Chinese Learning Blog | Study in China | CLI

In the age of global communication, learning Chinese is easier and more convenient than ever before.  The Chinese government currently estimates that 40 million people across the globe are learning Mandarin from outside the PRC, a 25% increase from 2005.  And although in Western countries the most popular foreign languages continue to be Spanish, French, and German, European and American interest in studying Chinese is on the swift rise.

For those wishing to achieve proficiency in the world’s most widely spoken native language, online Mandarin classes provide a valuable alternative to studying in China.  Honing your Mandarin skills in the PRC certainly offers the priceless opportunity of experiencing full immersion into the Chinese language and culture; however, some students lack sufficient time or money for such a venture.  Learning Chinese online brings the classroom directly to you, so you don’t need to put your immediate obligations on hold to take part.

Alternatively, studying Chinese online provides a perfect academic arrangement for students who have already studied in China and are seeking to continue their Mandarin lessons after returning home.  It is additionally a valuable introduction for those who are preparing to travel to China, and would like to practice their Mandarin prior to doing so.

Aside from the convenience offered by studying Chinese online, holding class through the Internet is generally much more affordable than hiring a private tutor near home.  Differences in the cost of labor between China and the West offer the privilege of one-on-one Chinese lessons, but without the unwanted financial strain.

Private online instruction ensures that your language level, learning pace and style, and relevant needs are fully taken into account.  Because classes are performed one-on-one, student input is valued highly and teachers monitor individual progress carefully.  You can be sure that you have the full, undivided attention of your instructor at all times, and there are no external distractions.  Best of all, you have complete flexibility in scheduling your Chinese lessons, and your weekly instruction will be based upon your personal scheduling availability.

CLI now provides one-on-one online Chinese lessons in a variety of subject areas, including Spoken Chinese, Business Chinese, and Chinese for Kids.  Please visit our Learn Chinese Online page to view a complete listing of our study options!

While in Guilin, you will stumble upon countless chances to meet new people and to practice your Chinese.  Unlike in Beijing and Shanghai, the majority of local Guilinese speak only limited English — so, why not brush up on your Chinese skills instead?

The first key to making local acquaintances is to master essential introductory questions that people are bound to ask:

- Where are you from? Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?  你从哪里来？

- How long will you be/have you been in Guilin? Nǐ zai Guìlín duō cháng shī jiān? 你在桂林多长时间？

- Why did you come to Guilin? Nǐ wèi shén me lái Guìlín? 你为什么来桂林？

- What do you study? Nǐ xué xī shén me zhuānyè?  你学习什么专业?

- Where do you study? Nǐ zaì nǎlǐ xué xī?  你在哪里学习？

After grasping the meaning of these Chinese introductory phrases, you can then begin to build the vocabulary necessary to hold basic conversations in Chinese.  Instead of speaking English with your friends and classmates, speak Chinese instead, and make a habit of practicing your Mandarin in natural settings.  By listening carefully to the Chinese spoken by local Guilinese, you’ll be able to better understand the Chinese of native speakers.

CLI offers limitless opportunities for students to practice Chinese, both inside and outside of the classroom.  Our facilities provide a true immersion-based learning environment, as students participate in cultural seminars, language learning activities, and in-house meals alongside staff, teachers, and Chinese friends.

Helpful tips for learning introductory Chinese:

- When someone uses a word that you don’t understand, ask them to repeat it so that you can begin to pick up new vocabulary.

- Each time you learn a new word, write it down in a language learning notebook.  This notebook should be carried with you wherever you go, and not just used while you study at home.

- Ask shop owners and sales clerks to provide the names of common household items while you’re shopping — a helpful, on-the-go tool for increasing your vocabulary.

- You’ll soon find that the local Chinese are very friendly and eager to chat — let them know that you speak Chinese by approaching affable strangers, and don’t be shy!

Usually known to foreign visitors as the Chinese New Year, Spring Festival (春节, Chūn Jié) is traditionally the most important holiday of the Chinese calendar year.  The date that Spring Festival falls on fluctuates in accordance with the Chinese agrarian calendar (农历, nónglì), and is always held on the first day of the first month of the new lunisolar year.  Typically, Spring Festival falls somewhere in between January 21 and February 20.

Though Spring Festival originated in China, it is also celebrated in many other parts of the world, particularly those with substantial Chinese populations – Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Chinatowns scattered across the globe, just to name a few.  In addition, the holiday has had influence on the traditional festivals of other cultures with whom the Chinese have historically interacted, including the Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians, Tibetans, and Japanese.

Traditional Chinese festivities during Spring Festival are varied and numerous.  One of the most important rituals that Chinese families typically undertake is a thorough cleaning of the home, which is meant to bring good luck for the coming year.  Many Chinese purchase new clothing for the same reason – new things symbolize a “fresh start” – and decorate their homes with paper cutouts and auspicious couplets.  Red lanterns are hung from homes and on trees, in public squares and in private spaces.  Devoted Buddhist and Daoist practitioners often visit local temples to welcome the new year and special food, especially dumplings, will be prepared on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

While company employees and younger members of the family will be greeted with cash-filled red envelopes (红包,  hóngbāo) for good luck, Chinese locals will light firecrackers and fireworks to scare away evil spirits.  Dragon and lion dances fulfill the same purpose – not only do they symbolize prosperity, but their appearance and the clamorous music that accompanies them is thought to drive away evil.  It is also common practice for the Chinese to visit the graves of ancestors, lighting incense and paying respects to generations past.

This year, the first day of the Chinese New Year fell on January 3, marking the Year of the Rabbit (兔年, Tù Nián).  The Rabbit is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, symbolizing mercy, elegance, and gentleness.

Cool fact: The Chinese Spring Festival marks the world’s largest human migration, as overseas Chinese and Chinese migrant laborers return home to celebrate the advent of the new year alongside their families.

恭喜发财，红包拿来！

For those who are passionate about adventure, education, or traveling, teaching abroad offers the opportunity of a lifetime.  Not only does it provide invaluable work experience, but it also allows you to connect with a new culture while still earning money.  Furthermore, the challenges of living and working in a foreign environment enhance international awareness, making you more independent and open-minded at the same time.

In China, the English language market is growing rapidly.  While salaries for teaching English in China are typically lower than elsewhere in Asia, the average cost of living is lower as well — as a result, foreign teachers can easily put aside an ample sum of money for holiday travel.  Furthermore, teaching contracts offered by Chinese host institutions normally include furnished housing accommodations, so rent-free living allows earnings to be spent at a leisurely rate.

China, a country that has only recently opened its doors to international commerce and trade, has witnessed a great many changes and challenges over the past few decades.  China is home to one of the world’s richest and most ancient civilizations, and provides a wide range of unique cultural opportunities: from martial arts to calligraphy, traditional medicine to Eastern philosophy, China offers a little something for everyone.

Last but not least, teaching in China provides complete immersion into Chinese language and culture.  Mandarin Chinese is earth’s most widely spoken language, currently understood by more than one billion people worldwide.  Not only the official language of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese is also spoken in the influential Chinese communities of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Mongolia, and Indonesia.  The language skills that you gain while teaching in China can open the way to many different fields of work, including economics, politics, history and business.

Seeing the world, experiencing a new culture, contributing to a local community — all of these things await you when you decide to teach in China.  We look forward to welcoming you into the Guilin community soon!

To many Westerners, at first glance Chinese seems like one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn.  One reason for this common misconception stems from the fact that Chinese is based upon a character system.  Another reason is that the most common language constructs and vocabulary are quite different from those with which Westerners are generally familiar; rarely when studying Chinese do students stumble upon words or grammar points that simultaneously occur in English or other European languages.

For those interested in studying the world’s most widely spoken language, however, the good news is that learning Chinese is not so difficult as it seems.  In fact, various aspects of the Chinese language are simpler and easier to learn than their European counterparts:

1.  Though written Chinese is comprised of characters, the People’s Republic of China has developed an official romanization system, called pinyin, for transcribing Chinese and teaching language basics. Pinyin uses the standard Roman alphabet as a tool for learning Chinese pronunciation, and all words written in pinyin are pronounced phonetically.  Not only used widely throughout the PRC, pinyin has also been adopted for use in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore, and the US recognizes pinyin as the standard Roman spelling for Chinese words.  Pinyin is often used alongside Chinese characters to provide pronunciation and grammar tips.

2.  Although there are about 50,000 Chinese characters in total, it is possible to reach an advanced level of reading proficiency after mastering only a few thousand. The majority of Chinese characters are rarely used in common conversation, and many of them are almost never encountered.  Once the most often used characters are grasped, day-to-day written Chinese is quite easy to comprehend.  All Chinese characters are originally derived from a couple hundred pictographs and ideographs, and there is a system to their design – understanding that system makes it much easier to learn Chinese characters.

3.  Chinese grammar structures are generally easier to learn than those of most European languages.  Chinese does not have subject-verb agreement, nor does it have plurals, irregular verbs, conjugations, or tenses.  Prepositions are simple to use and conditional statements are easy to formulate, and all dates and times follow a direct numbering system.  An elementary-level student of Chinese can easily conduct everyday conversation after two to three months of intensive language instruction.

As China’s economy rapidly develops, the world’s most populous  nation will play an increasingly important role on the world stage.  International exchange and cooperation will become progressively more central to securing the global atmosphere of the 21st century, and China’s great potential in politics, sciences, technology and trade is already apparent.  To meet the emergence of new needs, rising numbers of students are pursuing the goal of Chinese language proficiency.  What’s holding you back?

*All images are of CLI students enrolled in the Immersion Program.

好好学习，天天向上！