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Is Chinese hard to learn? Easy and hard aspects of Chinese?

A study from Foreign Service Institute (FSI) states that Chinese (Mandarin) is one of the hardest languages to learn. The Statistic also says that learning Chinese usually takes 88 weeks on average. However, the duration can vary depending on your mother language. If your native language is relevant to Chinese, you can learn it effortlessly. On the other hand, English speakers may fall into trouble learning Chinese due to no language relevancy.

If you have decided to learn Chinese and looking for Online tutors or want to improve your English with English tutors, be sure to check out Amazing Talkers native tutors for a personalized course structure with 1 on 1 teaching.

Though Chinese is titled one of the hardest languages, it doesn’t mean every aspect is difficult. Many aspects of the language are easier and more interesting to learn. Here we are mentioning some easy and hard aspects of Chinese.

Table of Contents

Easy Aspects

Grammar:

If you are an English speaker, Chinese grammar should not be a big problem for you. Both languages follow similar grammatical structures in most cases. A simple Chinese sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object similar to an English sentence. The distinction of gender or the count of nouns or pronouns even doesn’t change the structure. So, many learners find Chinese grammar easier.

Though there are still some grammatical differences between English and Chinese, you can detect them after a few days of practicing. For example, an English sentence follows the structure strictly. But, a Chinese sentence can be separated by punctuation to clarify the exact meaning.

Characters:

The zigzag characters of Chinese may seem extremely difficult to learn. But, if you can unfold its mystery, it will not only be easier but also fun to learn. Each Chinese character has a different meaning. But, they can be connected to make more words. It is simpler than it looks.

For example, the character木 means a tree in Chinese. If you connect two 木 like 林, it means wood. Similarly, connecting three木 like森 means a forest in Chinese. If you know the basic symbols of Chinese, you can create numerous characters like these.

The vast resources to learn Chinese:

Unavailability of resources is a big challenge while learning a language. But, you will never fall into trouble in the case of learning Chinese. You will find thousands of resources for learning the language. There are tons of Chinese learning apps on both android and iOS platforms. You can learn the daily-life Chinese words, phrases, and conversations on those apps.

Besides, millions of Chinese speakers live around the world. You can join a language exchange site and talk to other Chinese speakers for improving your speaking. Moreover, numerous Chinese newspapers, books, and magazines are available for improving your reading skill.

Hard Aspects

Pronunciation:

The most challenging part of learning Chinese is perhaps the pronunciation. Unlike other languages, Chinese is a language with many subtle tones. It means a word can have diverse meanings depending on its pronunciation.

For example, the word “Ma” can have different definitions according to its pronunciation as followings:

(媽 – Mā) mother
(马 – Mǎ) horse
(嘛 – Ma) well.

Though the dissimilarity is very subtle, each tone has a unique meaning. So, mastering Chinese pronunciation can be difficult if your mother tongue is a non-tonal language.

Different Dialects:

Several Chinese dialects and sub-dialects can be confusing if you cannot detect their differences.

The eight major dialects of Chinese are:

Mandarin
Cantonese
Shanghainese
Taiwanese
Fuzhou
Xiang
Gan
Hakka.

Though Mandarin is considered the standard Chinese, other dialects are also prevalent in many regions. However, learning Mandarin will be rational since it is the official language of China and is widely spoken.

Writing:

Writing is another challenging part while learning Chinese. The language has more than 50000 characters. But, a native Mandarin speaker usually knows and uses around 8000 characters. Learning thousands of characters seems like a nightmare to English speakers who are used to Latin alphabets. But, Mandarin characters have been Romanized according to their pronunciation. The system is called Pin Yin where one can write Mandarin how it sounds using the Roman alphabet.

Final thoughts:

Undoubtedly, learning Chinese is difficult for English speakers. But, it has been a crucial language in many aspects. Learning Chinese can be easier if you learn it under a native-Chinese tutor. You can join a Chinese language course to get useful resources and learn it gradually. But, you have to attend classes regularly for effective learning. If a class schedule is a big issue for you, you can join online learning platforms like AmazingTalker. Here you can self-schedule your classes and learn Chinese under your favourite native tutor.

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