First Thing's First

If you are an absolute beginner, it is important to know the basics of any language or else confusion will follow later on. I strongly believe in learning the foundation of a language so no matter where a student goes, he or she will be armed with enough knowledge to figure out the answer based on his or her knowledge of the basics. I want everybody to be able to rely on themselves as much as possible. You have to believe you can do it. There are so many times when I don’t know something, but I make an educated guess and I often get it right.

The basics are reading, writing, and typing. If you can do this, grammar will follow. Then, ultimately, you can form your own sentences. You have to learn to walk before you can run.

Here are my recommendations:

I’m not trying to scare you, but this is an overwhelming subject. Luckily, if we break it down into parts, everything is easier. It’s best to learn Chinese from a historical viewpoint, as in a timeline.

Some History on Chinese Reading and Writing:

Chinese words are based on characters. Many combinations of characters were created so naturally it took people a long time to write a thought down. How can China keep up with the modern times if writing a sentence took forever? Yes, I exaggerated the last question.

In 1952, Mao Zedong, the leader of the People’s Republic of China, decided to “reform” the characters and tried to make Chinese characters more easier to write. As a result, simplified characters developed from traditional characters and eventually became the official character writing system of China. Some say the characters became uglier looking and unattractive, but faster to write. Imagine, we were cursive writing in English, which takes a longer time, but then changed to print writing. 

Not everybody adapted the Simplified writing system. Taiwan and Hong Kong kept their traditional writing system intact. China would get into political debates on whether or not it is beneficial to go back to the traditional writing system since everybody types nowadays and there’s character confusion with the Simplified writing system, but we won’t get into a political debate here.

Today, we have two character writing systems in existence: Traditional and Simplified. What do we have in the U.S.? I can’t speak for other areas, but in New York, we have both. When I was in Toronto, I only saw traditional characters. I think it was the same for San Francisco and Los Angeles when I visited too. Unfortunately, you’ll be at a disadvantage if you don’t know both systems of writing.

Many people ask, what system should I learn first, traditional or simplified characters? I think it depends on your needs and where you want to focus on. I think I’ll make a chart so it’s easier. The more the questions apply to you, the more you must know. It doesn’t hurt to be ambitious, right?

QUESTION: IF ANY ONE OF THESE APPLY TO YOU…	LANGUAGE YOU SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON	WRITING SYSTEM YOU SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON
Do you not have a clue what type of Chinese to learn? Do you want to learn the most popular or the official language of China? Are you going to visit China? Do you want to learn more about China? Are you interested in China’s music/movies/celebrities, etc?	MANDARIN	SIMPLIFIED
Are you going to visit Taiwan? Do you want to learn more about Taiwan? Are you interested in Taiwanese music/movies/celebrities, etc?	MANDARIN	TRADITIONAL
Are you going to visit Hong Kong or Guangdong? Do you want to learn more about Hong Kong (or Guangdong)? Are you interested in Hong Kong music/movies/celebrities, etc?	CANTONESE	TRADITIONAL

If all of them applies to you, then learn all!

While there are other dialects of Chinese, I just listed the most common dialects. In my other blogs, I also focus on the dialect of Toisanese (or referred to as Taishanese), but unless you have roots in Toisan (or referred to as Taishan) or you have a reason to learn it, then you should be even more ambitious and head on over to my Toisan Descendent blog to learn more about it. Most people consider it hillbilly language and won’t bother to learn it, but I think it’s still important as a Toisanese descendant to learn my roots and have a sense of pride. I don’t have experience in any other dialect so I can’t really talk about it in my blogs.

In my next blog post, we’ll explore more READING and WRITING.