My Chinese Learning Experience

In my opinion learning Chinese is not an easy task; it’s actually very difficult. In Chinese, one character can have multiple pronunciations and meanings. And it’s common that characters have the same pronunciation but different meanings. Chinese is so complicated that even native speakers of Chinese sometimes have difficulties understanding a character’s meaning. So naturally, for foreigners it’s much more difficult. Therefore I thought it would be best to study single characters and simple characters. I ignored a lot of characters, especially those with complicated structures and multiple meanings. So when I started learning Chinese there were a lot of good laughs.

One of the better experiences is when I went to participate in a Chinese friend’s wedding. The bride was so beautiful I couldn’t stop complimenting her. The groom immediately, on behalf of the bride, expressed his appreciation by saying, “哪里哪里.” “哪里” when said in succession shows modest appreciation. Almost every Chinese person knows this and it’s commonly said. But because I had recently started learning Chinese I misunderstood the meaning. I mistakenly thought he wanted to know which part of the bride was beautiful. I immediately then used my crude Chinese and said her hair, eyebrows, eyes, ears, nose, mouth were all beautiful! Everybody then started to laugh, and only afterward did I understand the meaning and use of “哪里哪里.”

Another experience comes from when I first arrived in China. I couldn’t speak any Chinese so daily communication was a very big obstacle. One time I went with a Chinese co-worker to go eat and because I wanted to practice Chinese, I insisted I will order for myself. I looked over the menu for a while and then asked the waitress, “睡觉,多少钱?” My co-worker then saw the waitress’s shocked face and quickly said, “His Chinese is bad, pronunciation horrible, he wants to ask, 水饺多少钱?” The waitress then started to smile and was amused at my expense. I was so embarrassed!

By not knowing the Chinese language, my life had a lot of inconveniences and caused a lot of people to laugh at me. I believe survival Chinese is the most important. Due to my busy work schedule I’m unable to attend Chinese classes so my friend recommended an online site Ninhao.com. This site has very useful survival Chinese lessons. The lessons incorporate sound and video into short cartoon clips, as well as real life pictures, to teach the lesson content. The two hosts have a relaxed conversation to explain how to use the new words or grammar. This method has helped me understand Chinese and how to properly use it. I also feel using Ninhao’s method keeps learning more interesting, compared to a traditional class format. All of Ninhao’s learning materials are available in PDF/MP3 format for downloading. This way you can study Chinese anywhere anytime. I’ve already completed a good portion of the lessons and I quickly learned all the survival Chinese. Now I’m recommending this site to all my friends. Ninhao has also recently released a new comic book. The comic recounts The Thirty-six Stratagems, which I found interesting. Furthermore, the comic has both English and Chinese explanations so anyone can easily understand the book’s content. I recommend everyone check it out!

The best way to learn Mandarin Chinese! Online practical language courses combine audio/video, cartoons and pictures to help you learn Mandarin Chinese easily. In the meantime, live speaking practice with teachers online will enhance your experience! Some free Chinese language lessons are waiting for beginners to try! All the educational resources are available in PDF/MP3 format for download.
More Information at http://www.ninhao.com.