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Posted by: shellshock1911 May 12 2008, 11:46 AM

I just got a book that teaches the student how to write 100 Chinese characters, by giving them like a template to use, and 80 squares to practice in, and OMG they are so addicting, I have given up guitar playing time because these things are just so fun to write, I have had the book for like a week and am almost finished. Anyone else ever tried to learn Chinese characters, and had the same addiction as me where they just can't stop practicing writing them?

Posted by: Canis May 12 2008, 09:58 PM

Can't say I've been addicted, but I've tried... I have a friend who's just learned something like that, and he tried to learn me... But I gave up after some minutes

Posted by: The Uncreator May 12 2008, 11:01 PM

Yeah I have a friend who shows me that kind of stuff, Except with Japanese. She can speak it pretty well, So in a way she gives me lessons on writing and speaking it

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 12 2008, 11:55 PM

Giving up guitar playing time to write chinese characters? - Hell No!

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 13 2008, 12:36 AM

Lol maybe for some people, but I have a real interest in foreign language stuff for some reason...I hope I am the only person like this because the market for foreign languages is huge and if there is only a few people that do it, that means more $$$$$$$ for me!

Posted by: Canis May 13 2008, 07:49 PM

Hehe, if you learn most languages, I guess some gouverment people would love to have you on their payroll

Posted by: fkalich May 13 2008, 08:14 PM

I know what you are saying. I took a year of this. Each symbol is pronounced with one syllable, and there are about 2000 or them. And each has a history. Mao simplified the characters, so you have the modern simplified set, and the old traditional set (which is not used much anymore). Hong Kong people speak Cantonese, and use the same syllables as the rest of China, but they cannot understand each other at all when speaking. It is a fun thing. I gave up trying to learn Chinese, too much effort, much more than a European language, did not have the time. But it is fun. My niece is fluent, 16, and she has spent time there twice already. She has a Chinese girl living with her family now here.

Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 13 2008, 08:19 PM

oh thats very hard to learn better to still with my guitar

Posted by: fkalich May 13 2008, 08:40 PM

If you are interested in reading a good book, very short, covering ancient Chinese philosophy, I recommend this.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Ways-Thought-Ancient-China/dp/0804711690/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210707292&sr=8-2

You can get it for $2. I was always fond of Chuang Tzu. It is pronounced sort of like Jong-Shi, except the J sort of sounds like a T also. You sort of say T and J at the same time. I know not perfect, but close enough for Government work.

And it would be represented by two characters, being a two syllable word.

edit: one reason Chuang Tzu is neat, is that much of it is stories. So I think even now we can understand the meaning. And the stories are quite entertaining, I always felt him to sound quite modern in many ways, and much of what he said applies nicely today.

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 13 2008, 10:45 PM

Yea, I have actually been studying the language for about 3 weeks now because I have pretty much mastered Spanish grammar and know enough vocab. to where the last step in becoming fluent in it is just watching Spanish TV a ton, talking to Spanish people, and what not. But I need to always have some language to study, and now with no Spanish, I decided to pick up Chinese. However I just started learning the characters this week, and it is by far the hardest part of Chinese I would say. You said Chinese takes way more time than European language, which is a direct result of the ridiculous writing system. If Chinese wrote in Pinyin and had like 30% cognates or so, the language would be probably the easiest in the world since a major grammar system is virtually non-existant. I have only been SERIOUS with languages for like 3 months now, which I started Spanish then, so if I keep doing like this, which I hope I can, I hope I can get really good in Chinese by the time I am a senior in high school, and then be a foreign exchange student, or have one live with me.

And I think we have read excerpts from that book in my AP world history class, but I will look into getting it off Amazon since the used prices are like $1.50 lol.

Posted by: Canis May 13 2008, 10:48 PM

Hm... Always wanted to learn spanish.. Any special place you learned it?

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 13 2008, 10:54 PM

Well, first of all Spanish is not that hard, the only main differences are in the grammar system. I have been in Spanish classes for about 8 months now, and for about the first 5 months I was in there for the same reason most people are (to get a grade), but one day it hit me and all sudden learning it became ridiculously fun, so I went out, bought a Spanish dictionary, Spanish grammar book, a Spanish useful vocab book with 10,000 words, and 4 hours of Spanish people talking at slow pace at first, then speeding up over time, with instructions on the grammar they use, word choice, etc.

And check out this site http://www.uni.edu/becker/Spanish3.html. It has beginner lessons, grammar lessons, vocab lessons, quizes, and an endless amount of all those and a ton more.

And at least for me, learning languages is now a hobby, if you REALLY want to get serious like I did, expect to put in more time than you do on guitar or at least offset it, for example, I used to practice for about 3 hours a day on weekdays and about 10 on weekends, that is now about 1 hour on weekdays and maybe 4 on weekends. I am not encouraging people to stop playing gutiar or anything lol, just saying that one of the reasons I was able to get at a communicative level so quickly was because the amount of time I put into it everyday.

Posted by: Canis May 13 2008, 10:57 PM

Thanks, I'll check it out

Posted by: shellshock1911 May 13 2008, 11:05 PM

Oh yea, and if you can, see if you can get Spanish subtitles on English speaking channels. I can't do this on my TV, but it helps a TON. Eventually you can get English subtitles on Spanish speaking channels and that may help, but is hard to distinguish between certain Spanish words sometimes, so I am not sure. I currently watch Spanish TV with Spanish subtitles because reading Spanish is a lot easier than comprehending speech currently, but I am getting there. Understanding speech is probably the hardest part and will take the most dedication.

Posted by: Canis May 13 2008, 11:08 PM

Okay. I'll fire up some movies with spanish subtitles now and then ^^
I guess if I learn the text part first, I understand more of the speech part later

Posted by: kevin-riff-after-riff May 14 2008, 10:35 PM

they make you do it for homework in highschool in Taiwan so yeah I tried to do it, but after like 6 years it gets really boring and repetitive, actually after two years you start getting impatient etc. lol I can now only read and speak mandrin chinese, i cant write it that well any more because i dont use it much in england. so in conclusion there was practically no point in the copying because i cant write it anymore lol