I want to learn Chinese and Go to China

Well this is what i really want to do. I want to learn Chinese and go to China.
(Only visit for like a month) I really want to go to china and learn chinese, i have always admired their culture and i really would like to learn a different language. So Basically i looked up prices and to fly from where im at, it will cost me around $1300-2000 dollars to just fly there and probably another $2000 to live there for a month. Also i really dont want to go to china and not understand a fucking thing about what they are saying or doing, so i want to learn chinese. This is one of the languages i have chosen to learn besides my native language (English).

Problems:

Im 16 (Me and my brother were gonna go to china)
Poor as a joke but saving (working part time)
Dont have a clue about where to learn chinese besides Rosetta Stone which cost around $200 bucks for 2 lessons, and another $500 for 4 lessons.

What i need help with:

Where should i start in order to achieve this goal?
Where should i start to gain this kind of money to go to china for a month?
Where should i learn chinese? ( I dont think my school offers chinese as a learnable language there)

So yeah, thats what I want to do in life. Also im one of those people who when they want something bad enough, they get it not matter what they have to do to get it/achieve it.


Also If you would like to Support me you can Either Donate or Help me learn stuff about china (DONATIONS WOULD HELP A MILLION!!)

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If your in a money crunch, and you can't afford to buy Rosetta stone, I assure you there are other means of getting it. Which, I cannot post here. However, shoot me a PM and I should be able to help you.

Mandarin is suppose to be one of the hardest language to learn, and even with Rosetta Stone (I honestly have no idea how good Rosetta Stone is) you won't be learning it fast. I understand you love the culture, but learning a language, a very hard language, just to visit for a month seems ridiculous. I hope your planning on doing something else with a language like Mandarin under your belt.

I suppose if you look on the brightside, by the time you learn a decent amount of the language, you might have enough $ .

 

ill shoot you a pm tomorrow, going to bed, im exhausted (got back from a trip) add my msn if you have one and we can talk there.

 

i support

theres probably plenty of decent chinese schools close to where you live, that give MUCH cheaper prices than $400 for 2 lessons.

i go to a chinese school that charges about $1000 or so for like 30-40 days of tuition or something. it's pretty good.

 

I doubt it, i live in Redneck country. I moved here, so i don't consider myself a redneck, im more of a city slicker but at the same time i love the outdoors.

 

Uh... First off. Chinese is a super hard language to learn. Could you try and take it through your school/CC?


I've been taking chinese for 4 years by the way. A classroom environment would be the best way to learn it. Flying to china and trying to immerse yourself with no prior chinese exposure would not be a particularly good idea.

For learning spanish italian (other romantic languages) etc all the steps you listed would work out fine, but for chinese its different. It takes YEARS to become even semi fluent.


TL;DR


Take it through school/Community College/College/ Get a job at a chinese restaurant (most are cantonese based though....)

 

This is what i was saying, first no i planned to learn chinese before i went to china because i wanted to be able to atleast know a little bit about my surroundings and atleast be able to read some chinese maybe speak some. And second since i read around, learning speed depends on your mind and your talents.

 

Being fluent in Mandarin myself I have to tell you it's not easy ... I've been learning for ~8, 9 years and I'm nowhere near mastering the language. The best thing to do is to try NOT to confine yourself to a classroom environment. Language, especially Mandarin, is acquired a lot faster/deeper when you hear it being used in everyday speech. Try to:

1. Visit areas where lot of Mandarin is spoken, maybe a Chinatown?
2. Watch some TV shows, preferably with subtitles at the bottom
3. Try to *THINK* in Mandarin when you can

If you're stuck to being in a classroom environment, then you're going to need even more self discipline. Try to get in some sort of class, and then practice a lot. Perhaps I can help you out every once in a while?

 

Yeah, that would be awesome if you could help, i really want to learn this language, and so far all i know is Ni Hao (Hello) lol.

 

The thing is if you are planning to live there it isn't all it is cracked up to be, especially since you are going to be a minority there. If you are from a mainly Anglo origin country you are going to experience incredible culture shock, which is something I am currently learning about in my Sociology class right now. Before you go there you really need to know just about everything about the culture(s) and traditional practices and things like that. Eastern society is incredibly different from western culture and no matter how much of a xenophile you think you are it is going to be so much more different than you are thinking. Just be careful and make sure you study up, make sure you get all the right vaccinations and things like that because your body will also experience a change.

 

DO NOT got there alone if you're only 16. You could mess up one thing and end up in prison, and their prison system is extremely bad.

Don't travel internationally without a parent, unless of course you're over 18.

 

yeah, i have been studying lately in and out of class.

Im pretty sure i said i was traveling with my brother.

 

Lol, try to find local classes that does Chinese. However, you have to consider which type of Chinese you want to learn, there are two main ones which is Mandarin and Cantonese. The majority of people in the mainland speaks Mandarin so I guess that is what you want.

The cost of living is generally cheaper.

 

My goal was Mandarin, but iv put this goal on the side because i feel i need more money and time to do this. In the mean time however im learning Cherokee because im majority Indian than any other blood lines i have. I have found that learning cherokee is pretty easy and it doesnt cost a lot at all and im learning fast. Its currently only costing me $20 a month to learn cherokee and its rarely spoken. This was one of the reasons why i wanted to learn chinese was because it was hardly spoken here in America and come on, how cool would it be to cuss your boss out and them not knowing what you were saying?

Anyways long story short, learning chinese is a side goal and i will eventually learn it in the future. For now, im learning cherokee and i am learning fast.

 

Hi there! I'm from Singapore and Mandarin is our mother tongue. However, many of us find it very difficult to learn mandarin but hardwork and determination will definitely help you achieve your goal.

The easiest way to learn a language is through practice and exposure. Try to watch mandarin shows, listen to songs, converse in mandarin. Soon, you will become proficient.

If you need any help, i can try to lend a helping hand too!

zai jian!