| Reading Nick's comment I got a little angry too, I guess, but I think Geno answered well.
As a New Zealander, we are constantly amazed when we travel how difficult it is for people to understand us. We can understand British English, US English, Australian, Singaporean -- even Chinese English!! Because we are used to having all our multimedia imported from abroad. What really astounds me however, is that Americans cannot understand us at all!! We actually have to make an effort to change the way we pronounce certain words in order to communicate with them. Sometimes this is quite funny. Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that I have to put my two cents worth in the argument that English is NOT an easy language to learn. Comparing with many Asian languages, possibly with the exception of Tibetan, English grammar is ridiculously complicated, and it takes a very long time before you can actually use your English. Chinese, however, has the added benefit that you can string a few words together in the right order, but don't have to worry about tense, plurals or even subjects half the time! It is so contextual that it is really easy to start using it since you don't need to have a large vocabulary. As for tones, that's just training your ear. You can pick them up with time, and most Chinese are gracious enough to forgive your tonal mistakes since the dialects all use different tones as well. I've never been to Taiwan, so I can't comment on the ease of learning Chinese there, but I found during my time in China the best way to practice Chinese is to go where people cannot speak English. Small children are a favourite for me, as are people with boring jobs and lower education such as doormen, guards, rubbish collectors, people selling stuff on the street and so on. The hairdresser is an excellent place to practice Chinese, since all over the world it is their business to talk to you while you're in the chair, and they are often unlikely to speak more than a few words of English. Get out of the university and on to the streets!! Regarding writing however, I must admit I find this difficult, and I am eternally grateful to the Chinese government for having roadsigns in Pinyin/English for me. Learning writing is basically applying yourself to study, a personality characteristic that is not often present in me. Us Westerners have less patience with this sort of rote-learning, and hence have a real fear of Chinese characters. But even people like me can learn over time. |
Why We Use English Signs?