(This is my simplistic summary, not a serious pedagogic thesis.)
The Chinese language has a fearsome reputation in general, with so many seemingly insurmountable hurdles in the way of the learner who is brave enough to venture into its realm.
The script is unique (the overlaps with Korean [pre-1970s] and Japanese [post 4th/5th centuries AD] are borrowings by those languages). A lot of European languages share the same alphabet, which generally makes it easier for people from one European country to learn the language of another European country.
The sounds: Chinese is a tonal language, which most non-Chinese people have trouble managing. (I'm only thinking of Mandarin which has four main basic tones [vs, say, Cantonese which has six], and standard readings [not tone changes when uttered in combination].)
The grammar is not unique (in some ways, it's similar to German and Japanese, e.g., with the main verb coming at the end of the sentence -- my simplistic summary from my own limited knowledge), but it does vary quite a bit from English, the language that has been the global language.
Now for the good news before you decide to give up on the language altogether: there are elements to the language that make life much easier for the learner of Chinese (than for the learner of English).
You did not list probably the Number 1 hurdle for me (as someone mostly interested in learning to read and write rather than speak and listen): the absence of spaces in the written script to separate words.
ReplyDeleteBut I am very curious to read what the elements of the language that make life easier for the learner are....