Join the Crowd of Students and Business Executives Who are Finding Value In Learning A Difficult, Yet Important Language.

Every year, high school students in the U.S. choose a foreign language to study. In the past their choices were primarily European languages – Spanish, French, or German. However, with the rise of the global economy, many high schools now offer Chinese, Japanese and Arabic.

U.S. students learning Chinese as a foreign language are taught to speak Mandarin Chinese because at 885 million it has the greatest number of speakers in the world. Mandarin is the national language of China and is widely used in Singapore and Taiwan.

On the other hand, what should you do if you are out of school and contemplating your first business trip or vacation to China and need to learn this fascinating language?

Fortunately there are many options. If you want to learn quickly, seek out a language school that offers small or individual intensive classes. You may also choose to take a class in a traditional classroom setting offered by a community college or university.

If a classroom doesn’t seem appealing, you can download audio books onto your MP3 player and listen as you go about your day. Websites, some free, some not, have structured lessons and pronunciation audio files so you can hear the language spoken, the key to learning for beginners.

It may have been years since you studied a foreign language and although it can seem to be a daunting task, be patient. Much of initial language acquisition actually happens by osmosis, occurring as a result of immersing yourself in the language. So, in addition to taking courses, surround yourself with the language to help you acquire vocabulary and an ear for the language.

At first you may understand only 5% of what you hear. However, with continued exposure to the sounds of the language, and as your brain integrates the rules of grammar and syntax; you will begin to understand more and more.

If you live in an all-English environment, you will need to make an effort to immerse yourself in the Chinese language. You can do this by renting Chinese movies, watching Chinese soap operas, news and cooking shows on television, downloading Chinese music, or browsing Chinese websites. If your city has a “Chinatown” with a concentration of Chinese stores and restaurants, go there and literally immerse yourself in the culture.

One thing to keep in mind, Chinese who have recently arrived in the states may speak Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese or one of the many dialects spoken in China. Historically, most Chinese who settled in the U.S. came from the southern coast of China, where Cantonese was the dominant language. Now with people here from all over China and Taiwan, it is no longer assumed that Cantonese is the dominant dialect.

If you look at a map of China you will see vast size and geographic barriers – insurmountable mountains and waterways – which caused the different dialects of the language to develop in isolation. Generally speaking, Cantonese is spoken in the south and Mandarin is spoken in the north, but many dialects exist.

There are the Wu dialects of the Shanghai area, the Yue dialects of the southeast, and the Min dialects of China’s eastern coast. Min speakers crossing the Taiwan Strait brought their language to the island, where it became Taiwanese. Nowadays, over 80% of people in Taiwan are native speakers of Taiwanese.

In the early 20th century, a group of scholars advocated a national language to unify the nascent republic and the Mandarin spoken in the northern capital in Beijing became the national language. Thus a native of Beijing is considered to have the most standard Mandarin Chinese accent.

Overall, the best way to learn Mandarin, Taiwanese or Cantonese is to make a new friend, someone who speaks the type of Chinese you want to learn and also studies English. They will enjoy the opportunity to polish their English skills and you will have a great way to practice your Chinese with them.

If you’re ready to learn Chinese, Bromberg & Associates Translation Agency is ready to help you begin. We offer language training and cultural training, helping you feel more at home in China, whether you are going there on an exploratory business foray or traveling there on a vacation.

Contributed by Kerilyn Sappington, Chinese-to-English translator.