Degree Of Fluency In Chinese

Fluency is often related to context. I have the same issues with explaining medical conditions to family as well. But to able to describe to them, so they can help fill in gaps for unknown language terms that, to me is the meaning of fluency

 

Its sad that in HK and Taiwan that some of the younger crowd do not know chinese and use english for words they dont know in chinese.

 

i would say i'm fluent. i don't understand the lyrics in songs but i can carry conversations with my parents,grandparents and relatives without using english words. i also find that when i'm in an argument, then my chinese is even better.

 

It's not a very huge crowd -- only those attending international private schools would NOT have Chinese, be it Cantonese or Mandarin, as part of the mandatory curriculum.

 

I can speak Cantonese fluently because at where I work, we have to, which is actually good for me to practice my Chinese since most of my ABC friends don't speak a lot of Chinese. I can speak basic Mandarin, but I understand majority of it.

 

Which category do i belng to? Iam not v.good at speaking cantonese conversationally, am ok at it, can communicate it but i 100% understand tv news! I can also speak mandarin, english and japanese fluently, and am ok in korean and dutch and french!!

 

i think ppl who are fluent in chinese find chinese songs hard to understand b'cos obviously songs use written down chinese rather than spoken chinese, whih are both totally different when spoken.

 

I think having the language as their mother tongue, even though it may spell fluent, does not mean a good command of the language grammatically -- that's why many who are fluent in Chinese cannot grasp lyrics or poems well, especially for Cantonese speakers. The colliqual side of the language is so totally different from the written form that people with Cantonese as their mother tongue master the colliqual but could be terrible reader and writers (grammarical).

 

My Chinese is not that good and I can't read or write it. I wish my Chinese was better.

 

I understand news and most formal chinese usage, but, to be a UN translator is stretching it. lol

 

My listening and speaking skill in cantonese is perfect, but I have forgotten how to write a lot of the words.

 

If cantonese would be the official language...i could be interpreter at the UN
I do speak like the news broadcasters do ....i watched too much news...so formal chinese is no problem for me, just like official chinese letters(once got those from the Hong Kong Immigration Department about one application)....
and i used to translate medical terms(and other professional terms) for chinese folks....i have a special dictionary for this.....
but mandarin is another story, i am just starting to learn it...al those tones....
btw....i am just a oversease chinese.....

 

Why is there no option between "My Chinese's so good, I can be an on the fly translator at the UN. I understand TV news in Chinese" & "No problems conversationally, but formal Chinese (like the news) is difficult for me "?
hmm.. my chinese is quite good, i think.. but not to the extent of being a UN translator ba... i do understand news in chinese...-lol

 

I understand everything I see on cantonese tv, (news,shows etc)

I find it hard to translate hard words, but I still know what they means, just cant explain them ^^

 

Are you overseas in Asia? Or in North America? 100% overseas?

 

Hm, I'm fluent in Chinese conversationally as well (ie: no 'ums' and 'ahs'). I've been told that I have a traditional Canton accent and not a HK one, because I don't use 'lazy sounds' like HK people do. Haha! I'm an ABC, btw.

 

lol i'm pretty much fluent in chinese, but i can't read or write =/

 

I Can Comunicate In Simple Cando & Mandarin

 

I'm pretty fluent in Cantonese ^^ can read and write chinese, but really bad a spaeking in mando...so I rarely speak it. If you hear me speaking in mando you're very lucky xD