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Suppose I wanted to learn some Mandarin...

GaryGary 3,982 Posts
edited May 2009 in Strut Central
Say from the comfort of my home, or vehicle while commuting.Also suppose I didn't want to spend very much money, and also, suppose I peferred a Taiwan pronunciation to say, a Hong Kong accent.Where might I begin?

  Comments

  • ignastyignasty 163 Posts
  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    You know, I'm skeptical about rosetta stone, because I've heard that at least for the Korean version they cover a bunch of vocab, but no grammar, which may not be too big of a deal in chinese, but its a deal breaker in Korean. Without grammar you have nothing, so that makes me skeptical of the program as a whole.


    Also, its not cheap.
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    Say from the comfort of my home, or vehicle while commuting.

    Also suppose I didn't want to spend very much money, and also, suppose I peferred a Taiwan pronunciation to say, a Hong Kong accent.


    Where might I begin?

    Hi Gary! If you really want to learn Mandarin you should use your military contacts and head to Monterey...


    http://www.dliflc.edu/
  • LokoOneLokoOne 1,823 Posts
    do like my mate did. get yourself a chinese girlfriend. dude picked it up in no time.
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    do like my mate did. get yourself a chinese girlfriend. dude picked it up in no time.

    Gary's Korean wife would love that! LOL. Are you trying to get Gary killed?
  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    Say from the comfort of my home, or vehicle while commuting.

    Also suppose I didn't want to spend very much money, and also, suppose I peferred a Taiwan pronunciation to say, a Hong Kong accent.


    Where might I begin?

    Hi Gary! If you really want to learn Mandarin you should use your military contacts and head to Monterey...


    http://www.dliflc.edu/


    That's where I learned Korean and I already have beef with their Korean language program also. I think I have beef with everybody's Korean language program! Although DLI might have gotten better over the last 15 (gulp) years...


    I'll swing that "chinese girlfriend" idea by the wife and see if she's cool with that. If not, I'll need other suggestions.
  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Do they even have banjos in China?
  • ignastyignasty 163 Posts
    Sorry I just assumed they were cheap since I've been seeing them at mall kiosks and what not...
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    do like my mate did. get yourself a chinese girlfriend. dude picked it up in no time.

    Gary's Korean wife would love that! LOL. Are you trying to get Gary killed?

  • LokoOneLokoOne 1,823 Posts
    Say from the comfort of my home, or vehicle while commuting.

    Also suppose I didn't want to spend very much money, and also, suppose I peferred a Taiwan pronunciation to say, a Hong Kong accent.


    Where might I begin?

    Hi Gary! If you really want to learn Mandarin you should use your military contacts and head to Monterey...


    http://www.dliflc.edu/


    That's where I learned Korean and I already have beef with their Korean language program also. I think I have beef with everybody's Korean language program! Although DLI might have gotten better over the last 15 (gulp) years...


    I'll swing that "chinese girlfriend" idea by the wife and see if she's cool with that. If not, I'll need other suggestions.

    Tell her its just for educational purposes!

    Actually this post reminds me of a Chilean guy I knew who got into kung fu and trad chinese medicine around the same time. He began taking lessons in both, from different teachers, but unfortunatley one spoke only mandarin, the other only cantonese- so dude had to learn both dialects, and quickly too.
  • LokoOneLokoOne 1,823 Posts
    Yo found the quick and cheap solution for you Gaz....

  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    Sorry I just assumed they were cheap since I've been seeing them at mall kiosks and what not...


    wait... chinese girls or banjos????


    Either way you owe somebody an apology.
  • djkingottodjkingotto 1,704 Posts
    i hate this commercial.

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    craigslist / local community centers. don't try to do this in your car and shit IMO. only way you learn a language is by talking to real human beings. go to some class that's people learning english from mandarin or something, ask if you can come to class and help out, make some friends and start learning from them.

    in addition, i'd pick up a solid grammar of basic mandarin, just to understand some basic concepts like word order and verb structure

    i mean, doing rosetta stone is cool if you wanna know some phrases, but having seen it i can only imagine it being useful if you're also talking with native speakers at the same time, or already have some other languages fluently under control.
  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    Ross can probably teach you over the phone.
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