im new and im young
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Aurelio
Re: im new and im young
Hi Richard:
I don't think anybody will dismiss your post just because you're 16. Learning Chinese is a very rewarding experience - hang on in there.
Are you sure that the language course at the school is in Cantonese? If so, you're really lucky! If it is, you might want to ask the teacher for a personal recommendation. This way, you would also know which system he or she uses to write Cantonese in the latin alphabet. Yale-romanisation is used a lot, but there is a whole lot of other systems which are used as well.
The "Teach Yourself" language series has a beginner's course on Cantonese ("Teach Yourself Cantonese", CD & book, you'll find that on Amazon). I quite like it (it has all Cantonese (!) characters (instead of Mandarin pronounced the Cantonese way)), but I know that a lot of people won't like the romanisation system (the authors use little extra 'r's and 'h's to indicate some tone classes, so e.g. "wrong" is actually pronounced "wong", but with a lower tone). Once you've gotten used to the system it makes a lot of sense, but native speakers will find it completely weird. Most likely, it won't be the one used in your school, either. I guess your best bet is to go along with your teacher's recommendation.
Some personal tips: Don't worry too much about learning Chinese characters during the first 1/2 year (or even longer) - once you can speak (!) the language a bit, it's much easier to learn them than if you tried from the very beginning. And be patient with you girlfriend - chances are she didn't study Cantonese in school, so she won't know the rule for each and everything in Cantonese, but she'll still be right
Good luck and have fun,
Aurelio
I don't think anybody will dismiss your post just because you're 16. Learning Chinese is a very rewarding experience - hang on in there.
Are you sure that the language course at the school is in Cantonese? If so, you're really lucky! If it is, you might want to ask the teacher for a personal recommendation. This way, you would also know which system he or she uses to write Cantonese in the latin alphabet. Yale-romanisation is used a lot, but there is a whole lot of other systems which are used as well.
The "Teach Yourself" language series has a beginner's course on Cantonese ("Teach Yourself Cantonese", CD & book, you'll find that on Amazon). I quite like it (it has all Cantonese (!) characters (instead of Mandarin pronounced the Cantonese way)), but I know that a lot of people won't like the romanisation system (the authors use little extra 'r's and 'h's to indicate some tone classes, so e.g. "wrong" is actually pronounced "wong", but with a lower tone). Once you've gotten used to the system it makes a lot of sense, but native speakers will find it completely weird. Most likely, it won't be the one used in your school, either. I guess your best bet is to go along with your teacher's recommendation.
Some personal tips: Don't worry too much about learning Chinese characters during the first 1/2 year (or even longer) - once you can speak (!) the language a bit, it's much easier to learn them than if you tried from the very beginning. And be patient with you girlfriend - chances are she didn't study Cantonese in school, so she won't know the rule for each and everything in Cantonese, but she'll still be right
Good luck and have fun,
Aurelio
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Jan
Re: im new and im young
Hi Richard
Dont worry.
I am nearly 3 years together with my girlfriend, and going to marry her over 6 weeks, and am learning every day the Cantonese little by little.
I got help 2 1/2 years ago because her sister got a nice baby sho is the most naughty and sweet one in the world.
While they teached her I was learning it in a lower gear.
Have fun!
[%sig%]
Dont worry.
I am nearly 3 years together with my girlfriend, and going to marry her over 6 weeks, and am learning every day the Cantonese little by little.
I got help 2 1/2 years ago because her sister got a nice baby sho is the most naughty and sweet one in the world.
While they teached her I was learning it in a lower gear.
Have fun!
[%sig%]