Adjusting

[柯賜海]

I plan to move from Taiwan, where I've been living for the past 2 years, to Beijing to study. My Chinese learning has been quite casual in it's nature with a term at the Shi Da University, however, my Chinese is coming along well.

I have noticed that when it comes to listening to mainland movies or those that have been dubbed by mainland actors, my listening comprehesion is very low when compared to those from Taiwan. I feel that they speak a lot faster on mainland stuff. Anyway, I was just wondering what kind of experiences people had with adjusting to Mandarin on the mainland after being introduced to it in Taiwan~I have worked quite hard not to speak like the Taiwanese with their general lack of 'tongue curling', but I fear that i'm going to have a nightmare in terms of listening.

[39degN]

so, what's your point here?

[柯賜海]

My point is as follows:

"I was just wondering what kind of experiences people had with adjusting to Mandarin on the mainland after being introduced to it in Taiwan"

[39degN]

thank you, sorry for that i didnt get your main point. (my horrible english )

i have no such sort of experiences.but i dont think that you have to face more adjusting, they are similar, just like american and Briton can understand each other, i would say half month is enough to adjust, for foreigners the accent isnt a big deal i think, if you still cant understand mainland mandarin after half month, the main reason will be your mandarin still needs to improve IMHO.

sorry for that i haven't more experiences or suggestions about this.

[Quest]

The difference in movies is usually not as great as ZhangZiyi vs ChenShuiBian j/k

Don't worry too much, it's always easier understanding what people say in person than in movies if you are a new learner of a language. I don't think you will have much trouble in Beijing if you can handle Taiwan. The accent will be a little bit different, but you will get used to it in no time.

[smithsgj]

I think in terms of Chinese on the street you'll find it easier: people will actually talk to you with the accent and vocabulary you learnt from those books at Shida: putonghua rather than Taiwan Guoyu!

Also you'll find it easier to understand what the locals are saying to each other. While Beijinghua may take some getting used to, it's a bit more accessible than Taiwanese.

On the whole though I've found it easier to make friends in Taiwan than in the mainland generally, and to practice the language you need to have friends to talk it to; while in China it's easier to get talking to ppl on a fairly superficial level. I think there are economic and cultural reasons why this should be the case --- but of course it could just be me! And I haven't actually lived in Beijing: perhaps as the capital city it's just as cosmopolitan as Taipei.