My friend Christopher has come of Singapore three years from England. He started learning Mandarin for last 2.5 years at Yi Mandarin and today he has learnt to talk in the new language in extremely good fashion. As many like him are trying to learn Mandarin so for their benefit, I have listed Christopher’s experiences with mandarin in 5 stages.
- No Study Stage
In this stage, on hearing Mandarin most of the native English speakers feel that the language is ridiculous. It happens mainly for the fact that they do not have close interaction with the Chinese culture. Many who start to learn Mandarin get stuck at his stage only and leave the effort. If you are serious about learning Mandarin then, you must find the determination to pass through this stage. It is possible when you have burning desire in you to master Mandarin.
- The beginner’s Stage
In this a native English speaker starts acknowledging Mandarin as a real language that can be learnt. He becomes the “learner.” A student can take up few basic phrases and words and can do the simple communication in the normal day to day situations. Normally in this stage the pronunciation is not good, and if you are studying in a western country then, it can take years to go to the next stage. If you are in a Chinese speaking part of the word, you will get better chances to practice the language and improve the pronunciation by use.
- The Intermediate Stage
By hard work and careful practice one can reach up to this 3rd stage. In this stage, the learner gets a better hold on pronunciation and its tones of pinyin’s consonants. The learner at this stage can still commit some errors in speaking, but he is considered to be well on the right path.
In this stage, the student can easily do the basic communication. His comprehension of Mandarin is also quite decent.
Few foreign students reach up to this stage. The greatest risk at this stage is that the student starts thinks that he has become an expert. It is right because at this stage, the lacunas in language can only be explained in Chinese, and it is difficult to find such good teachers in the western world. This stage lasts for long. Slowly the student improves on his pronunciation and reduces errors; improve vocabulary and fluency in speaking.
To go to nest stage one needs close criticism and good exposure to Chinese language. Simple everyday exposure is not enough.
- The Advanced Stage
By this stage, the learner has acquired excellent communication abilities. He or she can easily speak or write in Mandarin. At this stage, one has to read Mandarin literature extensively to improve upon the advanced grammar and vocabulary. To work on this stage, you need lots of Chinese friends. By this stage, they will also take you as normal Chinese speaking person as you will be able to speak and understand almost everything in Mandarin language.
At this stage, one has to work on advanced vocabulary, the Mandarin expressions of most abstract situations, Chinese literature and poems. To go to next levels requires not only obsession, but expert coaching. By this stage, one gets mastery of tones and pronunciation with need to have more and more of practice to make the language use perfectly normal.
- The Native Stage
By this stage, which only few foreigners can reach, you are better in Mandarin than half of China. If you want to reach this stage, then you must be living in China with Chinese spouse and must be planning to spend the rest of your life there only.
You can read the success story we shared here previously.
Owen Moksnes 