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Why do the HSK?

June 4, 2019 by Ana Martín Leave a Comment

Why do HSK

For those of you who aren’t sure what the HSK is; it’s the official Chinese language exam. There are six levels to the HSK ranging from HSK1 all the way up to HSK6, which get dramatically more difficult with each level.

So why do the HSK?

The HSK can be incredibly beneficial, both to your future prospects and your own Chinese skills. Thousands of people take the exam every single year for al kinds of reasons.

Here are our top reasons why you should consider taking the HSK exam.

Why you should do the HSK exam

To study in China

If you want to study at a Chinese University and the course is going to be taught in Chinese then you need to do the HSK exam in order to prove your Chinese proficiency. This is a necessary part of the application process and without this you won’t be accepted into a Chinese University.

To see which level of HSK you require, you should check with the University that you’re applying to, in case different universities have different requirements.

To work in China

This isn’t necessary in all cases, but if you want to work for a Chinese company that’s based in China then it may be necessary to take a HSK exam to prove your Chinese proficiency, especially if the company is predominantly Chinese speaking.

Luckily this isn’t always necessary but it will also look favourable to Chinese employers as you’re taking the Chinese culture and language seriously, rather than just expecting your colleagues to speak in English.

To get a VISA for China

The Chinese government are becoming more and more strict on requirements to gain VISAs to live and work in China. They want skilled workers who can contribute towards the economy and who want to be a part of the community.

This means that requirements are stricter on what your educational background is like, your level of English, what kind of job you will be doing in the country and most importantly, you level of Chinese.

The Chinese government want to be sure that you want to be a part of China, so showing a dedication to learning the language and taking a Chinese language exam will help your chances of getting a VISA to live and work in China.

To improve your Chinese

Taking the HSK exam will also just help to strengthen your Chinese. If you set yourself the goal of the HSK4, then you’re going to study that material because you’ll know you have an exam coming up.

Goal setting is a fantastic way to improve skills and this is definitely applicable to languages. Not only will you learn the relevant grammar and vocabulary but you’ll also practise your skills, which will make your Chinese much better.

If you’re thinking about taking the HSK exam it’s important that you prepare properly. A great way to do this is to use textbooks to work your way through the material. Check out our HSK textbook recommendations.

These are the reason why you should do the HSK, here are some reasons why you might not want to do the exam.

Downsides to doing the HSK

When you’re making an important decision, especially one that’s going to take you time and money it’s important that you consider the disadvantages as well as the advantages of doing something. Therefore, although we think it’s a great idea to take the HSK here are the downsides to committing your time and money to taking this exam.

  • It’s only valid for two years.

If you take a language exam that uses the CEFR (for European languages) then your qualification is valid forever. But with the HSK it’s only valid for two years. So if you’re not planning on using your qualification immediately you may want to rethink taking the exam until you’re going to need it. The fact that the HSK is only valid for two years is frustrating but it makes sense. If you don’t use your Mandarin within two years then it’s likely that your Chinese level will have decreased in that time.

  • The speaking part of the exam is separate

If you sign up for the exam, you will have to sign up for the speaking section separately and pay separately for this as well. The HSK exam normally only consists of the listening, reading and writing components of the exam and if you want to test your speaking ability you have to sign up for the HSK K which tests your oral skills.

This obviously isn’t a huge downside but it can be a bit of a pain and can definitely put you off taking the exam if you have to incur extra costs.

We don’t actually think these reasons should put your off taking the exam, because although you may have to retake it and although the speaking part is separate, taking the HSK can be enormously beneficial to you and definitely something you should consider if you’re currently learning Chinese Mandarin.

Final thoughts

If we’ve managed to convince you then take a look at some of the common questions about the HSK here. We hope you’re find this article on why you should do the HSK exam useful and we hope we’ve managed to convince you to give it a go.

If you’ve taken the HSK exam or if you’re planning to do it in the future then please let us know in the comments below. We always love to hear about your experiences, especially if they can help our other readers with their language journeys.

To check out some personalised experience with the Chinese exam, watch this youtubers account of her taking the level six! We can’t imagine getting to this stage of Chinese proficiency but if you’ve studied and worked hard enough to take the HSK6 exam then we have nothing but respect for you, because let’s face it, Chinese is tricky.

What are your thoughts? Do you think you could take the HSK exam?

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese Tagged With: why do hsk

Common Questions About the HSK

May 14, 2019 by Ana Martín Leave a Comment

common questions about HSK exam

If you’re thinking about taking the HSK exam or you’ve already signed up then these are some of the most common questions about the HSK that you might want to read to help you prepare.

Use our handy contents table to skip down to any specific questions that you might already have.

What is the HSK?

The HSK is the official Mandarin language exam that is recognised in Chinese speaking countries.

What does the HSK test?

The HSK tests your Mandarin reading, writing and listening abilities. To test your speaking skills you need to take the HSK-K.

What does HSK stand for?

Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi

How many levels are there to the HSK test?

There are six levels to the HSK all with increasing levels of difficulty:

  • HSK1
  • HSK2
  • HSK3
  • HSK4
  • HSK5
  • HSK6

How long is the HSK test valid for?

Unfortunately the HSK is only valid for two years unlike the European language tests. On the one hand this can be frustrating for learners who will have to retake the test if they want their certificate to be valid.

However Chinese Mandarin is a difficult language. If you don’t speak it in two years it is likely that your Chinese speaking skills will drop. Therefore if you’re using it to enter university, get a job or to apply for residency in China it isn’t much use to China if it’s not a fair representation of your speaking skills.

Why take the HSK test?

There are many good reasons you should consider taking the HSK test:

To enter into a Chinese university on a Chinese speaking course. To attend Chinese university and to study in Chinese you need to have taken the HSK exam to prove your fluency level.

To get a job in a Chinese speaking company. Just like the point above, to get a job in a Chinese speaking country you need to be able to prove your fluency. It’s no good if you say you can speak Chinese well, many companies need some form of proof.

To get a visa to live or work in China. More and more China are looking for high skilled workers who want to contribute to the economy and culture. If you have a HSK qualification it shows a willingness to learn the Chinese language to integrate into the society, which can help you greatly in applying for a visa.

To give yourself a goal to aim for. Unless we have something specific that we are working towards. It’s very easy to stay at the same level. If you sign up for the HSK exam you know that there are certain words, grammar structures and skills that you need to develop. Since you’ve paid and you have an exam looming, you’re more likely to sit down and study these things.

Where can I sign up for the HSK test?

There are Confucius centres in the most major cities around the world where you can take the HSK test from. So don’t worry, you don’t have to go all the way to China to do it.

How can I prepare for the HSK test?

There are many things that you can do to prepare for the HSK exam just like any other exam but here are some things that we would recommend:

  • Depending on which exam you’re taking learn all the characters for that exam. There are flashcard apps you can use to help you like anki or memrise.
  • Make sure you’re practising all of the skills; reading, writing, speaking and listening
  • Learn the grammar structures; Chinese has different grammar structures to English and they are that difficult to learn. The grammar is one of the easiest things about Chinese and different levels have different structures that you need to learn.
  • Get the tones down. A lot of people ignore the tones or think how important could they be. The answer is very. If you want to get a good grade in the HSK exams, it’s important that you master the tones.

What textbooks can I use to study for the HSK test?

There are many fantastic textbooks that you can use to help you prepare for the HSK. You can read our detailed article outlining the best textbooks for the HSK here.

We would recommend buying a course textbook that can take you through the grammar and a practise paper textbook that can help you prepare for the exam format.

What to do on the day of the HSK?

  • On the day of the exam you want to wake up nice and early. You may not have slept well the night before but don’t worry, that’s pretty common with exams and the adrenaline should be able to carry you through.
  • Make sure you eat breakfast! You may feel nervous and this might make you not want to have any breakfast but skipping breakfast is always a mistake. You’ll want something on your stomach because you will need your energy for the day.
  • Get to the exam location early! The last thing you want is to be showing up to your exam late and in a panic. Make sure you get there nice and early to give you time to sort yourself and to go to the bathroom if necessary.
  • Take water with you. If you’re nervous you will get thirsty and you’ll need water to help with that. Especially during the speaking part of your exam. Make sure you drink plenty of water and stay hydrated throughout the exam.

Final thoughts

Do you have any other questions that you would like to ask? If so leave them in the comments below. We’re always happy to answer your questions.

Are you thinking about taking the HSK or have you already taken it? We always love to hear from you so make sure you tell us and share your experiences with our other readers, especially if you have any tips or tricks that you think might be able to help them.

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese Tagged With: common questions HSK exam

10 Best Textbooks For The HSK – Ace The Exam!

May 11, 2019 by Ana Martín Leave a Comment

best HSK textbooks

Thinking about taking the HSK exam and want to find the best textbooks to help you prepare? Then you’re in luck, because here we have selected what we think are the best HSK textbooks to help you get ready for the exam.

It’s important that you enter the HSK exam as prepared as you can possibly be, and although you can’t learn everything from a textbook, they definitely help you to prepare. Mandarin is an incredibly difficult language to learn and although you should be learning in lots of different ways, a textbook can give you the structure to work you way through the language and make sure that you understand all of the grammar points and have learned all of the characters.

We’ve broken our recommendations down into best HSK textbooks and best HSK workbooks so you can practise the skills you’ve learned.

Best HSK textbooks

These are the textbooks that we believe you will need for whichever level of learning you’re currently at. With the HSK it is necessary to invest in a textbook and a workbook so you can do the exercises and check your progress.

  • HSK1 Standard Course
  • HSK2 Standard Course
  • HSK3 Standard Course
  • HSK4 Standard Course – book 1 and 2
  • HSK 5 Standard Course – book 1 and 2
  • HSK1 Workbook
  • HSK2 Workbook
  • HSK3 Workbook
  • HSK4 Workbook
  • HSK5 Workbook

The following HSK textbooks are incredibly useful. They take you through all of the grammar, sentence structures and provide you with all of the necessary vocabulary that you will need to pass the HSK exams.

HSK1 textbook
HSK1 standard course textbook

HSK standard course book takes you through the first 150 characters, and the appropriate grammar for this level. It will help you to learn how to make basic sentences and talk about yourself, your family and where you’re from.

HSK2 textbook
HSK2 standard course textbook

At HSK you learn 150 new characters so the jump isn’t too great. The HSK 2 standard course is the perfect textbook to help you to make this jump.

HSK3 textbook
HSK3 standard course textbook

HSK 3 is a bit more difficult but still manageable. In this HSK textbook you will learn 300 new characters to prepare you for HSK3.

HSK4 textbook

There are two textbooks to cover the HSK4 material as there is much more to learn than in the previous exams.
HSK4 standard course textbook

HSK4 is where things really start hotting up and you have to learn a whopping new 600 characters, which is why we the textbook is now divided in to two to cover the big leap in material that you have to learn compared to 1, 2 and 3.

HSK4 textbook 2

HSK4 textbook

This HSK4 textbook is simply a continuation of the first textbook and will help you to learn the grammar and vocabulary necessary to pass the HSK4.

HSK5 textbook

There are also two HSK5 textbooks to help you learn to cover everything you’ll need to know ready for the HSK exam.
HSK5 textbook

HSK5 is an incredibly difficult exam but with these two textbooks and a lot of practise there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to nail it. In these textbooks you will learn 1200 new characters. Thats pretty much everything you’ve learned up to now again! But don’t worry, with the basis in Mandarin that you now already have this should be much easier than learning the first 1200 characters.

HSK5 textbook 2
HSK5 standard course textbook

Best HSK Workbooks

The following workbooks are the perfect way to practise what you’ve learnt from the textbooks. The workbooks provide you with a series of activities to practise your Chinese and help you develop the skills that you’ll need in order to ace the exam. They’re necessary because without the HSK workbooks you wouldn’t be able to check your progress or have the chance to practise the new grammar structures that you’ve learned.

HSK1 workbook
HSK1 workbook

The HSK1 standard course workbook takes you through exercises to practise the first 150 characters.

Because the HSK1 workbook is so short, you’ll be finished it in no time!

HSK2 workbook

HSK2 workbook

The HSK2 standard course workbook is a great accompaniment to your other textbook as it will allow you to do exercises to see how you are progressing and to practise the skills you’re learning.

A HSK2 workbook is very useful and shouldn’t take you that long to progress through.

HSK3 workbook

HSK3 workbook

The HSK3 standard course workbook will help you to go through the material you have learned in the HSK3 textbook.

HSK4 workbook

HSK4 workbook

At HSK4 a workbook is more necessary than ever. With 600 characters to learn and the grammar to go with it you’ll definitely need a workbook to help complement your learning.

HSK5 workbook

HSK5 workbook

Finally the HSK5 workbook is more necessary than any of the other ones because at HSK5 you have the most to learn. You will need this workbook to practise the grammar and new characters that you have learned in your HSK textbook.

Common Questions About The HSK

As well as recommending some of the best HSK textbooks for you, we’ve also compiled a list of common questions about the HSK to help you feel prepared for your exam.

What is the HSK?

The HSK is the official Chinese language exam.

What does HSK stand for?

Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi – which means Chinese proficiency test

Why should I take the HSK?

If you want to study in Chinese universities or work for a Chinese company in a Chinese speaking role then it is necessary you take the HSK exam to demonstrate your level.

How many levels are there in the HSK?

There are six different levels:

  • HSK1
  • HSK2
  • HSK3
  • HSK4
  • HSK5
  • HSK6

What does the HSK test?

The HSK tests your listening, reading and writing skills. If you want to test your speaking skills then you need to sign up for the HSK-K exam, which is under the same examination board but is tested separately.

How can I prepare for the HSK exam?

  • I would recommend you prepare for the HSK exam by taking either formal languages or learning with a Chinese speaker.
  • Chinese is a difficult language to learn, especially the pronunciation of the phonemes and I believe it is necessary to take classes with a native Chinese speaker to fully grasp this.
  • To learn the grammar I would recommend buying a Chinese workbook textbook in order to learn the necessary grammar and vocab at each level.
  • Drilling vocab can also be useful for the HSK as there are a set amount of words that you have to learn.
  • Another thing you can do to improve your chances in the HSK is to improve your Chinese accent.
  • Finally it is incredibly important that you do past papers before the actual exam to make sure you understand the format of the exam and what you need to do.
  • Get plenty of sleep the night before the exam and make sure you know where the exam centre is
  • Try and remain calm; although it’s important you always have the chance to retake if you fail first time round

How long is the HSK certificate valid for?

From the time you take the exam, the HSK certificate is valid for two years. So if you’re thinking about taking the exam, it may be useful to wait until you will be able to use it, for example to apply to a university or if you want to work or live in China.

Many people find this unfair, especially given that other language certificates last much longer, but if you don’t practise your Chinese in two years, it’s unlikely that it would’ve stayed at the same level. Therefore having an expiry date on the qualification is necessary if it demonstrates your level of fluency.

How long does the exam last?

The length of the exam depends on which level you’re taking. The higher the level the longer the exam will take.

Where can I find dates for the HSK exam?

You can find dates for the HSK exam on this website

How can I sign up for the HSK exam?

You also sign up for the HSK exam on this website. I would recommend giving yourself plenty of time to sign up to avoid any disappointment in case all of the places were booked up.

Where can I take the HSK exam?

The HSK exam can be taken in cities all over the world, to find out where take a look here. You don’t need to be in China to take the exam, you can take it from your own country or even city. You just need to find the location of the nearest exam centre.

How long does it take to receive the HSK results?

Approximately 40-60 days after you take the exam you should receive your results.

[Read more…] about 10 Best Textbooks For The HSK – Ace The Exam!

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese, Featured Tagged With: best textbooks HSK

How to improve your Chinese accent

January 12, 2019 by Ana Martín Leave a Comment

 

improve your chinese accent

Trying to speak in a Chinese accent can feel silly and like you’re not using your own voice. When you’re learning a foreign language you spend so much time learning the words and the grammar but when you speak, you often sound like an English person speaking Chinese words. If this is the case for you then don’t worry, it’s a lot more common than you think.

When you’re starting out trying to pick up a Chinese accent, the best thing to do is to listen to how Chinese people say things and try and repeat it in the same way. This might seem silly at first, like you’re putting on a voice but gradually it will become more natural and that will be your voice when you’re speaking Chinese and you’ll have a voice when you speak English.

Just don’t be afraid to give it a go.

Decide what kind of accent you want

There’s no blanket ‘Chinese accent.’ Each region of China has it’s own dialect and often it’s own accent. The people in Beijing sound very different to the people in Shanghai. So before you start trying to learn, make sure you know what accent you’re going to try and learn.

If you’re not sure, then think about why you’re learning Chinese. Is it because you want to live in a certain region? Then learn that accent.

If you’re not sure, but you just want to learn because you want a challenge or think it might be useful then I would recommend the Beijing accent. It’s the most common, you’ll see it on the news and lots of other regions are able to understand that accent. It also has some really fun phonemes that you can make that other Chinese accents don’t have.


Ways you can practise speaking your accent without going to China

Talk to natives using the following resources

  • Conversation exchange
  • HelloTalk
  • Italki

All of the above are resources where you can find native speakers of the language you’re learning no matter where you are in the world and organise language exchanges with them. If there are no native Chinese speakers in your area then don’t worry; you can organise a language exchange via skype instead.

If you get the opportunity to have language exchanges with native speakers, then really try and listen to the sounds that they’re making and recreate them. You can also ask them for advice. See if they think your accent is good or if it needs work. Ask them how you could improve or practise making certain sounds with them.

Watch Chinese cinema

Cinema is a great way to hear an accent. Often with learning material, they will use a speaker you is very clear but if you want to get a natural sounding accent then watching movies and series is a great way to do this because you can watch people from China. You can also specify whether you want to watch films from mainland China, Hong Kong or even Taiwan. Which can help you if you want to develop an accent that is specific to one of those regions.

Check out our top movies to watch to help you improve your Chinese here. But if you want some recommendations then these are our favourite.

Farewell my concubine

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

House of Flying Daggers

Hero

Get your phonemes right

There are some sounds in Chinese that are very different to English and have a distinctly Chinese sound. Mastering these early on will make it much easier for you to improve your Chinese accent.

The Chinese R

One of the things that you’re going to need to master if you want a convincing Chinese accent is the Chinese R sound, with is different to the sound in English. Remember that pinyin is different to English spelling so you’re not recreating R as you know it now.

Check out this video to learn how to pronounce r properly:

The Chinese ‘C’

Again, pinyin is different from English spelling, so when you see a work like cai, you’re not pronouncing the hard C sound that you’ll be used to in words like English. Instead it makes a ‘ts’ sound, so it would sound more like tsai. This might sound strange to you because English doesn’t have words that start with a ‘ts’ sound. But we do use that sound at the end of words.

Think about the word rabbits. The sound at the very end of the word is how you make the ‘c’ sound in Chinese. So just move that sound to the start of the word and practise it. Once you think of it like that it becomes much easier to make this ‘ts’ sound.

Watch this video here for an explanation and example on how to pronounce this sound.

Listen to Chinese music

It’s often easier to mimic an accent or a sound when you’re singing along to something. Have you ever noticed that if you sing along to Britney or Myley Cyrus you end up with an American accent even if you’re not American?

If you listen to Chinese music, learn the words, and try and sing along, then you’ll find that the accent becomes easier to mimic, or at least while you’re singing it. Once you’ve mastered the accent singing, it becomes a lot easier to transfer that to every day speech.

Our favourite Chinese song for you to sing along to is the Apple song. And if you haven’t heard it before, then don’t worry, you’re going to love it.

FluentU

If you need more exposure to the Chinese accent then you can also try listening to the thousands of videos and audios by native Chinese speakers that FluentU have. Just be aware that you will have to pay for this, but don’t worry, you get a free trial so you can try out the website before you sign up to pay money.

FluentU

Final thoughts

Which type of Chinese accent are you trying to learn? And how have you been improving your accent? Tell us all about your experiences in the comments below. You know we love to hear from you and how you’re getting along with your language learning journey.

Next, why don’t you check out how to improve your reading in Chinese by looking at our article here. Or if you’re thinking about taking one of the HSK exams then look at our recommended textbooks here.

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese Tagged With: improve chinese accent

Should I learn pinyin or characters?

December 24, 2018 by Ana Martín 1 Comment

China

The short answer is you should learn both. Learning pinyin will help you to read quicker and you also need it to use a Chinese keyboard on your phone. And I know you can get by learning pinyin and how to speak, but you’re never going to master Chinese until you learn the characters. Let’s have a look at both.


Characters

Characters

How does the Chinese writing system work?

Chinese uses a system of characters.

So for those of you who are new to Chinese completely, it’s important to know that they don’t have an alphabet. I’m sure you already know that the Chinese use characters, but these do not form an alphabet.

Instead, each Chinese character represents a word or idea. Meaning to be able to read Chinese you have a lot of characters to learn, 3,000 if you want to learn a newspaper. Or 8,000 if you want to know the same amount as an average Chinese person. However, there are approximately 50,000 in existence, but don’t worry, no one knows this many and they’re really not in use anymore. It’s just not practical for people to remember that many separate characters.

Of course characters have their drawbacks. The Chinese can’t invent new characters because otherwise you would have a never ending supply of characters to learn for every new word. So instead they have to mash characters together, giving you ‘fire car’ for train, or ‘cat bear’ for panda.

Be aware of simplified or traditional

Within this writing system of characters, you will also come across simplified and traditional characters. Simplified characters are usually easier for foreigners to learn and are used on mainland China. Whereas traditional characters are often more complex and can be trickier for foreigners. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore use traditional characters.

To learn more about simplified vs. traditional characters take a look here.

Can all types of Chinese understand characters?

The answer to this question is kind of a yes and a no. In basic form yes, it doesn’t matter which type of Chinese you speak, you should be able to read characters, they’ll just make a different sound when you pronounce them.

All types of Chinese are able to read characters, however whether or not they use simplified or traditional characters is a different matter.

However, Cantonese is usually associated more with traditional characters because there are used on HongKong and simplified are used in mainland China. Saying this, people speak Cantonese in the south of China and they use simplified characters. And Taiwan speaks Mandarin but uses traditional. So there’s definitely a cross over.

Not all Chinese speakers can understand both simplified and traditional characters, but this is determined on geography and what your region uses rather than the type of Chinese you speak.

With this in mind, you need to decide whether you should you learn traditional or simplified characters. And that’s a whole other question that really depends on you, why you’re learning Chinese and where you intend to use your Chinese.

Chinese characters

Should I learn Characters?

This really depends on you, why you’re learning Chinese and what your goals are. Here are some reasons why you should learn characters.

HSK exams

If you want to take the HSK exams to test and prove your Chinese proficiency then you have to learn characters. there’s no two ways about it. If you don’t learn the characters, you won’t be able to pass the higher levels of the exam.

For the first three HSK exams you can use pinyin alongside the characters but for HSK 4,5,6 you need to learn characters. So if this is your ultimate goal, I wouldn’t put off learning the characters and instead start learning them whenever you learn a new word. It’ll make everything so much easier for you in the long term.

Work

If you want to work for a Chinese company (and you’re not an English teacher or an embassy worker). Then I would highly recommend learning Chinese characters. In fact, you may find you can’t work for a Chinese company unless you can understand some characters.

A lot of companies want you to prove your proficiency by having already passed one of the HSK exams, which you would’ve needed to learn characters for anyway.

To live in China

If you’re learning Chinese to live in China, then I would really recommend learning characters. Yes the subway system and maps use pinyin, but shops don’t. And characters are going to come up for everything. If you want to buy something, everything uses characters, if you want to pay your bills, everything uses characters. If you want to sign a contract for a flat, you’re going to need to read characters.

Basically, if your learning Chinese is for life in China, then I think you would be crazy not to learn characters.

 


Pinyin

Pinyin

What is pinyin?

First let’s get started with what is pinyin. For those of you who don’t know, pinyin is a phonetic writing system that uses the roman alphabet to show us how to produce Chinese words.

Pinyin was invented during Mao’s regime to help foreigners learn Chinese and to improve literacy skills in the country.

Why pinyin?

This is why we think you should learn pinyin:

You can learn pinyin in a day

Unlike characters, which take weeks if not months or years to learn, pinyin can be learnt within a day. It really takes no effort at all. Each letter matches a sound, the Chinese don’t have that many different phonemes due to them using a tonal language, and there are no irregular letters or rules breakers. So once you’ve learnt which letter corresponds to which sound you’re good to go.

Since it only takes you a day to learn, it seems silly not to bother. It doesn’t have the same cost that learning Chinese characters do, which will take hours and hours of your time. It’s really quite quick and easy.

It makes learning Chinese much easier

Pinyin acts as a bridge between our roman alphabet and the Chinese language. It can be very difficult to know how to pronounce words without pinyin due to Chinese having such a different phonetic system.

If you see a character, you don’t necessarily know how to say it, but with pinyin, you have a phonetic system that shows you immediately how the word is pronounced.

As you learn more characters and your Chinese improves, you’ll find you need pinyin less and less, but to start off, I would highly recommend learning it.

With technology, more and more Chinese people will use pinyin

Already, with phone keyboard, to type in Chinese, people will type in pinyin and then select the corresponding characters. Unless you wrote each character into your phone individually, which would take far too much time, it doesn’t make sense to type in characters. For modern technology, pinyin is necessary.

Therefore, even if you were just bothered about sticking as close to authentic Chinese as possible, you’re still going to need to learn pinyin if you want to use your Chinese in the modern world, or socialise. It’s just not something you’re going to be able to avoid.

 


China

 

Final thoughts

We hope we’ve helped you with your decision on whether to learn Chinese characters or pinyin. Of course we think you should learn both, but if you’re not committing to Chinese in the long haul, we can understand why you might want to skip on the characters and just stick to pinyin.

Especially if you’re just learning a bit of Chinese to go on holiday but it’s not something you’re going to take up, or somewhere you want to live.

But I definitely wouldn’t miss learning pinyin. Because it takes such a short time to learn, but will be of so much help to you whilst you’re learning, it really is a must. Otherwise, you’re just making the learning process so much harder for yourself.

If you have anymore questions about the Chinese language then you should check out our common questions about Chinese.

If you’re learning Chinese and you’ve decided to only learn one of these writing systems, or even if you agree with us and want to learn both then please let us know about your experiences in the comments below.

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese

Why Learn Chinese

December 10, 2018 by Ana Martín Leave a Comment

why learn chinese

Chinese is a rich and fascinating language. It has a completely different writing system to English, completely different phonemes, a tonal system and different grammar structures, but we could not recommend it more. It might be tricky but it’s also probably easier than you think and definitely worth while.

Let’s have a look at the Chinese language, and why you should consider learning it.

Chinese is the most spoken native language

Chinese has the most native speakers in the whole world, and more and more people are learning it as a second language each day. Meaning, you’re not going to run out of people to practise with and the world is not going to run out of Chinese companies to trade with, so your skill will always be a useful one.

Not only China speaks Chinese

why learn chinese

China is an official language in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore, but is spoken all throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas within Chinese communities.

Meaning even out of China, you should still be able to find someone to practise with, regardless if you live in Asia or a small city in the USA.

And if you want to move to a Chinese speaking country, you have more options than just mainland China. Each of these places have typical Asian megacities, but all of them have their own distinct charm and appeal, which makes them all tempting locations to visit or live in while you try and learn.

Official language status

China (Mandarin) is one the the six official UN languages along with Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish and English. So if you’re looking for a job with the UN, then Chinese (Mandarin) would be a good language to learn, and would definitely put you ahead of a lot of native English speakers.

China has the largest population in the world

Largest population in the world with 1.3 million people and counting. Although in the next 50 years, the population in China is estimated to halve because of the one child policy when the current older generation dies off. This could also drop the number of native Chinese speakers, though Chinese will probably still remain the language with the highest number of native speakers.

Improve your career opportunities

why learn chinese

China currently has the second highest GDP in the world, and there are those that think it could overtake the economy of the USA. This means that not only are there lots of job opportunities within the Chinese speaking world, but more and more western countries are looking for Chinese speakers for trade and business.

Chinese is a highly wanted business language, just look at Mark Zuckerberg learning Chinese to try and access the Chinese market with facebook.

China has an incredible rich history and culture that is very old

China has been around longer than pretty much all other nations. The nation of China has been in existence for over 4000 years old. To give you some perspective the UK became a nation in 1066, Germany in 1871, USA in 1776 and even Japan only became a country in 660 BC.

Learning Chinese opens you up to a whole world of history and culture that is accessibly through old books, texts, documentations and stories.

Now only that but the country is incredibly interesting with lots to offer and outside of the main cities, the level of English is relatively low. So if you want to visit China and get a real feel for the country, then I would definitely recommend learning Chinese. Otherwise, outside of the main cities, you won’t really be able to talk to anyone.

The grammar is easy

It really is! Chinese grammar is much easier than you would think. The tones might be hard, the writing might be difficult, even the phonemes are tricky, but the grammar isn’t. Which is a nice change if you’ve been learning romantic, germanic or slavic languages.

The best thing about Chinese grammar is that there is absolutely no conjugation. It might sound too good to be true but it really is. You learn the verbs, and they don’t change. You just add new characters to indicate plurality and tense; it’s brilliant and makes the learning process a lot quicker once you get over the initial steps of struggling with pronunciation and tones.

And if you want to practise easy grammar at your level consider reading graded readers to help you.


If you want to learn more about the Chinese language, then check out our commonly asked questions here.

Reasons not to learn Chinese

Although these are some reasons why you might not want to learn Chinese, we think that the pros definitely outweigh the cons. However, we still thought you should know some of the difficulties behind learning Chinese before you commit to the language.

Firstly, the tones are very difficult. Mandarin has four distinct tones and one neutral tone, but to a new learner they can be hard to distinguish and to pronounce. In the early stages of your learning process, you will have lots of experiences where you think you’re saying the right word, but a native speaker just can’t understand you, then they eventually repeat the word back to you in the correct tone and to your ears, it sounds exactly the same. This can be incredibly frustrating, but if you stick with it and make an effort to learn the tones relatively early on, then you’ll find you have the hang of them in no time. Just don’t give up with them, and don’t make the common mistake of thinking they’re not that important because they really are!

Secondly the writing system is relatively difficult and completely different to the roman alphabet. Firstly, because they don’t actually use an alphabet, they use characters that represent a word or an idea. Secondly, there is a way to write each character with specific stroke orders, just like letters in the roman alphabet. If you don’t make the effort to learn these strokes, your writing will always look a bit strange to a native. Although the characters are hard, there are wonderful things called radicals, which will help you to work out the meaning of most characters that you encounter, if you make the effort to learn them early on.

why learn chinese

Final thoughts

We hope we’ve helped to convince you to learn some form of Chinese, now you need to decide whether you’re going to learn Mandarin or Cantonese. and whether you should learn simplified or traditional characters. Or if you’re thinking about taking the HSK exam then read about our recommended HSK textbooks here.

If you’ve had any experience learning Chinese, or you’re thinking about learning then please tell us all about it in the comments below. We always want to hear about your experiences, especially if that helps us to change our approach to language learning too.

Good luck and keep learning.

Filed Under: Blog, Chinese Tagged With: why learn chinese

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