Is it difficult to learn Mandarin?

Hi, many of my western friends found it is very difficult to learn Chinese after they moved to Hong Kong. Chinese sounds rigid and mechanical and that tones are very similar. But because the economy in China is soaring, it is a good motivation for them to master this communication tool for their future business opportunities. Have you tried to learn Mandarin? What do you think about this language? Please drop me a line to share your experience or your learning plan.

Chinese is a very difficult language as it is made up of a lot of dialects and I guess what most of your western friends are encountering is the Cantonese dialect which is the common dialect used in Hong Kong and some wordings cannot even be put into writing, therefore even non-local Chinese find it very difficult. Comparatively, Mandarin is easier to pick up as whatever is spoken can be written down in the Chinese character word by word.

I have taken some lessons Cantonese, which structurally is extremely similar to Mandarin. I would say:

- Tones can be tricky but this is much less of a problem in Mandarin from what I hear. Also even if you hit the tone a bit wrong it can often be worked out from context. If you already speak a tonal language, like Swedish, you will probably have an easier time.

- Grammar is completely different from a Indo-European language. There are no tenses and no genders. So no getting those wrong.

- Word order in a sentence is always the same, so no pesky nuances based on word order.

- Grammar is rather simplistic, but at least in Canto there are quite a few irregularities and idioms which require rote learning. I found that compared to learning tenses in French or Latin, the grammar was very simple.


The ability to pick up a language varies from person to person, but mostly it is about how much you practice. If you really work at it, with several hours a day, you can become fairly proficient within a couple of months.


The ability to retain a language (apart from those learned as a child) is predicated on the amount of practice. In HK, Mandarin is not that common. If you don't use the language and practice daily you will forget it. Cantonese is thus much easier to retain in HK.

Ditto with above although would disagree entirely with the word "dialect". They are different languages. Comparing Cantonese and Mandarin is similar to comparing English with German or French. Don't tell the CCP government though.


HK native language is Cantonese, an extremely tonal language consisting of 7 - 9 tones. As mentioned there are no tenses and to really get it you need to use it. You'll find many people who will help you with practice in HK. Some of us are married to local Chinese so we are able to use at home with spouses and kids.


Mandarin which is the official language on the mainland (actually only spoken by just under 50% of the population - and to many of them as a second language) is a more simple language with fewer tones. Easier to learn than Cantonese although in HK very difficult to practice. For those of us who travel to China every week though we do have opportunity to use.


If you plan on spending lots of time in China in the future you'll find Mandarin very useful, however if you only plan on being in HK you'll find Mandarin next to useless. In that case Cantonese would be a better bet.

Local people in Hong Kong are getting more motivated to learn Mandarin now. As Hong Kong has become part of Mainland China, Mandarin language skills will sooner or later take an important role here. Maybe the official language will change to Mandarin in the future.


By the way, where do most people find Mandarin classes or private teachers?

"If you plan on spending lots of time in China in the future you'll find Mandarin very useful, however if you only plan on being in HK you'll find Mandarin next to useless. In that case Cantonese would be a better bet."


I would say that if you are in HK you should learn Canto. If you move to, say, Beijing, picking up Mandarin will be easier if you already speak some Canto. (This assumes you are Western).


"By the way, where do most people find Mandarin classes or private teachers?"


The Y has classes I think. Otherwise from referrals. My Canto teacher is Chris Chen. He also does Mandarin. Very dedicated and would call me every night for 5 minutes to put in some extra practice between lessons. 6573 1818.

By the way, I heard Ange Leung is also a quite good Mandarin teacher with many expat students. Her number is 6844 3484. Have you ever heard of her?