Learning Mandarin Hard or Easy?
When i was little (i’m cantonese and viet) i used to speak canto but when my grandma moved in with me, that language got replaced with viet so i dont remember any canto words but i do remember speaking it. i can speak english and viet and i’m in the process of learning spanish at school but I have an urge to learn mandarin. since my dad’s cantonese, he knows most mandarin words too so he’s been teaching me at home. do you think that since i used to speak canto when i was little could somehow boost my memory and help me speak mandarin?
Idk, i just have a huge question in my head but i can’t pinpoint to it -___- Oh & is it easy,hard, etc etc / any tips? 😀
Tagged with: amp • canto • cantonese • dad • grandma • mandarin • memory • urge • viet
Filed under: Mandarin Written and Spoken
Actually being a Cantonese you have a serious advantage and won’t find Mandarin quite as hard as we Europeans and Americans do. But it will hard enough. I suppose with hard work and the right method you could learn it in 1 or 2 years.
1) Mandarin has only 4 tones which I am sure are already included in Cantonese. That’s less than Cantonese! 🙂
2) Mandarin has less difficulties of syntax and grammar than Cantonese. No flexion (words never change, verbs have one unique form) and a simple word order makes you almost feel as if you were speaking gibberish. So there is no much difficulties here. 🙂
https://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/mandarin-chinese/faq/syntax.html
3) Mandarin uses simplified characters, which means you will have to learn the writing as it is different from traditional writing used in Cantonese, but as they use most similar radicals as Cantonese you will be able to find clues to read. Beside the writing is less hard than Cantonese which uses many strokes.
4) The vocabulary can be similar but the pronunciation and the spelling can also be different. However, you will be more at home than I!
5) The spelling in Taiwan uses Traditional characters, so there will be not much work for you here! 🙂
However in Mainland China where Mandarin is spoken, the simplified characters will be used. 🙁
Comparison of the difficulties of both languages between Mandarin and Cantonese.
https://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/mandarin-chinese/index.html
https://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/cantonese-chinese/index.html
I am assuming "canto" means Cantonese and "viet" means Vietnamese.
As I am learning Mandarin, (and have also been learning Spanish fora while) I can kind of answer this. (I just started a little bit ago so not too well) It is really quite simple (so far). It doesn’t have any of those conjugations like Spanish, or really any grammar to speak of. There are certain words that determine tensese and things. Words are simple. Really the only hard part is the tones, which isn’t too bad, and the characters.
Once speaking Cantonese probably won’t help you. The different Chinese dialects aren’t mutually understandable. The characters and grammar are the same however. From what I understand, the dialects are identical, only every single word is pronounced differently.
If you are having trouble remembering any specific characters, just write it down a few times. Maybe like 5. By the end you should remember how to write it. You might forget later, but you will probably remember how to write it if you just see it.
Definitely!!! You haven’t forgotten Cantonese, you’ve just ‘mislaid’ it. It’s in there somewhere! And, since languages affect the way you think (to a certain extent), the fact that you were brought up on two Asiatic languages will greatly help you – there are still subtle links in your brain which have been forged, and learning Mandarin will most likely bring back quite a bit of your Cantonese.
I’m not really in any position to tell you if it’s easy or hard since you’re at a great advantage! The tones take some getting used to for a native English speaker, but you’ll find them no burden since Vietnamese and Cantonese both have tones. To be honest, if you stick at it, it’s quite easy. The only think you will probably find difficult is the writing system, but just take your time!
Good luck 🙂