Discussion How much time does it take to learn a language

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Darkcrow., Dec 5, 2019.

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  1. Darkcrow.

    Darkcrow. Foul Tarnished

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    I was thinking about learning Chinese,So i just wanted to know how much time does it take to speak Chinese fluently.
     
  2. elengee

    elengee Daoist Ninefaps

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    The blink of an eye.
     
  3. joey183

    joey183 The Mysterious Entity

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    Normally it takes about a month to be able to speak like a primary school kid level, like simple conversational phrases (eg, yes, no. How are you, I'm fine thank you type). If you want to speak at the level of high school and above, 6 months is the minimum on the basis that you attend classes regularly and is in a Chinese speaking environment.
     
  4. Crywolf641

    Crywolf641 Well-Known Member

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    It entirely depends on your learning capabilities.
    For some it's in a blink of an eye.
    A month
    A year
    A few years
    So there's no exact 'time' for us to estimate on how long it would take you to learn mandarin
    While there are language centers it doesn't mean you'll learn the language in 12 months or so it entirely depends on your dedication to learn.
     
  5. shadowreader

    shadowreader Well-Known Member

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    Get a dictionary in whatever language you want to learn and swallow it whole
     
  6. 4L3Y

    4L3Y Well-Known Member

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    Better give up or go directly to China. the language itself is not so hard but their culture is on etiquette and face and whatnot,.Two exact lines written in different context will have complitly different meanigs. You also have formal/informal/intimate phrasing, it change according to how well you know the one you're talking to.
    I think almost all Asian languages are like that
     
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  7. vancenick

    vancenick Well-Known Member

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    Don’t forget to mention how even annunciation is very important cause even a slight mispronunciation can significantly change the meaning of a word
    EDIT o and all the homophones
     
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  8. novalance

    novalance Well-Known Member

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    I think you can learn the basic grammar of most languages in a week or two. Most of the time is going to be spent memorizing vocabulary more than anything. Whatever time it took for you to learn your primary language is about how much time you should plan for the second one. Best ways to cut down on the time is to move to that locale that uses the language you are planning to learn.
     
  9. joey183

    joey183 The Mysterious Entity

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    I think this mostly apply more to Japanese and Korean. Modern Chinese aren't so particular on formal/informal setting especially if they know you're a foreigner.
     
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  10. 4L3Y

    4L3Y Well-Known Member

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    Yeah for sure, i remember reading something like that in one novel but i forgot the word itself. It was like this:
    "Yan" not like "Yan" in "river", or "stary sky" but "Yan" in "fries" or something like that.
    I thought i was going mad. LOL
     
  11. 4L3Y

    4L3Y Well-Known Member

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    Ahh i see, i'm just gonna stick with my google translate and add more data to my phone or hire a translator if i have the means to IF i ever go in Asia
     
  12. Ratatoskr

    Ratatoskr [Aruruu's proud dad] [The False Gentleman]

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    Doraemon's translating jelly is the fastest way.
    I watch on a youtube video once that it took like 1200+ hour or something to really learn chinese. Speaking and reading.
     
  13. joey183

    joey183 The Mysterious Entity

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    Lol. At least google translate do translate modern chinese better. Also don't need to go to China to learn chinese. Taiwan is also a good place too ;)
     
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  14. 4L3Y

    4L3Y Well-Known Member

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    :sneaky::sneaky::)
     
  15. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    nope far from almost
    eastern asia do have crazy thing for intimate affection phrase
    hmm rather formal and informal on asia it more like the phrasing lean toward respect other be it on formal or informal pattern cuz well education gap so even when using informal language people who foreign to each other tend to use "polite" words despite it on informal
    while when close enuf it back to culture, some will insulting each other or ..... polite words on formal speaking is tiresome......
    from SEA... middle east hmm if I remember it correctly more similar to SEA rather than east asia as for South Asia~ hmm dunno
     
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  16. SquadCammander354

    SquadCammander354 『Early Life Crisis』〖Stormy's Bro〗『Lord of Storms』

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    How long have you been learning English for? o.o)?
     
  17. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    formal english? let see 4 years pehaps~ yup english grammar quite something with irregularities make this cat literaly told da teacher BULLSHIT!
    beautiful long red nice smell ripe banana~ please turn it into correct sentence this cat already forget which adverd should be used on sequence to describe something
    when come to working age this cat throw it away cuz it useless still cuz some grammar been drilled this cat know few thing, correct me isn't informal and formal usually based on grammatical correctness? while words nuisance aka words choice is secondary?
    oh wait most english word have neutral nuisance so back then it was hell translate english to this cat language
     
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  18. SquadCammander354

    SquadCammander354 『Early Life Crisis』〖Stormy's Bro〗『Lord of Storms』

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    Essentialy most Asian jokes translatr terribly to English, so either it never gets translated, is replaced, or is translated directly.

    As for informal speeches, we have a variable number of words that we can use specifically for that purpose, for instance, "Arisu is a vacuous one."
     
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  19. Bachingchung

    Bachingchung Well-Known Member

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    If you're a toddler then pretty fast, as an adult it depends on the language you're learning and the amount of focus you give.
     
  20. baka8roukanako

    baka8roukanako Well-Known Member

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    A lifetime.
     
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