Comments on: American Born Chinese taking Chinese Foreign Language Class in College?

By: RoaringMice

RoaringMice — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:57:20 +0000

What you want to do is really normal. In fact, I remember in my Polish class, there were several students of Polish decent, who spoke some Polish but couldn’t write it; others who spoke related languages (Ukranian) fluently, but were new to Polish, and still others who had no Polish at all.

I think you’ll find the same in your Mandarin class. As CanProf said, your uni may even offer placement tests so you can see if you must start at Mandarin 1, or if you can skip to Mandarin 2 – but you can also just go ahead and sign up for Mandarin 1 if you’d like to. Not a problem, and not uncommon.

By: CanProf

CanProf — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:57:20 +0000

This is completely normal. What might happen is you might be given a test to see at what level you should start.

By: allperils2050

allperils2050 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:57:20 +0000

You need to take an Entry Mandarin level course. Start from scratch along with white peers.

Knowing some Cantonese is no help for you with Mandarin.

If you wish to learn Mandarin to the point where you can speak and understand with Chinese natives, expect to put 3 years, of time, 2 hours per night, and constant practice.

You might learn 500 characters by then.

Once you pass that stage, you will have alot of fun with Mandarin, you’ll feel smart!