Learning Mandarin In China Is Best - Revision history

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Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China. Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push(); Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is [http://www.estateguideblog.com/?s=spoken%20alongside spoken alongside] Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body. Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster? The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below. Immersion Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals. As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English. By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin. Dialect and L1 interference Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] begin learning Mandarin once they start school. In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1. L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v". In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + [http://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usagov&query=-h%20initials -h initials] (e.g. sh, ch, zh). How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here? With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China. To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push(); English speaking population Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere. It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly. This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:59, 2 January 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, ~~etc~~.~~, but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives~~. ~~It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China~~ to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong~~.~~vn/tours/tour~~-~~trung-quoc~~-~~huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] on~~ the ~~other hand~~, ~~chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where~~ the ~~Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai~~ and ~~Fudan are known [http://www~~.~~bing.com/search?q=internationally~~&~~form=MSNNWS&mkt=en-us&pq=internationally internationally]~~. ~~Shanghai is a very large city, with~~ a ~~massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.~~<br> ~~<br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week~~, ~~using the same curriculum~~ and ~~have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let&~~#39;s ~~also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits~~. ~~Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?~~<br> <br>~~The answer~~: ~~Caroline. Why? Three reasons: [https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong~~.vn/~~tours~~/~~tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html Tour Quế Lâm~~] ~~immersion~~, ~~standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below~~.<br> <br>~~Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely~~ a ~~place where you are given the tools necessary~~ to ~~succeed~~. ~~The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom~~. ~~The more opportunity you~~ have to ~~practice outside the classroom~~, ~~the greater the chances that you will succeed~~ in ~~reaching your language learning goals~~.~~<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small~~ English~~-speaking community, she~~ will ~~practically~~ be ~~forced~~ to speak Mandarin ~~every~~ day~~. Cities such as Harbin generally have~~ very ~~few English-speaking locals~~. This ~~means that Caroline~~ will ~~have to speak Mandarin when~~ she ~~goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order~~ to ~~communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English~~.<br> <br>~~By having no other choice than to~~ speak Mandarin ~~day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in~~ Mandarin. ~~This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to~~ Mandarin.~~<br> <br>Dialect~~ and ~~L1 interference~~<br> <br>~~Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother~~ language~~. They do not speak~~ any ~~other "dialect~~" ~~of Chinese. On the other hand~~, ~~Shanghaiese is the~~ mother language ~~in Shanghai~~, ~~not Mandarin~~. ~~(Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in~~ China ~~are actually mutually incomprehensible languages~~, ~~and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai~~ locals ~~grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school~~.~~<br> <br>In language learning,~~ the ~~most common source of errors for any learner is~~ L1 ~~interference~~. L1 ~~simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's~~ L1 is ~~English. A Russian~~'s ~~L1 is Russian~~. ~~In China~~, a ~~locals~~ L1 is ~~usually whatever local "dialect"~~ is ~~spoken. A local indigenous~~ to ~~Guangdong (~~the ~~province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1~~. ~~A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1~~.~~<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner&~~#39;s ~~mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language~~. ~~For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing~~ the "v" with a "w"~~. This~~ is ~~because the~~ "v" ~~sound does not exist in Mandarin~~. ~~The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability~~ to ~~produce a "v" sound by replacing it with~~ the sound~~/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case,~~ "w" ~~is closest to~~ "v"~~.<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly,~~ often ~~times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many~~ Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] is likely to speak~~ standard Mandarin ~~(though not guaranteed)~~. ~~It is also likely~~ that ~~most big cities~~ will be ~~comprised~~ of ~~people who come from all parts of China, and communicate~~ with ~~one another using~~ standard Mandarin. ~~With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It~~ is ~~not just~~ about having ~~a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an~~ environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><~~br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [~~ ] ~~and [ ] training~~.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more [http://wordpress.org/search/opportunity opportunity] you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] [http://rt.com/search/everywhere/term/training/ training].<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:27, 1 January 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html ~~Tour Quế Lâm từ Hà Nội~~] ~~it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James,~~ on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or ~~[https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn]~~ mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your ~~[http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=~~teacher~~&gs_l=news teacher]~~ is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, ~~[http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=meaning&gs_l=news~~ meaning] you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, ~~[https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm]~~ and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known [http://www.bing.com/search?q=internationally&form=MSNNWS&mkt=en-us&pq=internationally internationally]. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:20, 1 January 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) ~~[http://www.dict.cc/englisch-deutsch/~~studying~~.html studying]~~ than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, ~~it has a very small native-English speaking community~~. ~~Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any [http://data~~.~~gov.uk~~/~~data~~/~~search?q=English English]~~. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, ~~[https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour~~-~~trung-quoc-huu~~-~~nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] with a massive native-English speaking community~~, and ~~Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body~~.~~<br> <br>Imagine~~ that ~~these two~~ students ~~are studying the same amount of hours each week~~, ~~using the same curriculum~~ and ~~have teachers who teach using the same teaching style~~. Let's ~~also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?~~<br> <br>~~The answer~~: ~~Caroline~~. ~~Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below~~.<br> <br>~~Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely~~ a ~~place where you are given the tools necessary~~ to ~~succeed~~. ~~The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom~~. ~~The more opportunity you~~ have to ~~practice outside the classroom~~, ~~the greater the chances that you will succeed~~ in ~~reaching your language learning goals~~.~~<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small~~ English~~-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day~~. ~~Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means~~ that ~~Caroline~~ will ~~have~~ to speak Mandarin ~~when she goes grocery shopping~~, ~~visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc.~~ in ~~order to communicate~~. ~~There~~ will ~~also be fewer locals pressuring~~ her ~~into speaking English. It is also much~~ more ~~likely that most of her friends~~ will ~~be Chinese locals who cannot speak~~ English.<br> <br>~~By having no other choice than to~~ speak Mandarin ~~day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin~~. ~~This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back~~ and ~~forth from English to Mandarin~~.<br> <br>~~Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother~~ language~~. They do not speak~~ any ~~other~~ "~~dialect~~" ~~of Chinese~~. ~~On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin~~. ~~(Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common~~.~~) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese~~, ~~and begin learning Mandarin once they start school~~.~~<br> <br>~~In ~~language learning~~, ~~the most common source of errors for any learner~~ is ~~L1 interference. L1 simply means~~ "~~language one~~"~~, or mother language. For example, an American's L1~~ is ~~English~~. A ~~Russian's~~ L1 ~~is Russian~~. ~~In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong)~~ will likely speak ~~Cantonese~~ as his or her L1. ~~A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<~~br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong~~.~~vn/tours~~/~~tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] replacing the~~ "v~~" with a "w~~". ~~This is because the "v" sound does~~ not ~~exist~~ in ~~Mandarin~~. ~~The student's brain and mouth makes up~~ for ~~the inability to produce a~~ "v" ~~sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound~~. ~~In this case~~, ~~"w" is closest to "v"~~.<br> <br>~~In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending~~ in ~~-g correctly~~, ~~often times negating to pronounce the -g sound~~. ~~For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen~~. ~~Many Chinese~~ from ~~the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh~~, ch, ~~zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning~~ Mandarin ~~in Shanghai? Well~~, ~~if your teacher~~ is a ~~local~~ from ~~Shanghai~~, ~~grew up speaking~~ Shanghaiese, ~~and learned Mandarin in school, she~~'~~s learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks~~ Mandarin with ~~a Shanghaiese accent~~. ~~As you learn from this teacher~~, you~~'ll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese~~ accent~~. Essentially~~, ~~you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents~~. ~~Starting to see the problem here~~?~~<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language,~~ you want to ~~speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like~~ a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html ~~kynghidongduong.vn~~] ~~communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals,~~ and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm từ Hà Nội] it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=teacher&gs_l=news teacher] is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=meaning&gs_l=news meaning] you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:17, 1 January 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any ~~English~~. ~~James, on~~ the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, ~~with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin~~-~~learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week~~, ~~using the same curriculum~~ and ~~have teachers who teach using~~ the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong~~.~~vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html kynghidongduong.vn] standard pronunciation, and student body~~. ~~Let's examine these issues below.<br>~~ <br>~~Immersion~~<br> ~~<br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary~~ to ~~succeed~~. ~~The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you~~ have to ~~practice outside the classroom~~, ~~the greater the chances that you will succeed~~ in ~~reaching your language learning goals~~.~~<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she~~ will ~~practically~~ be ~~forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few~~ English~~-speaking locals~~. ~~This means~~ that ~~Caroline~~ will ~~have to~~ speak ~~Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping~~, ~~visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc.~~ in ~~order to communicate~~. ~~There~~ will ~~also be fewer locals pressuring~~ her ~~into speaking English. It is also much~~ more ~~likely that most of her friends~~ will ~~be Chinese locals who cannot speak~~ English.<br> <br>~~By having no other choice than to~~ speak Mandarin ~~day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin~~. ~~This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to~~ Mandarin.~~<br> <br>Dialect~~ and ~~L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin~~ locals ~~only speak~~ Mandarin. ~~Mandarin is their mother~~ language~~. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand~~, ~~Shanghaiese is~~ the mother language ~~in Shanghai~~, ~~not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages~~, ~~and do not have much in common.~~) ~~This means that most Shanghai locals grow up~~ as ~~children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school~~.<br> <br>~~In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is~~ L1 interference~~. L1 simply means "~~language ~~one"~~, or ~~mother~~ language. For example, ~~an American's L1~~ is English~~. A Russian's L1~~ is ~~Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local~~ "~~dialect~~" ~~is spoken~~. ~~A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1~~. ~~A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1~~.~~<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner~~'s ~~mother language causes them~~ to ~~make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example,~~ a ~~student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball",~~ replacing the ~~"v" with a~~ "w"~~. This~~ is ~~because the~~ "v" ~~sound does not exist in Mandarin~~. ~~The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability~~ to ~~produce a "v"~~ sound ~~by replacing it with~~ the ~~sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case,~~ "w" ~~is closest to~~ "v"~~.<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly,~~ often ~~times negating~~ to pronounce ~~the~~ -g ~~sound~~. ~~For example~~, ~~the word for "class" or "course"~~, ~~kecheng~~ is ~~often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese~~ from ~~the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh~~, ch, ~~zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning~~ Mandarin in ~~Shanghai? Well~~, ~~if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she&~~#39;s learned Mandarin as an L2, and ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung~~-~~quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html tour du lịch quế lâm] it is very likely she speaks~~ Mandarin ~~with~~ a ~~Shanghaiese accent. As~~ you ~~learn from this teacher~~, you~~'ll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with~~ a ~~Shanghaiese accent. Essentially~~, ~~you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents~~. ~~Starting to see the problem here?~~<br> <br>~~With~~ Mandarin ~~already being~~ a ~~pronunciation-sensitive language~~, ~~you want~~ to speak ~~with as~~ standard ~~as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China~~.~~<br> <br>To~~ be ~~fair~~, ~~anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring [https~~://~~knoji~~.~~com~~/~~search~~/~~?query=services services] in Mandarin, [https://www.~~kynghidongduong.vn~~/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm~~] ~~is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and~~ communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more ~~[http://search.un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=English-speaking%20friends&Submit=Go~~ English-speaking friends] than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) [http://www.dict.cc/englisch-deutsch/studying.html studying] than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any [http://data.gov.uk/data/search?q=English English]. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:57, 31 December 2020
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−	<br><br><br>Where you will ~~[http://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usagov&query=study%20Mandarin~~ study Mandarin] is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, ~~standard pronunciation, and student body~~. ~~Let's examine these issues below~~.~~<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed~~. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>~~As Caroline lives in an area with~~ a ~~very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced~~ to ~~speak Mandarin every day~~. ~~Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will~~ have to ~~speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping~~, ~~visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc.~~ in ~~order to communicate~~. ~~There will also~~ be ~~fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot~~ speak ~~English~~.~~<br> <br>By having no other choice than~~ to speak Mandarin ~~day in and day out~~, ~~Caroline will very quickly learn~~ to ~~think in Mandarin~~. ~~This~~ will ~~quicken~~ her ~~response time and make~~ her ~~sound more natural when she speaks as she~~ will ~~no longer need to translate back and forth from~~ English ~~to Mandarin~~.<br> <br>~~Dialect~~ and ~~L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak~~ Mandarin. ~~Mandarin is their mother language~~. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html Tour Quế Lâm từ Hà Nội] and do not have much in common.) This~~ means ~~that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school~~.~~<br> <br>In language learning~~, ~~the most common source of errors for any learner~~ is L1 ~~interference~~. ~~L1 simply means~~ "~~language one~~"~~, or [https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html Tour Quế Lâm] mother language~~. ~~For example, an American~~'s ~~L1 is English~~. ~~A Russian's~~ L1 is ~~Russian. In China, a locals L1~~ is ~~usually whatever local "dialect"~~ is ~~spoken. A local indigenous~~ to ~~Guangdong (~~the ~~province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese~~ as ~~his or her L1~~. ~~A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference~~ is ~~when a learner~~'s ~~mother language causes them~~ to ~~make an error in L2~~, ~~or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1~~ is ~~Mandarin and L2 is English is likely~~ to ~~pronounce the word~~ "~~volleyball" as "wolleyball~~", ~~replacing~~ the "v" ~~with a~~ "w". ~~This is because~~ the ~~"v" sound does not exist in Mandarin~~. ~~The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability~~ to ~~produce~~ a ~~"v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case~~, ~~"w" is closest to "v"~~.~~<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in~~ -~~g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the~~ -~~g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng~~ is ~~often pronounced kechen~~. ~~Many [http://www.cbsnews.com/search/?q=Chinese Chinese]~~ from ~~the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant +~~ -~~h initials (e~~.~~g. sh~~, ~~ch, zh)~~.<br> <br>~~How does this apply to you learning~~ Mandarin ~~in Shanghai? Well~~, ~~if your teacher is~~ a ~~local~~ from ~~Shanghai~~, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html kynghidongduong.vn~~] ~~grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin~~ in ~~school, she's learned~~ Mandarin ~~as an L2~~, ~~and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent~~. ~~As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign~~-~~accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents~~. ~~Starting~~ to ~~see the problem here?<br> <br>With~~ Mandarin ~~already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak~~ with as standard ~~as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China~~, not ~~like someone from southern China~~.~~<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services~~ in ~~Mandarin, is likely to speak~~ standard Mandarin ~~(though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will~~ be ~~comprised~~ of ~~people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin~~. ~~With that said, the majority of the~~ population ~~will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with~~ standard Mandarin. It is ~~about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none~~ of the ~~locals do~~. ~~It would~~ be ~~like learning American English in Scotland~~.~~<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window~~.~~adsbygoogle \|\|~~ []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English ~~will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non~~-~~Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more~~ English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring [https://knoji.com/search/?query=services services] in Mandarin, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more [http://search.un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=English-speaking%20friends&Submit=Go English-speaking friends] than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:33, 31 December 2020
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, ~~[https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm]~~ and ~~Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body~~.~~<br> <br>Imagine~~ that ~~these two~~ students ~~are studying the same amount of hours each week~~, ~~using the same curriculum~~ and ~~have teachers who teach using the same teaching style~~. Let's ~~also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?~~<br> <br>~~The answer~~: ~~Caroline~~. ~~Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below~~.<br> <br>~~Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely~~ a ~~place where you are given the tools necessary~~ to ~~succeed~~. ~~The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom~~. ~~The more opportunity you~~ have to ~~practice outside the classroom~~, ~~the greater the chances that you will succeed~~ in ~~reaching your language learning goals~~.~~<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small~~ English~~-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day~~. ~~Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means~~ that ~~Caroline~~ will ~~have~~ to speak Mandarin ~~when she goes grocery shopping~~, ~~visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc.~~ in ~~order to communicate~~. ~~There~~ will ~~also be fewer locals pressuring~~ her ~~into speaking English. It is also much~~ more ~~likely that most of her friends~~ will ~~be Chinese locals who cannot speak~~ English.<br> <br>~~By having no other choice than to~~ speak Mandarin ~~day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin~~. ~~This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and~~ [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html ~~tour du lịch quế lâm~~] ~~L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin~~ locals ~~only speak~~ Mandarin. ~~Mandarin is their mother~~ language~~. They do not speak~~ any ~~other "dialect~~" ~~of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother~~ language ~~in Shanghai~~, ~~not Mandarin~~. ~~(Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common~~.~~) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese~~, ~~and begin learning Mandarin once they start school~~.~~<br> <br>~~In ~~language learning~~, ~~the most common source of errors for any learner~~ is ~~L1 interference. L1 simply means~~ "~~language one~~"~~, or [https://www~~.~~kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay~~.~~html kynghidongduong.vn] mother language~~. ~~For example, an American~~'s L1 is English~~. A Russian's L1~~ is ~~Russian. In China~~, ~~a locals L1 is usually whatever local~~ "~~dialect~~" is ~~spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (~~the ~~province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1~~. ~~A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner&~~#39;s ~~mother language causes them~~ to ~~make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example,~~ a ~~student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word~~ "~~volleyball~~" ~~as "wolleyball",~~ replacing the ~~"v" with a~~ "w"~~. This~~ is ~~because the~~ "v" ~~sound does~~ not ~~exist~~ in ~~Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability~~ to ~~produce a "v" sound by replacing it with~~ the ~~sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that~~ sound. ~~In this case~~, "w" ~~is closest to~~ "v"~~.<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly,~~ often ~~times negating~~ to pronounce ~~the -~~g ~~sound~~. ~~For example~~, ~~the word for "class" or "course"~~, ~~kecheng is often pronounced kechen~~. ~~Many Chinese from the south also fail~~ to ~~correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh~~, ch, ~~zh)~~.~~<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai,~~ grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be ~~[http://search.un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=counterproductive&Submit=Go~~ counterproductive] if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will [http://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usagov&query=study%20Mandarin study Mandarin] is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm từ Hà Nội] and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html Tour Quế Lâm] mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many [http://www.cbsnews.com/search/?q=Chinese Chinese] from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:44, 30 December 2020
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is ~~[http://www.estateguideblog.com/?s=spoken%20alongside~~ spoken alongside] Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html ~~Tour Quế Lâm~~] ~~begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or~~ mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + ~~[http://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usagov&query=-h%20initials~~ -h initials] (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be counterproductive if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, ~~[https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn]~~ you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();	+	<br><br><br>Where you will study Mandarin is almost as important as how you will study Mandarin. Choosing a location that is not conducive to cultivating good language learning habits means you will spend much more time (actually, much less time) studying than you would like. In this section we will discuss learning Mandarin in and outside of China.<br> <br>Learners who study Mandarin in China will find that they develop much faster than those who study in their home countries. This is because those in China are immersed in the language, meaning they not only have 24/7 access to the language via TV, radio, etc., but they also have countless opportunities to use the language in their day-to-day lives. It is quite common for someone who studies six months or less in China to surpass their counterparts who spend four years or longer learning at the university level.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>Before we look at choosing a location within China, let's look at an example of how choosing one location over another will help you reach fluency much faster than choosing another. Caroline chooses to study in Harbin, Heilongjiang province at the Harbin Institution of Technology. Harbin is renowned for speaking with the most standard Mandarin in all of China. While a very large city, it has a very small native-English speaking community. Most Chinese locals in Harbin do not speak any English. James, on the other hand, chooses to study at Fudan University in Shanghai, where the Shanghaiese dialect is spoken alongside Mandarin. Both Shanghai and Fudan are known internationally. Shanghai is a very large city, with a massive native-English speaking community, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] and Fudan is a huge university with a large Mandarin-learning student body.<br> <br>Imagine that these two students are studying the same amount of hours each week, using the same curriculum and have teachers who teach using the same teaching style. Let's also imagine that both students have similar personalities, learning styles, and study habits. Which student do you think will reach a higher level faster?<br> <br>The answer: Caroline. Why? Three reasons: immersion, standard pronunciation, and student body. Let's examine these issues below.<br> <br>Immersion<br> <br>Know this early on: A classroom is merely a place where you are given the tools necessary to succeed. The best classrooms at the best universities with the best teachers cannot make you put into practice what you use in the classroom outside of the classroom. The more opportunity you have to practice outside the classroom, the greater the chances that you will succeed in reaching your language learning goals.<br> <br>As Caroline lives in an area with a very small English-speaking community, she will practically be forced to speak Mandarin every day. Cities such as Harbin generally have very few English-speaking locals. This means that Caroline will have to speak Mandarin when she goes grocery shopping, visits restaurants, takes cab rides, etc. in order to communicate. There will also be fewer locals pressuring her into speaking English. It is also much more likely that most of her friends will be Chinese locals who cannot speak English.<br> <br>By having no other choice than to speak Mandarin day in and day out, Caroline will very quickly learn to think in Mandarin. This will quicken her response time and make her sound more natural when she speaks as she will no longer need to translate back and forth from English to Mandarin.<br> <br>Dialect and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html tour du lịch quế lâm] L1 interference<br> <br>Harbin locals only speak Mandarin. Mandarin is their mother language. They do not speak any other "dialect" of Chinese. On the other hand, Shanghaiese is the mother language in Shanghai, not Mandarin. (Review our discussion above on the how "dialects" in China are actually mutually incomprehensible languages, and do not have much in common.) This means that most Shanghai locals grow up as children speaking Shanghaiese, and begin learning Mandarin once they start school.<br> <br>In language learning, the most common source of errors for any learner is L1 interference. L1 simply means "language one", or [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-huu-nghi-quan-nam-ninh-que-lam-4-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] mother language. For example, an American's L1 is English. A Russian's L1 is Russian. In China, a locals L1 is usually whatever local "dialect" is spoken. A local indigenous to Guangdong (the province bordering Hong Kong) will likely speak Cantonese as his or her L1. A local indigenous to Shanghai will likely speak Shanghaiese as his or her L1.<br> <br>L1 interference is when a learner's mother language causes them to make an error in L2, or his or her second language. For example, a student whose L1 is Mandarin and L2 is English is likely to pronounce the word "volleyball" as "wolleyball", replacing the "v" with a "w". This is because the "v" sound does not exist in Mandarin. The student's brain and mouth makes up for the inability to produce a "v" sound by replacing it with the sound/mouth movement which most closely resembles that sound. In this case, "w" is closest to "v".<br> <br>In Shanghai, many locals do not pronounce words ending in -g correctly, often times negating to pronounce the -g sound. For example, the word for "class" or "course", kecheng is often pronounced kechen. Many Chinese from the south also fail to correctly pronounce consonant + -h initials (e.g. sh, ch, zh).<br> <br>How does this apply to you learning Mandarin in Shanghai? Well, if your teacher is a local from Shanghai, grew up speaking Shanghaiese, and learned Mandarin in school, she's learned Mandarin as an L2, and it is very likely she speaks Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. As you learn from this teacher, you'll be speaking your own foreign-accented Mandarin with a Shanghaiese accent. Essentially, you'll be speaking Mandarin with two accents. Starting to see the problem here?<br> <br>With Mandarin already being a pronunciation-sensitive language, you want to speak with as standard as an accent as possible, meaning you want to sound like a Chinese from northeast China, not like someone from southern China.<br> <br>To be fair, anyone teaching Mandarin at a university or public school, or anyone offering tutoring services in Mandarin, is likely to speak standard Mandarin (though not guaranteed). It is also likely that most big cities will be comprised of people who come from all parts of China, and communicate with one another using standard Mandarin. With that said, the majority of the population will be made up of locals, and remember what we said above? It is not just about having a good teacher with standard Mandarin. It is about having an environment in which you can immerse yourself in standard pronunciation. Having a teacher who speaks flawless Mandarin can be [http://search.un.org/search?ie=utf8&site=un_org&output=xml_no_dtd&client=UN_Website_en&num=10&lr=lang_en&proxystylesheet=UN_Website_en&oe=utf8&q=counterproductive&Submit=Go counterproductive] if none of the locals do. It would be like learning American English in Scotland.<br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();<br><br>English speaking population<br> <br>Being immersed in standard Mandarin is more than half the battle. However, another issue you should seriously consider is the native-English-speaking resident population and student body of the place you are choosing. Quite simply, the more English speakers a given location has, the more English will be spoken. Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, for example, is comprised largely of non-Chinese. This means that should you decide to attend BLCU, you could be tempted to speak more English and make more English-speaking friends than you would elsewhere.<br> <br>It all comes back to immersion and opportunities to practice. If you are immersed in and speaking the language every day, your skills will develop quickly. If you are immersed, but hang out only with other English speakers, and spend little time actually using what you are learning in the classroom, your skills will not develop quickly.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This article is brought to you by [ ]. Will-Excel TESOL provides [ ] and [ ] training.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push();