Many people believe Mandarin Chinese is a language that will take months and even years to learn. This is primarily because the Chinese language seems complicated. If you want to learn the language, you have to keep in mind that tones and pitch makes a big difference in Mandarin Chinese. For example, the word ma may mean mother, horse, or marijuana. It may even be used to mean you are asking a question, just like the English question mark. In Mandarin Chinese words are written as characters or pictographs. They are combined together to form a word. These are the peculiarities of the Mandarin Chinese language. They may seem daunting, but mastering them is not impossible.
The very basic step in learning Mandarin Chinese is to get an excellent grip at Pinyin, the official system of writing Mandarin Chinese using Latin letters. It will make learning the accurate pronunciation so much easier and more convenient for non-Chinese speakers. Being able to read the pinyin is important to those who wish to learn Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin has sounds that are not used in the English language. Learning pinyin entails familiarizing yourself with the sounds used in the Chinese language. There are about 402 sounds. Each of which has 5 tones in which a Chinese word can be pronounced. This includes the first tone which is flat and high, the second where the inflection goes up, the third where the inflection dips, the fourth where the inflection goes down hard and fast, and the fifth tone where there is no inflection or no tone at all.
The next thing that you need to master when trying to learn the Mandarin Chinese language is reading the characters. In this step, your mastery of the pinyin will be indispensable. Without it, you will find it hard to pronounce the characters accurately. One secret to doing this is to get yourself some Mandarin Chinese flash cards or make some of your own. You can start by learning the most common vocabulary words used in the Chinese Proficiency Test or the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi.
Once you are already good at pronouncing and reading Mandarin Chinese, you can hone your newfound language skills by listening to a genuine speaker of the language. This is where having a Chinese speaking friend comes handy. However, not having one should not keep you from practicing. There are numerous resources you can find on the Internet. You can look for Chinese TV shows or music that you can listen to.
Learning Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines is fairly easy if you really put your heart into it. These three simple methods should not be absent in your learning process. You may choose to do the learning on your own if you are responsible enough to do so. It is however recommended that you find a professional who can teach you Mandarin Chinese the proper way. You may just supplement it with the above given tips to make sure that you become fluent at Mandarin Chinese. You will surely ace the Chinese Standard Exam if you just devote the right amount of time and effort to this highly rewarding activity.
If you would like to learn more about the Mandarin Chinese language, you may Dash Cultural and Educational Institute. We have Mandarin programs for both kids and adults with or without Chinese background.