modern existence as a merging of the West and the Sinosphere, or Chinese Culture Sphere. The Chinese Cultural Sphere is also referred to as the East Asian Culture Sphere, but it is composed of countries with a heavy influenced by China, often through imperialism. China, Korean, Japan, and Vietnam are some of the members of the Sinosphere, and as a result, many similarities are shared throughout these countries. The word for tea, as an example, sounds incredibly similar in the languages of the Sinosphere, as well as the presence of a script based off of Chinese summer camp. We find that earlier on in these nations, Classical Chinese was used as the primary system of writing, eventually diverging in to different scripts, with Japan and China maintaining usage of summer Chinese into the 21st century. Vietnam discontinued use with the rise of French colonialism in the 20th century.

     Korea used hanja, which is the closest script to Classical Chinese, up until the 15th century, but it was only fully replaced by the current system, hangul, in the 20th century.
Additionally, it is likely that the languages of these nations also share the same name for China, the Middle Kingdom. In Vietnamese, it is Trung Qu?c, and in Japanese it is 中国, or chuugoku for those who are kanji illiterate. Both mean the “Middle Kingdom” when used literally, but also share the same sound, at least for part of it. The “Trung” part of the name, and the 中 sound the same in Japanese and Vietnamese. I cannot say the same about China itself, or Korea, as I only speak Vietnamese and Japanese, but considering the different paths of language development in these nations, we can definitely see a pattern, but I digress.

    Taking Chinese summer program Culture and History kills two birds with one stone, as it takes care of credit requirements in my Chinese major, as well as my Asian Studies minor, two things that I am completely decided on. In addition to my professor, some of the individuals in the class are great people as well, including my former roommate and one of my best friends from Chicago, who happens to be my editor that never edits. I can only hope that my third semester of school is as enjoyable as this.

Interesting Chinese Speaking

     Chinese characters, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese,less frequently. Chinese characters are also known as sinographs, and the Chinese writing system as sinography. Chinese characters represent the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world.It is not easy chinese.

    The number of Chinese characters contained in the Kangxi dictionary is approximately 47,035, although a large number of these are rarely used variants accumulated throughout history. Studies carried out in China have shown that literacy in the Chinese language requires a knowledge of only between three and four thousand characters.

    Until recent centuries, China had one of the highest literacy rates in the world and more than half of the world’s literature was written in Chinese characters and Chinese speaking. Due to the central role of calligraphy in Chinese art and the vitality of Chinese civilization, Chinese characters have held a similarly preeminent position in the world’s art.

    In the Chinese writing system, the characters are mono-syllabic, each usually corresponding to a spoken syllable with a basic meaning. However, although Chinese words may be formed by characters with basic meanings, a majority of words in Mandarin Chinese require two or more chinese characters to write (thus are poly-syllabic) but have meaning that is distinct from but dependent on the characters they are made from.Cognates in the various Chinese languages/dialects which have the same or similar meaning but different pronunciations can be written with the same character.

    Chinese characters have also been used and in some cases continue to be used in other languages, most significantly Japanese (where a single character can represent several spoken syllables), Korean, and Vietnamese. Chinese characters are used both by meaning to represent native words, ignoring the Chinese pronunciation, and by meaning and sound, to represent Chinese loanwords. These foreign pronunciations of Chinese characters are known as Sinoxenic pronunciations, and have been useful in the reconstruction of Ancient Chinese.

    A Chinese-English dictionary of Chinese characters based on major modern and classical lexicographical sources. Includes pronunciations for Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and other Chinese languages in mostly used phonetic systems. Character data sheets provide links to the Chinese-English dictionary, other online dictionaries and databases, and lexicographical indices. Allows characters to be found by English, Mandarin, Cantonese or Hakka pronunciation, radical and stroke count, four corner, and other indexing systems.

    Chinese Alphabet contains a table including the following: Chinese alphabet through text (below) and through a video (left side), which contains chinese characters, or you can call them even letters which help you pronounce the words in a given language, you will also learn about the different consonants and vowels. For a list of all characters check our Chinese Characters. Make sure to check our learn chinese page, which contains several lessons that might help you in your learning process.

    The Education Bureau (EDB) is committed to assisting all non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in adapting to the local education system and integrating into the community as early as possible.