What follows is a reprint of an article I wrote for a now defunct magazine.
Obviously, I don’t think people who want to learn Chinese should give up before they get started. My thesis, which should be abundantly clear after reading the article, is that people should embark on the process of learning Chinese with full knowledge of what they are getting in to.
And remember, if you’re serious about learning Chinese, I’m happy to offer you whatever advice you need.
Here’s the article:
Why You Shouldn’t Learn Chinese
The cover of the June 26, 2006 issue of the Asian edition of Time Magazine reads, “Get Ahead! Learn Mandarin!” The feature article narrates the tale of three Japanese businessmen who have given up nights at their favorite drinking spot for evening Mandarin classes. When asked why they’ve decided to study Mandarin, one of the salarymen vaguely replies, “We sort of unanimously agreed that Chinese would be a useful skill to acquire.” This sentiment mirrors a widely held view among up and comers in South Korea, Japan, and the West—the next twenty to thirty years belongs to China, and those who master Mandarin will be well positioned to participate in the Chinese economic juggernaut. If you’re thinking along the same lines, there are a few questions you need to consider.
First, when will you be able to move to Taiwan or China? Or, if you already live in Taiwan or China, when will you be able to quit your job so that you can spend most of your time learning Mandarin? According to the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, Mandarin is one of the five most difficult languages in the world for native English speakers to learn[1]. The Institute quotes 2,200 hours as the minimum number of class hours required for attaining fluency in Mandarin[2]. By that calculation, if you attend classes 10 hours a week, you’ll be fluent in four and a half years. Of course, the idea of learning Mandarin solely by taking classes is a pipe dream. You might be able to delay moving to Taiwan or China for a year, taking classes in your home country first, but you won’t make much progress. And after the first year, you’ll quickly reach the point of diminishing returns. Learning Mandarin in a classroom outside of Taiwan or China is about as efficient as learning to sail in a helicopter.
Second, are you a gifted mimic? Can you imitate, with precision, the voices and accents of your friends and co-workers? If you don’t have the voice control to mimic very foreign sounds with great accuracy, plan on always sounding like a foreigner when you speak Mandarin. Most people who learn Mandarin discover to their frustration that their mouths just won’t work that way, and they end up sounding like a foreigner speaking bad English on a television sitcom—more laughable than funny. The effort involved in crisply spouting off mouthfuls of Mandarin with accurate tones typically results in serious oral cramping. Many foreign speakers of Mandarin end up pronouncing entire sentences in the elongated first tone, ending abruptly with an overly loud fourth tone, intoning sentences that sound like song versus sung by a demented member of the Vienna Boy’s Choir. Fluency in Mandarin isn’t defined by having perfectly accented vocal tones, but if you do achieve a level of fluency that allows you to converse freely, you probably won’t sound much like a Chinese person.
Third, what’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever done that you didn’t really have to do? Run a marathon? Learn to use CAD to design a home? Rebuild a car engine? Well, compared to learning to speak and read Mandarin (forget about writing—at best, you’ll learn to type in Mandarin using a phonemic alphabet called BoPoMoFo or some other type of shorthand), it was a cakewalk. To become fluent in Mandarin in under two years, you’ll need iron discipline, endless perseverance, and a high resistance to tension headaches. During the first year I studied Mandarin in Taiwan, I ended each day in a state of mental exhaustion. It was like swimming in a powerful, four-foot deep whirlpool—I never drowned, but I never felt in control either.
People who come to Taiwan and China as missionaries, language students, or diplomats are either required to learn Mandarin or want to learn Mandarin. Then there are those who come as executives, as specialists, or to teach English. When they are fresh off the boat, most of them have grand dreams of mastering Mandarin in between meetings or classes. Time passes and you meet one of them in a pub one night. After a few beers, the story is usually the same, “I’ve been here for two years and haven’t really learned Mandarin yet,” as if not learning Mandarin is something to be ashamed of.
The truth is, if you’re in Taiwan or China as a teacher, a businessperson on an expatriate package, or a specialist, there no need to learn Mandarin beyond the few simple phrases that will get you from office to home in a taxi or help you figure out how much a vendor wants you to pay for something. Rare is the China-based expatriate who has the wisdom to recognize this and say: “I’m not going to learn Mandarin. I can’t take the time away from work to learn it well, and frankly, I don’t see the need to learn it.” Bravo to these sensible souls.
Having said that, I’ll offer some advice to those who are sitting on the fence. Advice based on more than twenty years of studying and teaching Mandarin. If you think you’d like to learn Mandarin, but you’re not sure if you’ve got the discipline, the free time, and an adequate amount of headache medicine to get the job done, give learning Mandarin a three month trial period. Sign up for Mandarin classes, make time in your schedule to study. Work hard for ninety days and then give the whole project an honest assessment. If you don’t enjoy learning Mandarin, or feel that it isn’t worth the struggle, then give it up and proudly accept your status as a non-speaker of Mandarin. Go and learn Spanish—after six months of classes and a two-month sabbatical in Mexico you’ll be fluent. But don’t feel guilty about the fact that you don’t speak Mandarin. How many people do you know who can free climb up an inverted cliff face? Well, about the same number of Westerners can speak Mandarin with a high level of fluency.
13 Comments
June 10, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I’ll agree that it’s extremely frustrating to pick up the language. I’m at the point of intermediate fluency- I can have involved conversations, and can read emails and things that don’t have any slang, but it took me 3+ years to get to this point, and a lot of that was extremely hard work and slogging. (Still, I took several month breaks in between classes and time in China…which probably set me back- but hey, life intervenes.)
The job opportunities though, for a Westerner who can speak Chinese, are great and as the number of Westerners who speak Chinese rise, it will be increasingly difficult for non-Mandarin-speakers to get a good job in certain China-based fields.
chinacomment.wordpress.com
June 10, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Thanks for the comment. I think anyone who has the discipline, and a deep, abiding interest should give Mandarin a try. There are two prerequisites for success.
I think talent is another issue–most foreign Mandarin speakers sound pretty foreign. That is okay if your goal is to use Mandarin as a communication tool, but if you really want to sound like a native, you have to have a strong talent for mimicry of the sounds and the flow of Mandarin, and many just don’t.
I’m glad to hear that you have made the progress you have. Add oil!
June 11, 2008 at 4:20 am
I hope no one reads this and takes it in verbatim. How can anyone learn a language in a year and expect to speak it with fluency as though they were born in the country where the language is spoken. Has some sense…Think about how long it took for you to be able to sit in front of your t.v. and listen to the news with no doubt as to what was broadcasted. The only bit of truth is the bit about mimicing. Truth be told, everyone has an accent, and everyone is makes fun of others about their accent. But, if you are not one of these types of close-minded douchebags, you give much respect for those that can communicate beyond their meanings and don’t submit to the thinking that foreign languages are impossible to learn.
June 11, 2008 at 9:52 am
Sigh. I share your hope that people have the ability to read beyond the title to the article.
I’m not sure what you disagree with, because my article actually supports most of what you’ve written here. Fluency after one year? Where did I write that?
For those who have trouble with lateral thinking, let me repost the introduction to this post, where I clearly state my thesis and then offer to help anyone who wants to learn Mandarin:
“Obviously, I don’t think people who want to learn Chinese should give up before they get started. My thesis, which should be abundantly clear after reading the article, is that people should embark on the process of learning Chinese with full knowledge of what they are getting in to.
And remember, if you’re serious about learning Chinese, I’m happy to offer you whatever advice you need.”
For those who are unhappy with what I’ve written, thinking that I’m telling people they can’t learn Mandarin, PLEASE reread the article, this time with a bit of objectivity and open-mindedness. And if you need a bit of guidance in your learning process, feel free to ask Uncle True.
June 11, 2008 at 10:12 am
It comes down to time and motivation. Despite their best intentions, most people if they are completely honest don’t have enough of either to really make any headway with Mandarin. Another point I would add is that learning Mandarin is especially difficult for the first year but once you’ve got the ball rolling it’s not all that hard to learn (not counting writing!)
June 11, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Ding ding ding! Absolutely my point, Naruwan. Thank you.
And very true about year two–If you’ve spent the first year learning to listen and speak, and have learned some characters, you’ll find that things get much easier in year two.
Add Oil, ye Mandarin learners, Add Oil!
June 18, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I always thought this article made allot of sense. It’s damn difficult to learn Mandarin after a full 8+ hrs working and a bit of supplemental job study on the side. I used to sit in language class half asleep.
June 18, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Thanks for the comment, anonymoose. Did you start learning Mandarin and then have to give up? If so, you’ve joined a group that is growing by the thousands every week.
Get yourself off to Mexico for a few months. You’ll come home fluent in Spanish!
August 13, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’m a few weeks away from beginning my senior year in college. I have decided to enroll in Mandarin, and complete a full year of study to complement my degree in Economics.
Can anyone give some insight into what employment opportunities with respect to working in Mandarin speaking countries with an American company.
I’ll have a bachelors degree in Economics, and also be eligible to sit for the CPA exam, along with some Mandarin.
August 14, 2008 at 1:46 am
You know what Uncle True would say about taking Mandarin courses, right? If you’re really interested and view the challenge of learning Mandarin as something exciting rather than misery-inducing, then go for it. Just make sure you have a very, very good reason for learning, or you’ll poop out halfway through.
As for employment opportunities for Americans in China or Taiwan, that depends largely on what industry you’re interested in. In general, nobody’s going to hire you on an expat package if you don’t come with a track record of success in your chosen field. It is just too expensive.
I do know of some younger types who work in research for banks like UBS and Citibank who are Americans or Europeans. I imagine they get at least 3-5 years of experience before moving overseas.
You might try posting your question at http://www.forumosa.com. There are some posters there who work in China. I know recently there was a thread that discussed breaking into the financial services industry overseas.
Good luck.
September 6, 2008 at 2:05 am
This article reminds me of David Moser’s “Why Chinese is So Damn Hard”. I finished my second year of Chinese in May and look forward to the beginning of the third year. After eight years of studying Chinese I will have roughly the proficiency one would have after three years of French, English, German or Spanish (but probably a smaller vocabulary), a level that is known as “Threshold” or B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_EN.asp?) .
At the end of his article, David Moser quotes someone who said that learning Chinese is “a five-year lesson in humility”. I suppose you can learn humility in five years, but I think that learning Chinese will take a bit longer.
October 5, 2008 at 9:55 am
I must be odd. I have found Chinese easier than German, Latin, and Spanish. (nobody sells $30 books offering 501 different verb variations for Chinese). I learned German as a child while we lived in a small village in Austria. Having learned it as a child, I speak it well and with little accent (okay, an Austrian accent) at 57. I had to take Latin in high school, and that was good for my English vocabulary. At age 47, I took up Spanish and maintain it to this day. I read Spanish every day and can hear a bit daily on TV and radio here in North Carolina. Even after ten years’ study and a trip to Spain, I still do not understand it well, nor do I speak it well.
With Chinese, I find it is simply a matter of learning vocabulary and some grammar rules. I do NOT bother with learning to read beyond PinYin. At my age, I take the attitude that billions of Chinese have lived and died illiterate but able to speak.
I do agree with the bit about being a good mimic. I found early on that speaking another language required one to sort of “hold your mouth different.” Nobody will mistake me for a native, but after three trips to Taiwan, I can get around a bit and understand more than people think. Learning a non Western language has certainly made me more aware of how hard learning English must be for Chinese and I vastly respect those Chinese who speak English reasonably well. They have had to jia you as much as I have!
April 23, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Interesting article! Although I am not by any means a fluent speaker of Mandarin, I do have some smug self-satisfaction of being the only white person I know of in my town who knows any Chinese at all. With only about 350 Han Yu (read & write) committed to memory so far and probably 500 spoken words, my knowledge is quite laughable, but it totally amazes my Caucasian peers considering I have never taken a class. It completely dumbfounds Chinese people as well at the restaurant when I speak as they are always excited to know how I learned what little I know. Most Chinese people I have come across are very delighted to hear a Westerner make an effort.
Which brings me to a little advice, if I may, to any potential learners of Mandarin. You see, I have never sat down and seriously studied the language full-time. For the past 2 years I have become obsessed with Chinese pop-music (C-Pop) and related media. What little I know has come about by “osmosis”. Listening to C-Pop, watching lots of Taiwanese dramas (fan-subbed in English), and a couple good Chinese dictionaries have accelerated my passive learning of the language.
Also, I have always been musically and artistically inclined, which I think helps. Whenever I see a Chinese character several times in print, it sort-of burns itself into my memory like an unique image rather than a word. The concept of a “tonal language” was embraced by comparing it to my musical background. And yes, mimicry is a crucial skill, as I was always that kid in school who made my friends laugh by impersonating our teachers and various cartoon characters with reasonable accuracy.
So, if you are even just a little bit interested in learning Mandarin, I say go for it! Just relax if you have no time restraints and learn gradually by osmosis by surrounding yourself with Chinese media. The internet is teeming with music and television from Mainland and Taiwan. Remember, more Chinese speaking people use the internet than any other language speaking people!