Learning+Chinese

Learning Chinese
It can be difficult to learn Chinese due to the 4 tones and the multitude of written characters. Also, most people on the street in Shanghai speak in Shanghai dialect instead of standard Mandarin, and the two sound nothing alike. Once you initiate a conversation, most are able to speak Mandarin, especially shop owners and taxi drivers. Work on your charades skills to get through the first couple weeks.

If you do have a strong desire to learn the language (and I HIGHLY recommend that you do), then it is important to find a good teacher. Make sure that your teacher places some importance on tones (but doesn't obsess over them) and that you learn basic conversational phrases first rather than vocabulary that you won't be using. Here are the things you should learn first:


 * Giving instructions to taxi drivers including major locations, how to say 'turn right, turn left, straight ahead, stop here, etc.'
 * Ordering food at a restaurant (if you want to eat local food)
 * How to ask for prices and haggle over the cost of things
 * Giving instructions to your Ayi

Mandarin schools abound these days, and there are now several options in the Jinqiao neighborhood. Other schools that don't have locations in Jinqiao will happily send their tutors to your home for tutoring. One school that I can recommend is [|Accent Mandarin]. The owner, Kelly, started her teaching career at another popular Shanghai Mandarin school, Ease Mandarin. She later caught the entrepreneurial spirit that is so trademark of China and started her own school.

I started by listening to a CD in the car on the way to and from school during the spring before I moved to Shanghai, and just listening to that CD (a Dorling Kindersley CD) gave me the early basics needed to negotiate my way around ("turn right, turn left, straight ahead, stop here, numbers, days of the week, etc.).

I would also recommend the website http://www.nciku.com/ It offers a talking online Chinese dictionary and even allows you to set up vocabulary lists. If you are looking for free desktop software, I would recommend ZDT (http://zdt.sourceforge.net/) with versions for Windows, Mac and Linux. It is a Chinese flashcard application that helps you learn characters. Besides, there is a Chinese learning website named [|Hanban]. On it you can learn Chinese with fun. Articles have Chinese and English versions which will help you have a better understanding. You will learn the grammar, vocabulary and Chinese culture on it with pleasure.

Another great school is __Mandarin Today__, with classrooms within a few blocks of school. Their teachers are consistently good, and will go at the pace you desire. They can send teachers to your home or classroom, or you can go there.