Learning a second language

[ats200]

I recently read a statistic that about 66% of people worldwide can at least communicate reasonably in more than one language, pretty interesting.

It has been a goal of mine for quite some time to learn Mandarin Chinese but just recently I've decided to actually begin. Does anyone have experience learning this as a second language? What are the best options to learn?

A classroom setting would sort of be un-doable so I'm thinking along the lines of software. Has anyone tried Rosetta Stone or L-lingo? I hear Rosetta Stone is good for most languages but L Lingo is slightly better for Asian languages. Any thoughts on why they might be different? Does anyone have experience with either program?

Any info would help.

[JimR]

Learning a second language should be absolutely required for all Americans. It opens your head in so many useful ways. So good on you!

I did some work with Rosetta stone when learning Japanese. It was ok, but once I started actually using Japanese I found it hadn't been all that accurate. For beginners, it was good because the spoken and written language are connected right away, but once you move higher, it is not as useful.

I can't really say much about Chinese, except that if you ever want to be literate, START FAST. Those Chinese characters are not easy to take on.

[ChesterCopperpot]

I'm somewhat fluent in Chinese, but I took classes in college and lived in China for a little over a year. I never used any software, just mounds of flashcards and hundreds of hours of study. It's one of those languages that you have to throw yourself into, as it's not the easiest language in the world. People learning English have it somewhat easy since English is all over the place and around every corner, not so much with Chinese. Finding someone to help you with conversational Chinese would be a good bet if you're serious about learning it. Getting a Chinese girlfriend helps even more. It's a tonal language, so even a slight mispronunciation will make it difficult for a Chinese person to understand you. I've done a few lectures here and there, and I always use my 'Chinese tongue twister' to show what speaking Chinese is like. 'Ma ma ma ma ma' means 'Is mother chastising the horse?' (does mother chastise the horse being a more accurate translation) if you speak the tones correctly. 'hua hua hua hua' means 'paint a picture of a flower'. So, get a language coach if for no other reason than to make sure your intonation is perfect. Reading and writing is a whole different story. That's what the flashcards are for. Learn a character, write it a hundred times in a notebook to hardwire it into your brain, and test yourself regularly. Chinese grammar is somewhat easy, fortunately.

It's a pretty big undertaking, I salute you if you make it past the first few months. But it does get easier once you're familiar with the mechanics of the language. Plus you'll find you develop super memory from practice. It's brain lube.

As far as Rosetta Stone, I couldn't say as I've never used it.

[Goggles]

One of these days I'll expand my French into usefulness, or so I keep telling myself.

[ats200]

Very insightful. The 'tongue twister' is pretty amusing. I do remember reading that it is a tonal language which makes me a bit nervous but hopefully everything turns out well. I do work with quite a few people who speak Mandarin are their primary language so hopefully I can practice a bit on my own time then hone my skills through practice dialogue with others. (strange to say hone here and not be referring to a smooth rock)

And I do agree with Jim, it should be required. I'm always so impressed during work that people from EVERY country speak English but I can't understand a word of most languages. (I've picked up a bit of Spanish and German... but only a few words related to travel and hospitality)

[decraew]

Learning a second language should be absolutely required for all Americans. It opens your head in so many useful ways. So good on you!

I agree it's good for everyone's personal development to learn a second language (or a third, or a fourth ... ).
Although I do not think that something like Chinese or Japanese is meant for every one given the huge difference between Asian languages and Roman languages.

[Bruno]

I second Jim. If you want to learn Chinese or Japanese, start now. Apart from the fact that it is a different language, learning the kanji is a major undertaking. I am learning Japanese. The effort is measured in years of dedication. And get a coach to help you with the tonal angle because otherwise you will get lost. It is my first non-roman language so I am struggling with it.

Learning a second language is something that everyone should do. It gives you a much better understanding of the rest of the world, as well as help you talk to other people. this is easy to say for me of course. In Belgium you generally learn 3 languages before you graduate high school, not including optional languages like Latin and German.

After Japanese (hah. in 10 years or so ) I'd like to add Spanish, Arabic or Hebrew. Or somethign else. Learning languages is fun and really broadens your world.
Go for it. You will never regret it. Even if you drop out after the basics, you'll have something you can use for life. And if you ever have to interact with someone who speaks that language, just saying 'good morning' in their native language is a huge goodwill gesture.

[EisenFaust]

Thumbs up to the foreign girlfriend technique ;-)

[welshwizard]

Depends whether you want to learn a language to actually use it, or just for brain exercise to stave-off dementia.
You can learn what the Army School of languages calls a 'pop' language, French,Spanish, etc., and aims to have you speaking it after six weeks of intensive everday immersion or one of the more difficult ones such as Russian or Chinese where they reckon it takes two years of intensive everyday study.
I'm just coming to the end of Open University French (4yrs), where you learn more than just the language, but a awful lot about the country and it's people. I think that unless you spend some time living in the country of your target language it's nigh on impossible to become fluent.

There is the old joke "What do you call someone who speaks three languages?"..Tri-lingual, "two languages".. bi-lingual, "one language".. English.

[LX_Emergency]

I'm a bit surprised that Chinese was picked for a second language. If I spoke english as a first language I'd learn Spanish as a second. It would probably be much more usefull in my life.

I'm learning some spanish at the moment. However it's not my second that I'm learning (obviously since I'm typing this in English) it's be my......5th I think although my french is really not that good....maybe I should pick that up a little more first.

Good for ya that you want to learn a new language. It really gives you a bigger view of the world around us and will help to understand different cultures.