anacapamalibu

I guess you could phrase it that way. Others might consider that the laowais
stole the content and added a little sizzle to it...then published it.

When in Rome, do like the Romans do.

tentseller

When in China, talk(eat) like the Chinese!

But seriously, there has been many "new" Mandarin/Putonghua expression and phrases with Western influence.

anacapamalibu

Talk, eat, and smoke! simultaneously.

bocastephen

Chinese is both an easy and incredibly difficult language to learn - it totally depends on the method used and who is teaching you. If you want to try traditional teaching methods through textbooks, online, etc, you *may* have a very rudimentary tourist vocabulary by the fall - and not much else.

I strongly suggest investing in an online tutor (or in person depending on your location) who teaches using TPRS/CI which is a scientifically proven method of learning any foreign language incredibly fast and making grammar structures intuitive - it's still on you to memorize vocabulary on your own time and practice what you learn, as there is no scientific method of making vocabulary magically appear in your brain, but TPRS and CI make the process easier.

I can refer you to two US-based teachers I know personally and who I've studied with. I've been learning for almost one year and have a generalized vocabulary of over 400 words for spoken Chinese (although it's not easy for me to recall what I need when I need it, but that's just more practice) and using the pinyin-character translation keyboard on my computer, I can write my own stories. Textbook or traditional method students learning 1-2 hours a week would be years behind me.

For your trip, you'll need 85% conversational and 15% reading skills, and TPRS is the fastest path to achieving that. PM me and I can refer you to someone, but you're looking at about $50 per session and you'll need at least 3 per week to be ready for the fall, but if you want to be on the path to basic fluency, and use your time in China to improve upon what you learned up to departure, this is the best way.

Toshbaf

I wonder if it's even practical to give up trying to speak Chinese. Know enough to understand it spoken and reply back in writing? Or is that a crazy idea?

I am trying to decide whether to learn a new language or improve my existing French or German.

bocastephen

It's not a crazy idea if you try to learn it correctly from the beginning. Online learning won't work, you need to study 1:1 with a competent teacher even if the classes themselves are online via zoom, and starting with TPRS as a method will get you where you want to be faster than anything else.

I don't know if she is still teaching or just doing translation work, but Terry was my first teacher and introduced me to the TPRS method from the get-go and she is one of the world's most experienced experts with that teaching method.

Her website is Expert Chinese Translation and Interpreting by Terry Waltz, Ph.D.

painintheuk

First, sorry for not thanking those who replied to my original post! So thank you! I spent a great several months (over a few years) in Suzhou and learned enough to get by pretty well and even take part in (very) basic chats.

I did use a few podcasts before I went, but got a 1:1 instructor as soon as I arrived. She was amazing. For the times that I was in Canada, we used qq online for the live sessions. I did find some of the online resources to be excellent complements, and I am sure that they are much better now. They can be great for reinforcing other lessons and vocabulary, as well as recognizing characters if you want to read. Having to struggle for the 1st few months with basic shopping, eating and living every day really help!

Writing/reading is a whole 'nother thing. You can get buy just fine in China without it, and IME being able to speak/understand is mostly independent of being able to read/write (well - type using pinyin based typing for the basic that I could do).

You say that it is a 'new' language, but don't say why you are interested. I've 'studied' 8-ish languages, all to different levels and for different reasons, but understanding why and what for might help with the best decision of how to/whether to learn.

uanj

Seven years after your post, you came back to give an update!