can speak canto fluently but cant read/write. went to chinese school when i was little for a few years but forgot everything. i'm just now taking some mandarin classes in college so i can speak/read/write it somewhat.
I can speak,write and read cantonese. To speak and read isnt so hard to lean, what I think atleast. But the writing part is a bit hard, there's about 30 000(?) Chinese ideograms to learn.
In reality, there's only 3000 words needed to properly read and comprehend a newspaper or magazine. You need about 5000 - 8000 words to go to University and to be able to write formally (essays, compositions, etc.). Reality about newspapers, whether English or Chinese, is that daily editions are written at about a grade 6 level so that the general public can read without difficulty (business-type newspapers are written at a grade 9 level). Think about it, how many people in China are actually educated? Many living in the rural areas don't go to school because they are too poor, have to help out with family business, etc. There are 30 000 characters, but many are rare and are seldom used.
i'm cantonese. can speak it but cannot read or write it. theres places in san diego where they teach you for free but im not taking any lessons.
Chinese class only properly teachs you stuff when you reach gcse/a level classes, the classes below are just chit-chat time, waste of money/time
I heard it's easier to speak mandarin than it is to speak cantonese. I'm too also know how to speak cantonese ok, but don't know how to read or write.
I have to sympathise with people who are born/raised in english speaking countries and struggle to pick up chinese. I happened to me, it's REALLY hard! -down It's really no surprise that it happens, you go to regular school five days a week for 6 hours or so, live amongst the culture and before too long english is your first language and chinese takes a backseat doing only 1-2 hours of chinese school a week. and trying to get it back at a later stage is even harder.
Chinese school could be a good alternative... I've learned reading and writing... but can't write on the pc.... too bad!
I went to kindergarten and grade one in China, so learning Chinese wasn't as hard for me. I can read some (like comics and kid novels), and I can write simple stuff I learned in grade one. I'm recently learning Chinese again, and I don't need to start all the way from beginning XD The hard thing is traditional, since I went to school in mainland China.
i can speak cantonese but i can't write at all. however, i can read the majority of the words. if you want to learn how to read, i find reading the subtitles to TVB series really useful!
For me, it was the opposite. I learned traditional in HK and it took me a bit of time to learn simplified later on.
it will take a LOOOONG time... i myself can speak cantonese and write very few words but ive been learning mandarin for about 7 years ... and i'm stil bad at it >.< maybe because i live in an english speaking country and i wasn't interested in learning until the last two years watching mandarin films/dramas will help you alot.
