Chinese

Could it be that you are throwing two separate questions together? :) 1. Are Singapore, Taiwan etc (in your eyes) "Chinese" (ethnically-wise) countries? 2. What languages are predominately spoken in either of them? Just because English is spoken in the UK, Australia and the US the countries aren't all classified as "English", are they? They share a common language and a historical background, nevertheless they are not to be confused and indeed we refer to Americans as Americans and not English. I believe the same applies to the countries mentioned in your question. I see all of them as separate countries, some of them more or less interfering with each other, but I do think in either of them Mandarin is mostly spoken (with exceptions). Regarding the aspect that people like to refer to the whole of Asia as China, it's just a matter of limited exposure to the respective cultures. I know dozens of people who think Japanese and Chinese are almost the same language (eg Dutch and German) despite the fact that the spoken languages differ distinctively. They are times I'd like to smack those people, especially when they are defending their position on very fluffly theories they heard or made up themselves, but usually I just smile and convince them that it's not the case. (Or smack them, nevertheless :p) Actually I am a little sad I was anticipating a thread for people who study Chinese and thought I had someone to discuss with. You! :p

Simply smack them. It works. I guarantee you. :p Seriously, I have spent a considerable amount of time telling people that there IS a difference between Asian languages. Some people enjoy clinging to their stereotypes, though. Oh that's cool, fellow Chinese-learner! ;) When did you start learning and why?

Sleepninja wrote: Taiwan <<< that gives quite a bit of info on it. Mandarin Chinese is their official national language. The confusing thing is their are a TON of different dialects and categories of Chinese in terms of the language.

Let me first state that I am not 100% certain of everything, but this is just what I've heard from several different sources. China considers Taiwan to be a part of them, but most Taiwanese disagree.

Yep. Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese government.

wrote: Another page from Wiki : China and the United Nations I haven't read all of it because, lets face it, it's like a friggin' novel and I don't have the time nor the attention span right now to explore it. I do find it very interesting though. Hong Kong is often linked to China as well, yet (correct me if I'm wrong) I think they have a lot of independence from China. I bet Kamzy could explain Hong Kong a little better.

It's a SAR from China which means that they have a "high autonomy" (well, depends on your definition, I guess). :p

Szasha wrote: Simply smack them. It works. I guarantee you. :p

Seriously, I have spent a considerable amount of time telling people that there IS a difference between Asian languages. Some people enjoy clinging to their stereotypes, though.

Oh that's cool, fellow Chinese-learner! ;) When did you start learning and why?

Simply smacking will work :)

I'm going for a TESOL certification right now. I hope to be over in China teaching English by the beginning of next year. That is why I'm learning the language slowly... Although I have to say Chinese is a beautiful language so I was planning on learning it anyway lol Japanese > Chinese > Korean > Thai > Vietnamese > Malay That's how I see it when it comes to Asian languages :) I'm kind of sick of the English language personally. I mean hearing it not teaching it or anything like that. It's just when it comes to Music, and speaking it seems so bland. Especially when it's compared to Japanese! Helloooo Yoshioka from Ikimono Gakari <3

Didn't Taiwan break away from China, and become a globally recognized Democratic State? I mean I know mainland China claims Taiwan to be part of China, but they also say the same thing for Tibet.... And Tibet isn't part of China however much they try, and claim otherwise...

Szasha wrote: That sounds quite interesting, why do you want to work as an English teacher and why in China and not in, let's say, Timbuktu?
Where do you learn? In a university course? Language school?
Chinese is a language I had to get used to - originally I was a little sceptical, but these days I appreciate almost all of it. :p
Actually I don't find English nor my own native-language to be a little colourless - but I understand where you are coming from.
I am also having some plans in my mind for the coming summer... ;)



Not exactly - I doubled checked before I wrote my last post. ;)
I am going to let wikipedia explain, it does it in such a nice manner:

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan (known in the past as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory, [...]

The Republic of China, established in mainland China in 1912, governed most of mainland China prior to the outbreak of the civil war, then received Taiwan and associated islands from the Surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in late 1945. However, the ROC lost its mainland territory in the Chinese Civil War to Communist forces who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) on that territory in 1949, and the ROC relocated its government to the island of Taiwan, which composes most of its current territory. The ROC government officially claims to represent all of "China" (in a definition including Taiwan) via its constitution, but, in practice, has ceased to actively pursue this stance since 1992. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China (PRC), simply known as "China", also officially asserts to be the sole legal representation of China, and actively claims that both mainland China and Taiwan should be under its sovereignty, denying the status of the existing Republic of China as a sovereign state.

Link

Well I originally wanted to Teach English in South Korea, since I love Korean culture. However I found out you need a Bachelors degree to teach there, and I don't have one. So my Choices are limited to China/Nepal/Thailand/Taiwan. China was second on my list anyway so I'm more than happy to go there! I want to experience Asian cultures and the easiest way to do so is to teach English. I'm specializing in Business English, and going through "Oxford Seminars" to get my TESOL certification. I'm self teaching myself Chinese at the moment same with Japanese. The best teaching strategy is to teach yourself, and find a way to ask others for help if needed lol I also want to go to China, because I want to find a Chinese wife. I LOVE Chinese women, and Koreans :D So basically I'm settling for my number 2 instead of Number 1 :P

Taiwan can't be Sovereign from China if It's governed by China xD Or maybe my brain is interpreting that wrong LOL

I consider Mainland China to speak Chinese, people from Taiwan are Taiwanese. When you get more into the actual language you actually hear how different they speak. I find Taiwanese so much easier to understand than Chinese, though. If you watch Meteor Garden which is Taiwanese and then watch Meteor Shower which is Chinese, you can hear the difference and it's huge. I prefer Taiwanese, but nowadays I don't mind watching Chinese dramas because I've gotten used to all of it.

Szasha wrote: I studied Chinese at our local university for about five months when I was still in high school, but unfortunately they haven't managed to get enough willing students together to offer an advanced course. I think Chinese is a language you need help with at least with the intonation. Or do you have a secret method to share? :p

I have a couple of Chinese friends I talk to as well as some online friends who are interested in learning my language or improve their English.

Aha. So it comes down to women. *Shaked head in disbelief* This is just so... men!



Lmao, you have dirty imaginations of money and imploding? Have you eaten something unusual today? Mushrooms? Herbs?
I agree with you partly. I hope that our currency (Euro) is going to stabilise in the future, but if the US is going to implode as you say it might -very likely- also be due to a continued boom of the Chinese and Indian economy.
But although I don't regard Chinese language skills as a life insurance I do think it might come in handy in the future when dealing with Chinese customers. ;)
(And when buying Chinese food! Yum! Hehe)

I am hungry now. Thank you very much. I am yearning for some Asian noodles. :p

My Secret Method is called "The Library." They have this interesting concept where you can check out books, and audio players. So I go there, and check out all the Chinese/Japanese video players I can get a hold of! They're quite handy for trying to pronounce words. Trying to write on the other hand they don't help much with lol And no I'm not going just for women... They're just a plus. I'd really love to go to an old fashioned festival in China where I can wear an awesome looking robe :2 Ya know like the robes people wore back in Ancient Korea during the 3 states era :D I love robes if you couldn't tell lol

See... The Euro is what's propping up the dollar right now... If it wasn't you'd start to see the US implode. You'd start to see food prices sky rocket, and gas go even higher. The standard of living would go down. I'm into Economics trust me if it wasn't for the Euro, and a couple other currencies stabilizing the dollar right now this country would not be where it's at. Oh, even the 4 dollar a gallon of gas here is still to artificially low according to the market. So it should be raised 75% to be where the market wants it to be. (Not that I want it to be any higher of course) :3