There are loads of chinese languages not just one which it makes it very dificult to use

Har har, Clockd.

I know Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, slash Americans, that sound either redneck or valley girl or what have you. Theres no palate or glottal structural difference.

Chinese, and som other languages simply dont have some of the same sounds as English, so theyre extremely hard for an adult learner to come to terms with. Youd have an equally hard time learning Chinese, where a very simple sounding two letter syllable could mean a myriad of things depending on inflection.

I dont think its that bad. The majority speak mandarin I think, once you know one dialect the others are relatively interchangeable without too much lost in translation. I could be wrong, maybe thats why its called chinese whispers?


Max, I briefly took classes in Cantonese so I know exactly what you mean. Im not sure where I picked up my little snippet of information though, so its AFAIK.

Aha, I was way off, but this explains it all in some detail:

http://www.sinosplice.com/lang/pronunciation/03/

The sounds are made using different parts of the tongue against the palate, making it difficult (bot not impossible) to learn.

according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language

most are indeed Mandarin but still huge amounts of people speak the others

Ive got a chinese colleague on my course at uni.  I must say he speaks extremely good english and I very rarely find myself saying pardon.  :)Better than some of the european students imo.  :?

On a random note, before I worked (almost left that as "woked" :mutley: )with this chap, I had no idea that what we consider a surname is their first name and vice versca.

Quote from: Thrawn

Quote from: bearAbout 125 mil speak french, 405 mil english and 420 mil spanish, the two latter ones must be much more useful to know.  

And thats just as a first language Im assuming. If you look at how many people speak English as either first or second Im sure it would wipe the floor with everything bar Mandarin.

350-1000 mil speak english as a second language, so yes to above.

My misses is welsh and her family/friends/neighbours all use their middle name as their first

Quote from: brummieaccording to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language

most are indeed Mandarin but still huge amounts of people speak the others

Yes and they have a hard time understanding each other but if written all who can read understand.

Complete Idiot that guy I cant stand him every time I see him I feel the need to punch him.

Quote from: SamBias aside theres nothing to choose from between languages really, its not like people who speak one or the other cant communicate as well, its just were very lucky that English has become the defacto world language and unlucky for Chirac that French is becoming less and less used.

If its your first language then you will be able to speak it very fluently as your brain gets hardwired to understand it, any languages learned later are harder because the wiring has already taken place. Not all languages are as easy to learn and some are very difficult like Icelantic.

[qiote=Sam]
 Chinese will not ever take over its far far too difficult to learn, English is (apparantly) quite tolerant when mistakes  make you do.[/quote]
English is not so much tollerant as flexible, You can say something in many different ways, which also means you may end up saying something you never intended. Many other languages, unlike English, have sexed terms too which is how the famous English and how she is wrote style mistakes happen. Flexibility can also make languages difficult to learn.

The main reason Chinese isnt a good universal language is the number of written characters makes writing problematic.

Observation: The French arent racist, they hate everyone equally.

Quote from: Clockd 0NeI dont think its that bad. The majority speak mandarin I think, once you know one dialect the others are relatively interchangeable without too much lost in translation. I could be wrong, maybe thats why its called chinese whispers?

Although mandarin is the official language and most speak it there are a lot of other localised languages, not including Tebetan. In the West of china the languages are more like russian or indian and there is a good chance that someone from that area wouldnt understand mandarin.

Quote from: SmugsComplete Idiot that guy I cant stand him every time I see him I feel the need to punch him.

please stand in the cue and wait your turn...

/points to lne of 3 billion plus people...

Chirac is pathetic I have never known a world leader so obsessed with such unimportant things  

Quote from: maximusotterHis parking brake cant endure the whole inertia of the EU.

true - but the french are a bunch of insecure stubborn tw*ts - they got rather paranoid about english speaking pop music on thier radio & more recently they have been anti competitive regrding the prevention of mergers and aquisitions - this recent incident, though humorous, shows up a slightly more worrying side to the french - they like the benefits of being in the EU but they dont like sticking to the rules very much & it is still going to take a lot more shoving from the rest of the gang to make them grow up a bit.