8 Reasons why the Mandarin Chinese language is not difficult to learn

For many people when they say Learn Mandarin they see it as an impossible or very difficult task to achieve, we are not going to say that it is a piece of cake but it is not impossible as the vast majority think. This is just a general misinformation about this language.

Below we will list the most popular reasons people have given us for not studying Mandarin and make them clear.

1. You will find the writing puzzling

For a beginner who has never learned any Mandarin or Chinese characters, the writing system might seem like a huge hurdle to cross. But just like anything else, practice makes perfect. You weren't born knowing how to write your mother tongue either.
And while many expats in China do not choose to study the characters because it is "not worth it", it is also true that these people often work in international companies where English is the only language that is necessary. However, they severely limit themselves outside of work.

2. Tones are a nightmare

Again, for the beginner who has never learned anything about Mandarin, the tones can seem intimidating.

I would say that everyone who learns something new does it wrong the first time… and many times after that too! If you want to be good at something, it takes practice, as well as having the ability to not care if you sound ridiculous.
Also after some time of practice it can be pronounced well and it would not sound ridiculous.

3. Mistakes can be very inappropriate

By making mistakes with your tones, you could end up saying some pretty wacky things.
For example, the word for "to ask" is 问 (Wèn), while the word for "to kiss" is 吻 (Wěn).
However, in the classroom context, the teacher knows that you are currently learning Mandarin and will not make you offended if you say something inappropriate. In fact, the teacher will know that you did not mean anything bad, as he has probably never taught you these "inappropriate" words, however you are not expected to mean it intentionally.
Likewise, if you go to China and try to talk to someone on the street, someone is unlikely to get mad if you mixed up your tones and said something inappropriate. From the context of the sentence, he would probably think twice to find out what you are trying to say (if anything, he would only laugh lightly at your unintentional mistake).
And if it is not understood, it will only ask you to repeat it one more time. Simple enough, right?

4. Your progress will be slower

Compared to learning English, French or Spanish, your progress in learning Mandarin will be slower. But this is no reason to throw your hands in the air and give up.
After 3-4 years, your level of Mandarin will probably be quite decent. If you worked hard during this time, you should be able to read and write most things, as well as have a good conversational interaction with the average person.
You may not be able to discuss topics like quantum physics or the details of a statute of limitations, but I imagine you probably can't talk intelligently about these things in your native language either. No offense, but there are some topics that are quite complex unless you have taken the time to study specifically on your own.

5. You will not be able to send text messages

That's not true. In spite of everything the Chinese can send text messages !. It is true that depending on what you are typing you may not be able to type as fast as in English, but many input systems are now capable of guessing what you are trying to type.
For example, if you write the verb "I like" in English (eg, I like, you like, etc.), you would need four-letter input. If you were going to do this in Chinese, you'd need to enter the two characters 喜欢 by first typing in the »Xi Huan» pinyin, and then select the characters presented to you for input.
However, you can often just type "XH" or "xih" or "Xihu" and the team will guess (and probably guess correctly) that you are looking for the word "xi Huan."

Actually, the way to write in Mandarin is a little different than in English, but that does not mean that it is necessarily more difficult it is just different.
Moreover, you can also choose to use words with fewer characters in them in order to text more quickly in Chinese while still representing the same meaning.
For example, instead of writing 星期 [Xing qí] for "week," you can just use the character 周 [zhōu], which has the same meaning. This way, if you write 周一 [zhōu yi] for "Monday" instead of 星期一 [Xing qí yi], you save typing a character.
To do this, especially the message and have saved a lot of space and time.

6. Good teachers are rare

Although it may be the case that people at the time of an exchange for language teaching the teachers are not trained, In formal Mandarin courses as in Kung Tse Oriental Confucius Institute They employ people who know what they are doing.
And if it is the case that teachers are difficult to obtain in a particular area, you could argue that it is because they are not allowed to come (or stay long enough) in a foreign country due to rules and regulations.

7. In any case, most people don't speak it.

Again, it is not true. While there are plenty of dialects and sub-dialects used in China, all students are educated at the school in Standard Mandarin Chinese, so while they may speak mutually unintelligible dialects of Mandarin at home (or even another Chinese language such as Cantonese or Hakka), it is more than likely that you will be able to speak to most people in Chinese in Mandarin (over a billion people).
And if you find a person who cannot speak Mandarin for some reason, you just have to look for the person on the street behind him to ask your question at once. You should probably be able to answer it very well.

8. Chinese leaders don't speak Mandarin

Once again, false. Like the previous point, these people may have grown up in areas where Standard Mandarin was not their first language, but government officials absolutely must have the ability to speak it to work in government.
And while some officials may have a regional accent when they speak, that is not the same as not being able to speak the language. Even if they use regional terms when they speak, they could only be forced to clarify what they mean.
This is similar to a person from the UK speaking English to a person from Canada. Both parties will understand most of what is being said, but if there are any uncertainties arising from the use of regional terms, a simple clarification may be requested.
Simple truth? It's like this in Chinese too.

I hope this article is able to clear up some of the exaggerated difficulties that you may have heard about learning Chinese.

Although learning Chinese is a unique path, it is also an enlightening one with so much to offer students, so don't give up and move on! You are going to make great progress even before you know it!