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Chinese Conversation: Push Yourself to Practice Now

By: Mark Fernandina


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When I was living in Beijing, Chinese was no easier to learn than when living in the States. It was very challenging to say the least. Fortunately, I quickly took advantage of the benefit of having Chinese friends there in that wonderfully crazy city. If you are learning Chinese I strongly encourage you to find some method of learning that is interactive with native speakers. After all, Chinese, rated as one of the most difficult languages to learn by the U.S. State Department, is only as hard as you make it. If you master the grammar and especially the phonetics, in n particular the four tones you will do very well with the Chinese language.

Let me tell you that though Chinese is at first very frustrating. In time it actually does become fun as you master more and more words, make the funniest faces pronouncing sounds you though other species only knew and pull your hair out learning characters. Relax, Chinese though rated as one of the top four languages in difficulty by the U.S. State Department is fun to learn.

Because immersion is not an option for so many of us Chinese learners and neither can we afford the plane ticket to China to do so, you will do best by finding a modern course that allows you to study on your time and anytime. In this article you will find links to quality reviews on today's best courses below. Strive to have at least one at home or do-it-yourself learning course. This will really decrease the learning curve when learning Chinese

Don't get caught up in the grade school free mini courses all over the Internet. Your goal is to be able to hold a conversation not point and say one word "cat" or dog." That is not a conversation. A program will teach you how to construct discussions so that you may be able to get that table at a favorite Chinese restaurant and impress someone.

A few basic Tips on Conversation, often overlooked by those new to the Chinese language that will serve you well!

1. Meeting persons in a group: always address the eldest person in the group first with a polite greeting to show respect for elders.

2. Don't worry if you make mistakes in Chinese. Just trying is an admirable quality to any Chinese and they will be flattered.

3. They will often not look at you - In Chinese culture you will often notice that people seem less direct even with body language. Many Chinese will not look you in the eye as a sign of respect and not disrespect.

Get excited about learning Chinese and know that by mastering this 8.000 year old language you will quickly be able to have a conversation with more than a billion persons today!

On your way to learning Chinese remember the big picture: all you need is roughly 2,000 words at a minimum to be able to read a newspaper and that can be accomplished easily. Try learning two words a day and you will comprehend more than 700 in a year. A great tip is to label things in your house with Chinese vocabulary cards and practice saying out loud the word and quizzing yourself constantly in this manner. This method will mimic immersion.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Want more great tips on learning Chinese? or help finding that one at home study course that you should have in your arsenal for learning Chinese? For more information visit this page on "Chinese conversing" and learn what is this editor's choice for best "Chinese language program" of the year and why.

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