Do you regret having started learning Chinese?

[aristotle1990]

What is comes down to is hard work and confidence. With those two factors you can achieve what you want to achieve in not just learning but also using the language you learn. Unfortunately the myth of the superiority of the "native speaker" still exists and unnecessarily hampers with learners' linguistic performances. I mean, I'm a native speaker with an English degree and a Master's in translation and even my writing looks awkward from time to time. This post for example could be improved and made smoother but alas it's early in the morning and I CBF. But because I'm a native speaker few would question it. It's an annoying double standard but, on the other hand, criticism is an important way to make you aware of your own shortcomings and improve your communication skills in that language.

Relatedly, I've seen the myth that native speakers, in speaking, "make no mistakes". But in fact, native speakers make mistakes in speech all the time, and I'm not talking about breaking prescriptivist rules either. It happens usually in rushed, casual situations; I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but if any come up, I'll let you know.

[valikor]

Rumor has it that for English speakers, Chinese takes about twice as long to learn than closely-related languages. So while Chinese is a lot of fun, but maybe Spanish or French would also be fun.. and in the amount of time I've spent, maybe I could have gained the enjoyment of two languages instead (Does anyone have experience learning Chinese as a 2nd language, and then learning an "easier" language afterwards? I'd be curious to see how that went, because I'd like to try some day)

Seriously though, I occasionally think that Chinese will have no practical use in my life. But I continue anyways. It's still fun, and when it stops being fun, I'll go home.

[anonymoose]

So while Chinese is a lot of fun, but maybe Spanish or French would also be fun.. and in the amount of time I've spent, maybe I could have gained the enjoyment of two languages instead

But would the enjoyment you get from two languages such as french and spanish equate to the enjoyment you get from chinese?

For me personally, apart from all the experiences you can have knowing a language, I also enjoy knowing about a different kind of grammar, a different kind of script, and so on. In that respect, since french and spanish are very similar to each other, and not even that different from english (compared to chinese), there is much less interest for me in a linguistic sense. I haven't learnt spanish, but I spent over 7 years learning french at school, and whilst I did enjoy it, I don't think it even comes half way to they enjoyment I've got out of learning chinese.

[Scoobyqueen]

I also thought it would be a lot easier to learn. Had I known what I know now I may have gone about it in a different way (like devoting 70% time to listening early on).

What has helped me a lot has been reading about how others have progressed and reading about their learning methods, in fact testimonies and tips such as those from Renzhe, Anonymoose, Wushijiao, Querido, Hashirikata, Edelweis, Meng Lelan, Leeyah, abcdefg, Daan, Don Horhe, Yersi (please add more names) to name but a few continue to be inspiring.

[xiaotao]

I truly admire who are learning Chinese as a second language. Learning to read and write proper Chinese is even hard for those who understand spoken Chinese. It will take a life time to for those learning Chinese as a second language. Outside Asia, where learning Mandarin is not mainstream, it is an uphill climb. My oldest kid has been studying Chinese for 8 years and she has many more years coming. You gotta love Chinese. Patience and diligence is needed and maybe one of these days.....

[Gleaves]

I think if I was learning Chinese for strictly practical reasons (like work or a relationship), I would definitely be discouraged by now. Since it is a hobby for me, I feel lucky to have found something so darn cool that I have been enjoying for years now and could possibly do so for the rest of my life. Chinese has become my perfect hobby -- I've gotten to the point where I can do many of my guilty pleasures (watching anime, reading fantasy novels, reading comics) in Chinese. Combining this with actual Chinese-origin media has kept my interest in the language going strong and with basically no regret.

[aristotle1990]

I do occassionally experience bouts of regret about learning Chinese. Ask any Western European who's studied in China for any length of time and he'll list off the reasons -- the pollution, the poor food quality, the stifling communism, the childishness and lack of sophistication of the people and cultural institutions, etc. Highbrow cultural criticism and (contemporary) philosophical writing is (relatively, given the population) severely lacking in Mandarin Chinese, and yeah, sometimes I think I'd have been better off with Dutch, Japanese, German, or maybe French.

But then I regain my senses and realize that that's all a load of pretentious bullshit and that reading Chinese is just too damn cool. B) This is, to me at least, really just a hobby...

Oh, and of course, you can't forget about lovely, free Taiwan. (Not to mention Hong Kong, Macao, and the Chinatowns around the world.) Plus, the beauty of Chinese girls relative to white girls (just my personal preferences here) means that the pleasure you can derive from a simple conversation in Chinese is often many times that of what you can from one in English. :wub:

[clc]

Regardless of what you learn, determination and perseverance are always required to yield results.

Life is a journey for us to make choices everyday. Adjust it as you go along, no point to regret anything.

[Simazhi]

I've just had my first year of Chinese at university behind me and though the countless times you have to review your vocabulary can be very frustrating sometimes, I do think Chinese is just fun. I always find it funny when people see me reading a Chinese text in the train and look at it as if it were gibberish. I also like that after a while you begin to see some structures in the language itself, e.g. the use of 子 or the Verb-Complements. On the other side, I kind of hate it when you get a random text or sound file and all you can make up from it are the 我s and 你s .

I really like Classical Chinese as well. It has a Latin or Ancient Greek like touch to it.

But anyway, here's some 毛泽东 chengyu for ya:

好好学习，天天向上

[Lu]

I've never regretted learning Chinese, but I do think that if I would have know when I started learning how much time and effort it takes before you realize how much you still don't know, I would have studied something else instead. But learning Chinese has determined the direction of my life, and I am happy with where it has taken me.

[rob07]

I think if I was learning Chinese for strictly practical reasons (like work or a relationship), I would definitely be discouraged by now. Since it is a hobby for me, I feel lucky to have found something so darn cool that I have been enjoying for years now and could possibly do so for the rest of my life. Chinese has become my perfect hobby -- I've gotten to the point where I can do many of my guilty pleasures (watching anime, reading fantasy novels, reading comics) in Chinese. Combining this with actual Chinese-origin media has kept my interest in the language going strong and with basically no regret.

I'm much the same. There's a lot said about how hard Chinese is - of course, this is because Chinese really is extremely hard. But it was a pleasant surprise for me to realise that Chinese origin media can be enjoyed with a very low level of Chinese relative to, say, the level of Chinese required to be fully functional in a Chinese working environment.

And while it was not something I could have predicted when I started learning, the way my career and Chinese studies have gone, it is now quite possible that Chinese will be of practical use to me in the future (if I do a whole lot more work). So you never know.

[Meng Lelan]

I have absolutely no regrets. Not one moment of regret in the last 25 years of 中文. In fact it was my solace and escape throughout almost two decades of a bad marriage. The man couldn't read Chinese at all so that was just as well for me in writing my thoughts without being censored or criticized. And whenever I go to China, I can completely run around the whole country without some stupid tour guide babysitting me.

[rezaf]

The man couldn't read Chinese at all so that was just as well for me in writing my thoughts without being censored or criticized.

One of my friends(Chinese) thought the same way but her bf used google translator and read everything on her blog!

BTW I don't regret it cuz my intermediate plato phase is almost over and gradually I'm becoming more and more 厲害. Many intermediate students just stop and give up but if they just wait a little bit more (and study hard) they can pass that aweful phase. BTW the only way I could pass that phase was working hard on my vocabulary cuz after some point working on my speaking and listening didn't help me at all.

[Meng Lelan]

Oh, but I didn't write on the computer, I wrote by hand. I don't know if you can run a handwritten letter through google translator.

[rezaf]

Well I'm sure just in a few years there will be devices available that can recognise all kinds of handwriting. BTW your blog is very good. I also write in Chinese on my blog but my diaries look like 小學3年級!!!

[Meng Lelan]

Oh! I didn't know you have a blog too, I have to see it. Thanks for your kind comment. I guess you have to be careful with your blog in case a gf is running some google translator over your computer writings, no matter what language you're doing it in.

[rezaf]

My diaries are mostly about how my "Shanghainese" wife 折磨我。 She continues torturing me and I continue writing against her. This way we can both 發洩情緒 but I can't go public with my blog. ;)

[jbradfor]

Oh, but I didn't write on the computer, I wrote by hand. I don't know if you can run a handwritten letter through google translator.

Did you see this thread?

[roddy]

Don't regret starting. Would be nice to know if I'm ever going to finish though . . .

[Gleaves]

I think some of the Chinese difficulty discussion might fit better in threads here or here.

Although I do not regret learning Chinese (except for maybe a few dark moments, like after watching the first episode of "My Own Swordsman" a while back and understanding almost none of it), I do get overwhelmed from time to time. Most of the time, I feel like I am systematically chipping away, constantly casting an incrementally wider net that catches more meaning. But sometimes I find myslef staring at the likes of a Doraemon dialogue bubble for way, way, way too long and want to punch the 中文 gods in the face. The challenge of it all makes it good sport, though, and the victories are just too much fun.