Hi! I was wondering if we learn Cantonese as well as Mandarin with this course, or is it just Mandarin?
Chinese dialects
Lilith-W
March 16, 2011
vvanesse59
March 28, 2011
I believe it to be Mandarin only. Seems that I saw that somewhere in the ads. Might wait for another answer to be sure or e-mail hosts.
Oggiedoggy
March 29, 2011
This course will not help you learn Cantonese - even native Mandarin speakers can have problems with Cantonese.
It is like English speaking people learning other Latin alphabet based languages ie both use same alphabet but we can't understand.
Cantonese uses a few characters unique to the region but otherwise uses standard Traditional Characters, so I suppose the meaning of characters would carry over from Mandarin learned here and help you but the pronunciations would be all new & cantonese. There is a pattern to sound change and tone re-distribution so I read.
Google it for sites specific to learning Cantonese.
edite-d
March 30, 2011
hello
I try every days to download lessons in pdf but I don't know
reply me please
vvanesse59
March 30, 2011
I am not certain you can download in PDF. In the upper right hand corner of the lesson, there is a print icon. Click on that and a "printer friendly" copy will come up for your printout. Hope this helps
edite-d
March 31, 2011
thank you for your help.
edite-d
March 31, 2011
I would juste have the dialogue that is written in the lesson and I don't know how to download it.
Dana-L
April 1, 2011
Hi I'm Dana! how do you download the audio lesson on an ipod?
vvanesse59
April 1, 2011
I believe all you need to do is (1) select the lesson you wish to download (2) in the upper right corner is tells "to download full audio" right click and do "save target/link as" then (3) save it to your desktop or whatever file folder you wish to store the files in (4) plug in you ipod to the usb port and then I think you can copy/paste to that "drive" I just did these steps and saved it to a flash drive so I would imagine the ipod usb input would be the same. Good luck
Sigma46
April 4, 2011
I think you need to download iTunes first and then transfer the saved file to the ipod.
dmdnb9s
June 17, 2011
How can I find out about the dialect differences for Chongqing, Sichuan?
Lin-Ping
June 28, 2011
Speaking Mandarin in Chongqing, Sichuan, you will be understood readily by almost everyone. But when the locals speak in their Sichuan dialect, you would have great trouble understanding them. To find out about the dialect differences for Chongqing, Sichuan and Mandarin would take you many months if not years, coz people who live next door (next Province) to Sichuan, such as Hunan people need to strive hard to understand what Sichuan people are talking about in a group situation or even one on one. Do not get discouraged though... The conclusion is to learn Mandarin really well. Keep on the good effort. I appreciate your questions.
spark--
July 7, 2011
你们好，我是中国人，我现在也在学习英语，如果你对中国话和中国的文化感兴趣你可以加我QQ:47143425或者SKYPE:spark860523,可以相互学习一下！
HI，i come from Chinese, i am learning english, if you are interested in China culture and Chinese language, please add QQ:47143425 or Skype Ispark860523,We are studying each other have a nice day !
Lin-Ping
July 8, 2011
Good Idea. My skype ID: huakate1. Add me .
Lin-Ping
July 8, 2011
Why a dissappointed face come out??? Cheer Up! I just typed Skype Identity.
spark--
July 9, 2011
ok, thanke you ,please add me
Lin-Ping
July 16, 2011
Most welcome my friend.
Ed-S
August 3, 2011
Hi, I am just beginning this coarse and in one of the early lessons is explains about Mandarin is spoken in approix 75% of the region. It then goes on to say we are learning the Standard Chinese. Is Standard Chinses the same as Mandarin?
Oggiedoggy
August 3, 2011
Ed, take a look at this link!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese
欧博思
Lin-Ping
August 4, 2011
Great job, well done everyone. Thanks to 欧博思.
Ed-S
August 4, 2011
Thank you. I am impressed at the prompt response and clarification.
Reginald-V
August 6, 2011
我只会说汉语 一点儿。I speak a little Chinese\nWǒ xuéxí Hànyǔ yǐjīng wugeyuè le。 我 学 习 汉 语 已 经 五个月 了。\nPlanning a trip to China via Hong Kong.\nNeed to practice speaking Mandarin. Thanks.\n[redacted]\nSkypeID: reggie.vardon\nThanks
D-B
August 13, 2011
I will be traveling to Guangzhou and Fujian province in 4 months. From what I understand, they mostly speak Cantonese and other dialects in that region. Do they speak Mandarin too? I'm wondering if it will be helpful at all to learn some Mandarin for my trip, or will no one understand me in that part of the country?
Oggiedoggy
August 13, 2011
It should be helpful. Younger people are all educated in Mandarin and since those areas often receive guests from different areas of the country then shopkeepers and whatnot should at least be conversational. They may have a very heavy accent though. Be prepared for things to sound similar to, but not exact as the stuff in the lessons here. I reckon it will be like when I went to Hangzhou. I talked a couple hours one night with one of the girls that worked at the hostel and among other things I still remember vividly how she said 历史 'li shi' history as "ni si". It stumped me for a bit lol. In addition, tones of words may be different than what you are used to due to influence from the local dialect.
Lastly, lets just say Mandarin will be way more useful than if you went to Hong Kong where if you don't know Cantonese then English may be better than Mandarin...
Lin-Ping
August 15, 2011
Most of the people in those two provinces know Mandarin for sure, many of them speak with some accent , yes, sometimes.People in Hong Kong now also are learning to speak Mandarin. So no worries. When seeing you as a foreign guest, people would be mindful of how to help you feel at ease, well, this is my sincere hope at least.
D-B
August 16, 2011
Thank you both for the response. I studied Mandarin several years ago and was hoping to use this course to refresh my memory now that I finally have a chance to visit China. It's good to hear that I'll be able to put my experience to use.
Alan-R-G
June 14, 2013
This course is Mandarin only. I understand there are fifty some dialects and languages in China. Is this true?
Robert-C7
June 15, 2013
Yes, there are many dialects but they all use the same writing. Rocket Chinese teaches Mandarin. My wife is Cantonese and I cannot understand hardly anything she and my mother-in-law say to one another. My mother-in-law also speaks Mandarin. Most Chinese nationals learn Mandarin in addition to their local dialect by the time they finish high school.
This is one big reason why I suspect the Chinese keep using their non-phonetic writing since their dialects are so different. But, as I figure it, by learning Mandarin, we also learn the grammar which is quite different from English.
524822
November 16, 2013
Interestingly I travel a lot to Hong Kong. There are more and more people understand Mandarin but it is certainly not a given. If you are stuck, you can try and communicate in written Mandarin and most people understand simplified characters. Some words are different like one obvious being taxi but in general you can get by. I had more challenges in Guangzhou which being the mainland should have more standard mandarin but the pronunciation (mine) was a struggle for the locals to grasp.