Adventures in Mandarin

A British language nerd's attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese – challenges, chuckles and favourite expressions.

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@fluentlanguage Would you recommend a way of phrasing this question or similar ones which you think would be more likely to sound interested and welcoming and less likely to prompt negative feelings on the part of the receiver?

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

Tomorrow I'm going to #Beijing for the first time ever! Wish me luck attempting to communicate using my 8-month-old #Mandarin skills! If you've been to China and have some essential phrases to share, please do! #SurvivalSkills #LanguageLearning #FirstTimeOutOfEurope

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 I have just sent you a direct message, hopefully you can see it!

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

My #Mandarin reading app mostly has pretty normal sentences, and then occasionally some really harsh ones about a woman that someone seems to really dislike... #languagelearning

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 Try going to my profile and then clicking on the envelope icon?

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 That's a really good idea. Makes it more flexible without having to commit to a longer conversation session. Want to DM me your email address?

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 Hi! I might be interested in that - are you imagining doing it online?

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 @thefluentshow @lonelyplanet Haha great, 太谢谢你！

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@thefluentshow @lonelyplanet Wow that's super helpful! I think I may do that! Do you still have that written out somewhere in a format you could share with me? That should be super helpful!

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 And an example of the "opposite" phenomenon would be: Mandarin, mention the biggest place first, smallest last; English, it's the opposite.

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

Does anyone else find that the rule "If in doubt, it's the opposite to English" works spookily often in #mandarin grammar? Almost as if the two languages really did have antipodal ways of thinking? #languagelearning

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@Catherine175788 Yeah I suppose that's an example. I know there isn't that much grammar in Mandarin in some ways, but then there are things like word order which are strange to English speakers.

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@intissarMTSR Yeah good tip. In terms of tones, that's tricky as it's not something I found so hard personally. I imagine you'll find it easier as time goes on, though.

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@intissarMTSR In terms of pronunciation, I don't really know. Just say them out loud. A lot. When you're on your own, or walking home, or whenever you can!

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

#ShoutOut for @grac3zhao who taught me beginner's Mandarin through her company China Unbound (London) and is an inspiring independent teacher and businesswoman (and plays a pretty mean game of badminton too ;-)) #internationalwomensday2018 #LanguageLearning

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@thefluentshow Thank you. Hmm, what comes to mind is noticing that lots of my grammar knowledge was still intact and it was vocabulary that needed much more re-learning. Which can make it hard to assign oneself a clear level, so teachers may require a more detailed description of what you know!

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

So my @lonelyplanet guide book told me I can say 我吃素 (literally "I eat vegetables) for "I'm vegetarian", but my #tandem partner says I must say 我是素食主义者 (literally "I am vegetable meal doctrine person"). #DisLanguageTho #LanguageExchange #JustChineseThings

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@intissarMTSR Interesting! Personally I don't find the pronunciation so bad. The bigger challenge for me is memorising words which have no connection to other languages I know and which are often really similar to other Mandarin words.

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@intissarMTSR Got it, thanks for the summary, really clear!

[Adventures in Mandarin @MandarinFTW]

@thefluentshow I studied German from ages 12-16, then dropped it for about 5 years, then resumed. Now my level is decent again and I even use it in my multilingual proofreading job. Much better at reading than, e.g., speaking, though.