Which kinds of chinese signs would you recommend to learn?

roninotori
Hello,

I'm a beginner in learning chinese and I recently noticed that there is a traditional group of chinese signs and the simplified version. Now I feel really helpless: What is more useful to learn, which is more widely spread?

I hope you can give me an advice soon!

Thanks and Bye!

roninotori - 14:42, 30/08/2009 - 16 replies

Bookmark and Share
    Share     Flag
Hey Roninotori,

Simplified Characters (简体字) -- are used in Mainland China (PRC)
Traditional Characters (繁体字) -- are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places.

It depends on where you plan to go.  These days, I'd honestly say you're probably better off learning simplified characters.  There are some people who say you should learn both, but I think you'll find that it's too much work.

Since many people are interested in doing business with Mainland  China, or living or traveling to China -- I think picking simplified makes more sense.






Vic posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
Hi Vic,

I'm grateful, that you gave me this advice! there have been others who told me just the same (that learning the simplified version would be cleverer) and now I'm sure that this is the better and wiser decision! Thanks very much!
roninotori posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
Hey Roninotori,
Hope you found your way to learn chinese, yes, Vic is right, if you doing business,living, visiting to PRC,you need to pick the SIMPLIFIED!
i think,you'd better to  speaking in chinese first!
any problem , tell me!
Sam
Sam posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
Hey, thanks for your comment!
So, you think that it would be better to learn the language without the signs first, and later to train the signs? Because in Germany, there are people who say one way would be better than the other, but there's no common opinion.
roninotori posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
In the very beginning you should focus on pinyin, the phonetic version of the language written with the tones.  However, as you start to familiarize yourself with the basic pronunciation, I recommend also starting to study the characters. It helps a lot if you make a connection, in the beginning, between the pronuciation and the written language.

 
Victoria posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
Thanks for your answer Victoria!

I'll probably do so, because it would be far to difficult to begin only with chinese letters, but as soon as I consider it to be appropriate I'll switch to the "real" signs.

PS: Have you learn Chinese by this way? And was it enough to get along in China?
roninotori posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
 I actually enrolled in a series of Mandarin courses in China, so I had four seperate classes and teachers- each one specializing in a different part of the language. One class was an overview of everything (speaking, grammer, listening, and writing). We also had 3 other classes- listening (ting li), speaking (kou yu), and reading/writing (yue du). 
For the first few weeks, we spent 95% of the classes familiarizing ourselves with the pinyin, tones, and very basic (easy to write) characters.

In my case, I loved the fact that we were immediately exposed to basic writing. It made it easier to understand the characters in the long run. But, of course, I'm very much a visual learner, so that set-up was ideal for me. So, ultimately, I recommend studying it whichever way caters best to you. 


Victoria posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
As far as getting along in China... It's always going to be difficult in the beginning. None of the signs are written in pinyin, and those characters will be too difficult to understand in the beginning anyway. So, the best way to get along in China (at least for the first few weeks) is to have a very attentive, Chinese speaking host. 


Hope that helps!  
加油!! 

 
Victoria posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag

I think you certainly have to learn pinyin, which is fundamental. And Chinese is pictographic, many of them and living-related, and some very good words to understand the mind, not rote. You can also listen to slow songs, of course, to elect people, and some songs I still do not understand what he was singing. The most important thing is to work, I have learned so many years learning English, and the result was not, so only use Translator to translate.

 Also, learn Simplified Characters, now almost all use simplified Characters, and Traditional Characters too difficult, you may learn Traditional Characters to the mainland is not all recognize, anyway, we only learned Simplified Characters.       You would like to learn as soon as possible.

 I use the translator translated it, and if there is something wrong please forgive me.
         功夫不负有心人!祝你早日成功!

跟屁虫 posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag
Ok ^^
it's not bad, your translator. Nice to hear your opinion, thanks!
roninotori posted 2 months ago
   Reply   Flag

learn traditional characters, 
then you will be able to read a lot of  ""Rosetta Stone"" around china. 

中國的朋友
或許連你們都不知道
貴國政府的文化政策已經逐漸轉向了
貴國文化界已逐漸體認簡體字所造成的危害深矣
就連朱鎔基打死他都不願意用簡體字簽名
或許不成氣候 但是可喜知識分子已經覺醒了


大陸政協委員潘慶林3月4日向大陸人大提議案,建議大陸用10年時間,分批廢除簡體漢字,恢復使用繁體字,原因有三:

1、上世紀50年代簡化漢字時太粗糙,違背了漢字的藝術和科學性。比如愛字,繁體字裡有個「心」,簡化後,造成「無心之愛」。

2、以前說繁體字太繁瑣,難學難寫,不利於傳播,但是現在很多人都是用電腦輸入,再繁瑣的字打起來也一樣。

3、恢復使用繁體字有利於兩岸統一。現在台灣依然用繁體字,並稱其為「正體字」,深有意味,還要為「正體字」申請非物質文化遺產,給大陸方面造成了壓力。

對此,演藝界如黃宏、郁鈞劍、宋祖英等表示支持,在大陸素有「國學大師」之稱的季羨林再次向人大表示聲援。

anita998710 posted 21 days ago
   Reply   Flag
前臺灣清華大學校長劉兆玄
前陣子到長沙“馬王堆”參觀出土文物,
他看著帛書(漢朝的隸書寫在錦帛上)時,
一對英國夫婦訝異地問:“你看得懂啊?”
他們說這是兩千多年前的東西,怎麼看得懂呢?
劉兆玄回答說,“我們臺灣人都看得懂啊!”
可是大陸導遊卻看不懂,
“這就是差別的地方!”

anita998710 posted 21 days ago
   Reply   Flag
失之东隅,收之桑榆
What we lose in hake we shall have in herring.

种瓜得瓜,种豆得豆
What so ever a man soweth ,that shall be also reap.

舍得鱼饵才能钓到大鱼
You must lose a fly to catch a trout.

Ashka824 posted 19 days ago
   Reply   Flag
虚度年华谓之生存,奋斗不息才叫生活
Time wasted is existence,used is life.
Ashka824 posted 19 days ago
   Reply   Flag
练习吧  从拼音开始 然后就是看着拼音多认识些汉字 多读 多写 多背了
中国 Gary posted 19 days ago
   Reply   Flag
1 2 Next 

Reply