[2021-03-03]我已经开始学中文了... 一周后，我感到既有动力也有压力

fgm13
I really like this language, I really trusted those people on YouTube saying is not that hard. However, after reading through all the posts in this subreddit and trying to watch a Chinese series, I am starting to lose motivation.
Any advice? Learning Chinese is a project I really want to carry out, but it feels so overwhelmed.

【楼主】我真的很喜欢这种语言，我真的相信油管上的那些人说这语言并不难。然而，在浏览了这个网站的所有帖子和试着观看一部中文电视剧后，我开始失去动力了。
大家有什么建议吗？学习中文真的是一个我很想做的计划，但是它让我感到受挫。

Comp_xe
I’d say don’t get discouraged! This is a pretty big and complex language, it’s not something that’s gonna happen overnight. I’ve been learning it for three years and it often feels like I’ve just scratched the surface.

我想说的是，不要泄气！这是一门非常庞大而复杂的语言，不可能一蹴而就的。我已经学了三年了，经常感觉自己只是触及了皮毛。

BookyMonstaw
You should give it time because it takes years to learn Chinese, you have only been studying for one week.

你应该慢慢来，因为学中文需要几年的时间，而你才学了一个星期而已。

jxwatrdt
decades, to be more precise...

准确地说，是几十年...

Savaaage
I've accepted that I will take 10 years to learn.

我已经接受了我要花十年去学习的事实。

Yolandayangne
We never can completely get a new language. But there is definitely one day that we can get enough to make this new language work. From my experience, hsk5 is enough to cover all the aspects of the life and can really express and communicate in deep way.

我们永远不可能完全掌握一门新语言。但是总有一天，我们会积累足够的词汇来让这种新的语言发挥作用。根据我的经验，汉语等级考试5级就足以涵盖生活的方方面面，能够真正深入地表达和交流。

Columba_Rupestris
Really? I always see the HSK6 guys complaining that they cannot even read the daily newspaper.

真的吗？我经常看到6级的人抱怨他们甚至连日报都读不懂。

Yolandayangne
Because normally passing the hsk5/6 exams doesn’t mean they are really on this level. They can’t really understand or know how to use all the words. Or their speaking ability is far behind the reading ability. Also writing language is always different from the oral one . It happens in all languages, especially in Chinese since Chinese newspaper prefer to quote the traditional phrases & lectures and history to make the language precise & accurate and beautiful. So for news , it is more related to culture. But it doesn’t mean you never can read the news . If your teacher can explain the exact meaning of each single characters in the words during your learning journey, it is kinda of easier to understand the words or expressions you’ve never seen before. For instance: 探险(explore): 探: to figure out/ find out/ detect; 险: dangerous. So you can roughly guess探险: to detect the dangerous things. So you also can try to guess 探头(probe ): detect head . And according to the text context, you should be very likely to understand the contents.

因为通常通过汉语5/6级考试并不意味着他们真的达到了这个水平。他们不能真正理解或知道如何使用所有的单词。或者说他们的口语能力远远落后于阅读能力。而且，写作语言总是不同于口头语言。这种现象在各种语言中都有发生，特别是中文，因为中国报纸更喜欢引用传统的短语、讲座和历史，让语言精确、准确、优美。所以对于新闻来说，它更多的是与文化相关的。但这并不意味着你永远读不了新闻。如果你的老师能够在你的学习过程中解释单词中每个字符的确切含义，那么理解你以前从未见过的单词或短语就会容易一些。例如：“探险”的探：找出/发现/检测；险：危险。所以你可以试着猜猜“探险”的意思：去发现危险的事情。你也可以猜猜“探头”的意思：检测头。根据上下文，你应该会很容易理解其中的内容。

the_acid_lava_lamp
Yeah, I started learning 3 years ago and I’m still beginner level lmao

是啊，我三年前开始学习，现在还是初学者 哈哈

Noodles_Crusher
it's a marathon, not a sprint.
what worked for me was picking a fixed number of new characters/words to study every day, set it in my anki deck, and do them. every day, writing them down and reviewing the ones from the previous days.
I had a fixed schedule due to having mandarin exams, if your case is different, then in the long run it doesn't matter if you do 5, 10 or 20 per day, what matters is consistency.

这是马拉松，不是短跑。
对我来说，每天挑选一定数量的新字符/单词来学习，把它们放在我的 anki 平台上，然后完成它们。每天写下来，回顾前几天的内容。
由于我有普通话考试，我有一个固定的时间表，如果你的情况不同，那么从长远来看，无论你每天做5个，10和或20个，重要的是持之以恒。

Arwenventure
Couldn't agree more. Depending on your first language, it will feel more or less difficult, but in the long run, what matters is resistance, not speed.

完全同意。这取决于你的母语，或多或少会觉得困难，但从长远来看，重要的是阻力，而不是速度。

fgm13
I will try to do that, thank you so much for the advice.

【楼主】我会尽力做到的，非常感谢你的建议。

twbluenaxela
Language learning takes time, and lots of it. The beginning is probably the most motivating because you see the most immediate results, and for a long time during the intermediate level, you will feel like no progress is being made at all, until you actual take a good look and compare yourself to a year before. A lot of the learning is not very evident while you're deep in the thick of it. It's like wax on and wax off. You'll catch yourself spitting out 成语 and certain phrases without even realizing it.
There is no possible way you could understand even a little bit after a week, nevermind understanding a show or something on a deep level after a few years.

学习语言需要时间，而且要花很多时间。刚开始可能最激励人心，因为你看到的是最直接的结果，而且在中间阶段的很长一段时间里，你会觉得没有任何进展，直到你真正好好地审视自己，并与一年前的自己进行比较。当你深入进去的时候，很多学习并不明显。就像打蜡脱蜡一样（坚持下去）。你就会发现自己在不知不觉中脱口而出一些成语和短语。你不可能在一个星期后就能听懂哪怕是一点点，更不要说几年后就能听懂一部电视剧或一些深层次的东西了。

WoBuZhidaoDude
Yep. I recently came to the conclusion that "learning" Chinese is like brushing your teeth: you don't ever stop. Ever. Fluency is not a goal. It is a process and a permanent lifestyle.
You can't say, "I'm going to accomplish good oral hygiene. And once I master it, I can stop flossing and brushing." Same with Chinese. If you really want to "learn" it, it has to become an abiding, permanent part of your life.

是的。我最近得出结论，“学习”中文就像刷牙一样：永远不要停下来。永远不要。流利不是一个目标。这是一个过程，也是一种永久的生活方式。
你不可能说“我要做到良好的口腔卫生。一旦我掌握了这个，我就再也不用牙线和刷牙了。”中文也一样。如果你真的想“学习”它，那么必须让它成为你生活中永久的一部分。

tztoxic
but after a decade, you’re surely somewhat fluent?

但是过了十年，你的语言一定会很流利吧？

Cactux3000
sure but if you don't continuously revise and study you will forget all that you learned within weeks

当然会流利，但是如果你不继续复习和学习，你会在几周内忘记所有你学到的东西。

jamiemaxlee
You will if you want to keep up your level, trust me. You might not need to study like you do as a beginner, but you need to live in the language, use it for a variety of areas to maintain its fluency.
I thought I was 'finished' and at a level I could easily maintain without study and just by watching TV and chatting to friends. After a year without classes I found my level was shite, I am still working hard to get back to where I was.

如果你想保持你的水平，你需要学习，相信我。你可能不需要像初学者那样学习，但是你需要生活在这门语言中，在不同的领域使用它来保持它的流利。
我以为我已经“做到”了，在某种程度上，我可以不用学习，仅仅通过看电视和和朋友聊天就能轻松地维持下去。但一年没有上课后，我发现我的水平很糟糕，我仍然在努力回到我原来的水平。

jamiemaxlee
It's a long and exciting journey and you will have shitty times, but you will also have some of them most amazing experiences of your life!

这是一段漫长而让人兴奋的旅程，你会有一些糟糕的时光，但你也会有一些你人生中最令人惊奇的经历！

aelephant
My wife is a native Mandarin speaker and even she will start forgetting words, since she now lives in the US and her work and home life is primarily conducted in English.

我妻子的母语是普通话，即使是她也会开始忘词，因为她现在住在美国，她的工作和家庭生活主要是用英语进行的。

WoBuZhidaoDude
My point is just that you shouldn't think of fluency in Chinese. It will require constant reinforcement.

我的观点是，你不应该认为中文流利是一种已经成功的成就。这需要不断的强化。

trg0819
Who the hell said it's "not that hard"? "Hard" is relative. It's not rocket science, but it's objectively one of the most difficult languages for native English speaker to learn. It's a pretty logical language and the grammar isn't too bad, but it still takes several times as long to learn compared to one of the "easier" languages from the perspective of an English speaker. It's something you need to be prepared to spend thousands of hours on.

谁说“没那么难的”？“难”是相对的。这不是什么高深莫测的科学，但客观地说，这是以英语为母语的人最难学的语言之一。这是一门逻辑性很强的语言，语法也不算太难，但是从英语使用者的角度来看，学习一门比较“简单”的语言仍然需要几倍的时间。这是你需要准备花费数千小时去做的事情。

fgm13
Just some idiots in a Ted Talk jajajaja.
I'm not a native English speaker, however I see your point.

【楼主】只是一些Ted演讲的白痴 jajaja。
我的母语不是英语，不过我明白你的意思。

jules_lab
I know that motivated, yet frustrated feeling. I am close to a year of learning the language. I say, take it slow. I use a book (New Practical Chinese Reader) and two apps (Duolingo and HelloChinese). I only understand random phrases or just words when seeing TV in Chinese. And that is because people speak naturally, not trying hard like the voices in apps.
And the people who post here are mostly people who have been at it for longer. I was getting frustrated because I never understood their jokes and memes, but that is because we are beginners. We are not there yet, and that is OK! We will eventually get it and contribute with more jokes!

我知道那种充满动力却又沮丧的感觉。我学这门语言将近一年了。我得说，慢慢来。我使用一本书(新版实用中文阅读者)和两个应用程序(多邻国和你好中文)。看中文电视时，我只能听懂随意的短语或单词。这是因为人们说话很自然，而不是像应用程序中的声音那样费力。
在这里发帖的大多数人已经学了很久了。我感到很沮丧，因为我从来不能理解他们的笑话和段子，但那是因为我们是初学者。我们还没到那个程度，但这没关系！我们最终会达到的，并贡献更多的笑话！

LokianEule
I went into Chinese knowing two things: 1. It would be super hard, and I have already studied German for years, and tried a bit of Russian. and then 2. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I decided I'm not going to judge my own progress until after TEN years of studying. I've studied for a bit over 3 years, so I'm not anywhere close.
To me, Chinese, like Russian, is hard as hell, but it's FUN as hell, so it's okay. Like sports, it's strenuous but in a good way. Don't worry about becoming fluent fast, just find some shows and things about Chinese language and culture that you like. Shows, music, history, even the grammar (if you're a grammar nerd like me), etc.

我学中文的时候知道两件事：1、这将是非常困难的，我已经学习德语多年，并尝试学了一点俄语。然后是2、这是一场马拉松，而不是短跑。我决定在学习了十年之后再评价自己的进步。我已经学习了三年多了，所以我离目标还差得远。
对我来说，中文就像俄语一样，很难学，但是乐趣无穷，所以没关系。就像运动一样，尽管很费力，但是是一种健康的生活方式。不要担心怎么才能快速流利，只要找到一些你喜欢的关于中国语言和文化的节目和东西就可以了。节目、音乐、历史，甚至语法(如果你像我一样是个语法控的话)等等。

WoBuZhidaoDude
Fantastic advice.

很棒的建议。

tztoxic
Where are you after three years then? Can you hold a conversation?

那么，三年后你到哪个程度了？你能进行交流吗？

LokianEule
Nope! And I couldn’t do that after four years of high school German either. But now I’m not in school anymore, I can only take class once a week, on the weekends. I work full time. This is also my first time learning a non-alphabetic language and a non-European one. That’s why I gave myself 10 years. New obstacles and worse circumstances.
Listening comp isn’t bad though bc I watch tons of Chinese tv now.
My teacher says I’m further than most of her students that take 3 years of Chinese, adult and high schooler alike so I suppose that’s a good sign. I don’t think that means it won’t take me an eternity though.

还不行！而且我高中学了四年德语，也做不到这一点。但是现在我不在学校了，我一周只能上一次课，在周末。我全职工作的。这也是我第一次学习非字母语言和非欧洲语言。这就是为什么我给了自己十年的时间。全新的障碍和更糟糕的境遇。
虽然我现在看了很多中国的电视节目，但是听力测试还不错。
我的老师说我比大多数学习三年中文的学生都进步得更快，无论是成年人还是高中生里，所以我想这是一个好的迹象。我不认为这意味着我不会花很长的时间。

97Jo
1 week is nowhere near enough you probably couldn't even write and recognize 50-100 words in 1 week let alone multiple thousands. just keep in mind that learning languages are hard and no matter what anybody says, no language is easy. Chinese is an especially hard language for english speakers most likely mainly because of the vocab. there's not gonna be any miracle shortcut for any language that will shorten the amount of time studying by years. the grammar in Chinese is fairly easy and i'd probably suggest reading sentences and what your already doing which is watching youtube videos for what i'm assuming is at least some grammar videos.

一周远远不够，你可能甚至不能在一周内写出并记得50到100个单词，更不用说几千个单词了。记住，学习语言很难，不管别人怎么说，没有一门语言是容易学的。对于说英语的人来说，汉语是一种特别难学的语言，这主要是因为它的单词。所有语言都不可能有任何奇迹般的捷径，来缩短学习时间。中文的语法是相当容易的，我可能会建议阅读句子和你已经在做的事情，看看油管视频，我想至少看一些语法视频。

fgm13
Yeah, now I understand that it won't be easy.
Will definitely try to apply your advice, thanks a lot.

【楼主】是的，现在我明白了，这并不容易。
我一定会尽力采纳你的建议，非常感谢。

OctopusPoo
I might get downvoted for this, but i will speak my mind.
Get the idea that learning language is "Fun" out of your head, it should be a grind, you need discipline to do it everyday even when you don't want to. When you have gone over the same words over and over and over... You will be able to reap the fruits of your labours and THEN the fun starts, being able to communicate and enjoy the experience.
But you have to put in the hours of study, and study to the point where you don't just know it but know it by heart, like it comes instinctively. And that is not fun

我可能会因此被点踩，但我会说出我的想法。
把学习语言是“有趣的”这种想法从你的脑海中抹去吧，它应该是一件苦差事，即使在你不想学的时候，你也需要每天坚持学习。当你一遍又一遍地重复同个单词时... 你将能够收获你劳动的果实，然后乐趣就开始了，你就能够交流和享受体验。
但是你必须投入大量的时间去学习，学到你不仅仅懂它，而且熟记于心，就像它是本能反应一样。这可一点都不有趣。

vchen99901
I want to encourage you and give you a 加油 ( jīa yóu), but I also strongly believe in people having realistic expectations. Learning any foreign language to any degree of proficiency is a huge undertaking that at minimum takes years to master, usually a lifetime. I don't know which youtuber told you Chinese was easy, or not that hard. It's one of the most difficult languages you could possibly learn as a native speaker of English.
But you don't learn Chinese because it's easy, you learn it despite its challenges. People who do the best learning Chinese are people who enjoy the challenge. It can be said that if something is too easy, it's not worth doing and you don't get a sense of accomplishment afterwards.
Almost anything is possible if you have the right motivation. So perhaps the first thing you need to do is think about why you want to learn Chinese and what your realistic goal is. If all you want to do is increase your enjoyment of Chinese language entertainment media then you don't need to learn it to a super high degree of fluency, compared to if you wanted to live and work in mainland China or Taiwan.
First figure out why you are learning Chinese. Then accept that this is a challenging language. Next realize that every challenge can be broken into small pieces that can be more easily tackled. Chinese will take years for you to learn if you choose to stay with it but you can do tiny little pieces at a time.

我想鼓励你，给你一个“加油”，但我也坚信人们应该有现实的期望。学习任何一门外语，无论熟练程度如何，都是一项艰巨的任务，至少需要几年的时间来掌握，通常需要一生的时间。我不知道是哪个油管主告诉你中文容易的，还是没那么难。作为一个以英语为母语的人，这是你可能学到的最难的语言之一。
但是你学中文不是因为它简单，而是因为它有挑战性。学习中文最好的人是那些喜欢挑战的人。可以这么说，如果一件事太简单，那么它就不值得去做，事后你也不会有成就感。
如果你有正确的动机，几乎任何事情都是可能的。所以也许你需要做的第一件事就是想想你为什么想学中文，你现实的目标是什么。如果你想做的只是增加你对中文娱乐媒体的享受，那么与你想在中国大陆或者台湾生活和工作相比，你就不需要把中文学得非常流利。
首先弄清楚你为什么要学中文。然后接受这是一门具有挑战性的语言。接下来要意识到，每一个挑战都可以被分解成更容易处理的小部分。如果你选择坚持学习中文，你可能需要几年的时间来学习，但是你可以一次学习一小部分的内容。

fgm13
It was just some assholes in a Ted Talk, and some Chinese learning channels.
I'm not a native English speaker, but I assume it is also one of the hardest languages to learn for a native Spanish speaker.
And I'm just trying to learn Chinese just for the sake of learning the language itself. As a future translator I want to learn as much languages as possible, and I chose Chinese to be the first one I tried learning on my own.
Thanks for the advice!

【楼主】只是一些Ted演讲里的混蛋，还有一些中文学习的渠道。
我不是一个以英语为母语的人，但我认为对于一个以西班牙语为母语的人来说，中文也是最难学的语言之一。
我只是为了学习语言本身而努力学习中文。作为一名未来的翻译，我希望尽可能多地学习语言，我选择了中文作为我第一个尝试自学的语言。
谢谢你的建议！

Resquid
You won't wake up one day and say "I've done it. I've learned Chinese. I'm finished."
Define what you actually want out of this. And then identify some milestones you can achieve towards that goal. Then work towards those milestones.

你不会有一天醒来说：“我做到了，我学会了中文，我实现了。”
明确你想从中得到什么。然后确定一些你可以达到目标的里程碑。然后朝着这些里程碑努力。

noxpallida
When you're about to climb a mountain, don't look at the peak. Always keep your eyes a few steps ahead of you

当你准备攀登一座山峰的时候，不要去看那座山峰。时刻保持把你的眼睛放在你前面几步。

WoBuZhidaoDude
Yes! That's the attitude that got me out of drug addiction, and it's the same attitude I bring to Chinese.

是的！正是这种态度让我摆脱了毒瘾，也正是这种态度让我走进了中文的世界。

fgm13
You are right! Thanks!

【楼主】你说得对！谢谢！

Jayfrin
So in Linguistics and Psychology it's pretty well-agree that to some degree language use determines cognition. It's referred to as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. What this means is two people who grow up with different languages can (and do) legitimately think differently.
For example, Chinese structures time so that the future is downward, like a calendar (e.g., 下个星期) whereas English and other languages do not, they tend to think of the future as forwards, and so this can affect the way people think of time passing.
In general, it's also important to remember logic as a concept is rooted in both western thinking and Socratic academic traditions. Eastern countries often favour dialectic or holistic thinking. Logic demands negation, things like "if X not Y then Y not X," seems obvious when one applies Socratic logic, but just because it's logical doesn't mean it's factual. Sometimes X is not Y but Y is X. This also leads to interesting differences, and this is compounded by the fact that the way people understand the world is different.
Also it's been found these differences in thinking emerge in bilingual people, when bilingual/bicultural people think and solve problems differently when the problems are presented in different languages. Learning different languages can be incredibly helpful to address issues in a new/different way. Sorry turned into a big post just wanted to add a bit of the psychology of it.

所以，在语言学和心理学中，在某种程度上，语言的使用决定了认知，这一点是相当一致的。它被称为沃尔夫假说。这意味着两个在不同语言环境中成长的人可以（也确实）以不同的方式思考。
例如，中文的时间结构是未来向下的，就像日历（例如，“下个星期”），而英语和其他语言则不是这样，他们倾向于认为未来是向前的，因此这会影响人们对时间流逝的看法。
一般来说，记住逻辑也很重要，因为逻辑作为一个概念，植根于西方思想和苏格拉底学术传统。东方国家往往偏向辩证法或整体思维。逻辑要求否定，比如“如果X不是Y，那么Y不是X”，当一个人应用苏格拉底的逻辑时，似乎这是显而易见的，但仅仅因为它符合逻辑，并不意味着它是事实。有时X不是Y，但Y是X。这也导致了有趣的差异，这是由于人们理解世界的方式是不同的。
研究还发现，当问题以不同的语言呈现时，双语/双文化人的思维和解决问题的方式不同，这些思维差异就会出现在双语人群中。学习不同的语言对于以新的/不同的方式解决问题是非常有帮助的。不好意思，变成了一篇长帖，只是想添加一点心理学的东西。

Caladens
this is super interesting! your big post is definitely appreciated

这真是太有意思了! 我很感激你的长帖。

WoBuZhidaoDude
his/her overall point is correct: the concepts of time and negation are different in Chinese and English.

总体来说，他/她的观点是正确的：中文和英语对时间和否定的概念是不同的。

xanthic_strath
s/he was making a subtle yet clear point about logical vs. holistic thinking, which, assuming you both are native English and not native Chinese speakers, lends credence to his/her stance. :)
To express it more simply, s/he was suggesting that Eastern societies [aided by their languages] are more comfortable with paradoxes.

她/他正在阐述一个微妙而清晰的观点，关于逻辑思维 vs 整体思维，假设你们都是以英语为母语的人，而不是以中文为母语的人，这使得他/她的观点更加可信。:)
更简单地说，她/他是在暗示东方社会（在他们的语言帮助下）更能接受矛盾。

WoBuZhidaoDude
Damn, this is awesome. Should be a stickied FAQ post pertaining to "Why learn Chinese?" or something.

卧槽，这太棒了。应该要有一篇“为什么要学习中文？”或者其他之类常见问题解答的帖子。

Noofinator2
Personally, I've been learning Mandarin obsessively for about 6 months now and have already felt the changes occurring in my brain. I've realized that these changes all center around 'perspective' and vantage points. My English brain makes me see things from certain perspectives, which has made learning Chinese quite the challenge. This is how I feel it in my head: Chinese wants to have a roundabout / circular / spirally type of perspective like a funnel or a tornado, while English wants to go in a straight line from forward to back, side to side. Chinese word ordering forces you to take into account other details prior to getting to the main point. English very badly wants to get to the point. In Mandarin, sure, you can get to the point really quickly as well, but it definitely wants you to consider other details first, and English wants you to get to the point (and I might consider the details later, lol). Don't get me wrong; as a native English speaker, I love my language to death. There's nothing wrong with getting to the point, and there's also nothing wrong with Mandarin's circular, spirally conveyance either.

就我个人而言，我已经痴迷地学习中文6个月了，并且已经感觉到我大脑中正在发生的变化。我意识到这些变化都围绕着“视角”和有利位置。我的英语大脑让我从特定的角度看问题，这使得学习中文变得相当困难。我的感觉是这样的：中文喜欢旋转/圆形/螺旋形的视角，就像漏斗或龙卷风，而英语喜欢从前到后、从一边到另一边的直线。中文单词排序迫使你在切入主题之前考虑到其他细节。英语非常想切中要害。当然，在普通话中，你也可以很快地切入要点，但是它肯定希望你首先考虑其他细节，而英语希望你切入主题(我可能稍后会考虑细节，哈哈)。不要误会我的意思，作为一个以英语为母语的人，我非常热爱我的语言。开门见山没什么错，普通话的圆形螺旋式表达也没什么错。

relevant__comment
This! I’ve felt this same exact thing while learning. It’s so refreshing seeing it spelled out so eloquently. It’s very interesting because my wife (also Chinese) and I (American) go back and forth with differing perspectives and opinions usually because of how we comprehend through our respective languages. This absolutely hit the nail on the head.

是这个！我在学习的时候也有过同样的感觉。看到它被如此清楚地阐述出来，真是令人耳目一新。这非常有趣的，因为我的妻子(也是中国人)和我(美国人)经常在不同的观点和意见团团转，通常是因为我们通过各自的语言来理解。这绝对是一针见血。

cheeseheaddeeds
Just to come up with a simple example, let’s look at lobsters and crawfish. In English you might think of these as 2 completely different things especially since one literally has fish in the name, but Mandarin they are 龙虾 and 小龙虾. We can even take this a step further with 虾 bing shrimp. If you look at them all under water, the idea that we could call them shrimp, dragon shrimp, and little dragon shrimp actually makes a lot of sense to me anyway.

举个简单的例子，我们来看看龙虾(lobsters)和小龙虾(crawfish)。用英语你可能认为这是两个完全不同的东西，特别是其中一个名字有鱼(fish)，但普通话是“龙虾”和“小龙虾”。我们甚至可以借此进一步用“虾”来举例。如果你在水下观察它们，我们可以把它们叫做虾(shrimp)，龙虾(dragon shrimp)，和小龙虾(little dragon shrimp)，这种想法其实对我来说很有意义。

jxwatrdt
thanks! another thing I can think of is that people rarely distinguish between 山羊 and 绵羊 (羊 is the generic word to refer to both), while goat and sheep are just 2 completely different words in English

谢谢！另一个我能想到的是，人们很少区分“山羊”和“绵羊”（“羊”是通用词，指两者），而山羊和绵羊是两个完全不同的英文单词。

cheeseheaddeeds
Ya, and is this the year of the cow or ox? I’m also confused about whether last year was the year of the mouse or rat. ;)
Also the way relatives are described is much different, I feel like much more emphasis is put on whether it’s the mother or father’s side, where as in English it’s more about gender of the relative (aside from cousin which is just vague and clearly were too lazy to care more).

没错，今年是奶牛年还是公牛年？我也不知道去年是耗子年还是鼠年。;)
而且对亲属的描述方式也有很大的不同，我觉得更多的是强调父亲一方还是母亲一方，而在英语中，更多的是关于亲属的性别（除了表亲这个词含糊不清，显然他们懒得去关心）。

fgm13
I'm currently studying translation on college, so I've been hearing a lot of "philosophy of languages" which is quite similar to what you are saying. Definitely some interesting stuff. Thanks so much.

【楼主】我目前在大学里学习翻译，所以我听到了很多“语言哲学”，这和你说的很相似。绝对是一些有趣的东西。非常感谢。

jamiemaxlee
You tried to watch a Chinese series after a week?!?!? Bro slow down!
While it's true that Chinese is not as hard as traditionally expected to believe, its not learning how to play chopstick on the piano, you are going to need years and years of hard work before you can understand even half of a Chinese series haha.
Also stay far away from YouTube polyglots!

一周你就想看中国连续剧？！？！？ 兄弟，慢点吧！
虽然中文并不像传统意义上认为的那么难，但这不是学习如何用筷子弹钢琴，你需要多年的努力才能听懂中国连续剧的一半内容。哈哈
还有，要远离通晓多种语言的油管主！

fgm13
And I felt encouraged to learn Chinese because of these assholes, but now I want to learn Chinese so hard while at the same time accepting this won't be easy. Thanks for the information!

【楼主】因为这些混蛋，让我觉得学习中文受鼓舞了，但是现在我想努力学习中文，同时接受它并不容易。谢谢你提供的信息！

jamiemaxlee
Good luck! The hard work is worth it!

祝你好运! 辛苦的工作是值得的！

tarso_carina
It took me a month of intense studying to uh, feel like my brain was bigger than a slug's. Now I just feel like the second stupidest person on the planet.

我花了一个月的时间紧张地学习，我觉得自己的脑袋只比鼻涕虫的还大。现在我觉得自己是这个星球上第二蠢的人。

Lee_Rat321
Probably useless advice : Stressing out about it is only going to make your learning harder. Relax a bit. ( don't neglect your studies though ) Find media you enjoy. A LOT. and find a lot of it.

可能是无用的建议：过度紧张只会让你的学习更加困难。放松一点。（不要忽视你的学习）找你喜欢的媒体。找很多。找一堆。

fgm13
I'll do that :) Thanks!

【楼主】我会的 :)谢谢！

arvidgubben
It is nonsense to claim Chinese is really not that hard but I always get downvoted if I say it in this forum.

声称中文真的没那么难，就是无稽之谈，但如果我在这个论坛上说这句话，我总是会被点踩。

WoBuZhidaoDude
Why would people downvote you? Chinese is in many ways simple, but also exceedingly difficult.

为什么人们会对你点踩呢？中文在很多方面很简单，但也非常困难。

arvidgubben
I suspect it has something to do with that many active users in this forum are Chinese teachers or app makers, and it might hurt their business if fewer people want to study Chinese. They want to uphold the illusion that "Chinese is easy".

我怀疑这是因为这个论坛里很多活跃的用户都是中文老师或者应用程序的开发者，如果越来越少的人想学习中文，这可能会影响他们的生意。他们希望维持“中文很容易”的错觉。

fgm13
Don't know why that happens, I mean almost every language have an easy and a really hard part to it. Guess the reason for it is to keep people motivated, I guess??? I have no idea.

【楼主】我不知道为什么会这样，我的意思是几乎每种语言都有简单的和真正困难的部分。我猜这样做的原因是为了激励人们，我猜是这样? ? ？我不知道。

wfzrk
You have been only studying Chinese for one week, this should be the stage of remembering the correct sound of each pinyin and studying how to write the basic strokes . At this stage, watching a Chinese series could only help you have an idea of how Chinese sounds like, not to mentioned a Chinese series usually contains slangs, idioms, and ancient quotes etc, which is sometimes very hard for advanced learners.

你只学了一个星期的中文，这应该是记住每个拼音的正确发音和学习如何写基本笔画的阶段。在这个阶段，看一部中文电视剧只能帮助你了解中文的发音，更不用说一部中文电视剧通常包含俚语、成语、古语等等，这些对于高级学习者来说有时都很难理解。

fgm13
I don't know, I've heard people saying to surround myself with Chinese, even if I didn't understand it. You are totally right.

【楼主】我不知道，我听人们说，即使我不懂中文，也要让中文围绕着自己的身边。你说的完全正确。

wfzrk
Yes, “soak your brain” in a new language environment works very well in all kinds of language study. But the true power of this method can only be tasted after the learner has some basic understanding/vocabulary of the language. Otherwise this will very likely take you to the opposite, making you depressed and lose confidence. Watching Chinese shows is especially harder under this method because Chinese speaking people never put pinyin in their TV shows and in subtitles, so the whole show is full of nonsense for new learners.

是的，在新的语言环境中“浸泡你的大脑”在各种语言学习中都非常有效。但是这种方法的真正力量只有在学习者对语言有了一些基本的理解/词汇之后才能体现出来。否则，这很可能会把你带向相反的方向，让你沮丧，失去信心。用这种方法，观看中文节目尤其困难，因为说中文的人从来不在电视节目和字幕中放上拼音，所以整个节目对于新手来说都听不懂。

fgm13
Omg, that makes total sense, I'm really dumb. I will definitely take your advice, thanks a lot.

【楼主】我的天，这完全说得通，我真的很笨。我一定会接受你的建议，非常感谢。

DDdms
It takes quite some time to get the gist of the language.
Right now what you feel is normal, don't expect to be able to speak and read in less than a few years of constant study.

要掌握这门语言的要点需要相当长的时间。
现在你的感觉是正常的，不要指望在不到几年的持续学习中，就能说会读。

fishlytea
Forget most TV shows. My advice is to watch chinese Peppa pig and feel good when you understand George say "kong long"

忘掉大多数电视节目吧。我的建议是看看中文版的《小猪佩奇》，当你听懂乔治说“kong long”的时候感觉会很好。

fgm13
That's what I am doing jajajaja, but I gave a more advanced level series a try, and it didn't go so well.

【楼主】这就是我正在做的 哈哈，但是我尝试了一部更高级的系列，结果不是很顺利。

aandronic
Oh it will definitely take some time, but it’s so worth it. And after all, you can’t get anywhere with anything if you don’t work a little

哦，这肯定需要一些时间，但这是值得的。毕竟，如果你不努力工作，你就不会有任何成就。

fgm13
You are definitely right, thank you.

【楼主】你说的绝对正确，谢谢你。

jsjdejhhdb
if you start learning a new language with watching series, you get frustrated quickly. suggest you start with the names of stuffs around you in your house or office. watch youtube videos for children introducing numbers, colors and stuffs. Chinese language is easy afterall.

如果你通过看电视剧开始学习一门新语言，你很快就会感到沮丧。建议你从你家里或者办公室里的东西的名字开始学习。观看为儿童介绍数字，颜色和东西的油管视频。中文毕竟很容易。

fgm13
That's actually a really good advice, didn't think about that. Thanks a lot.

【楼主】这真是一个很好的建议，我没有想到这个。非常感谢。

inteelc
But it is not as hard as everyone thinks.
My experience: I am now into HSK4 after 1 year 6 months of studying. 6/7 hours of classes per week and 2/3 hours of homework and selfstudy. And taking advantadge of some free time to listen to youtube videos or beginner level podcasts in chinese. My speaking level is pretty good, average HSK3 as I have tried to speak as much as possible, met chinese friends in Barcelona, used HelloTalk app to talk with chinese natives.
Now I am doing 4,5 hours per week and try to study daily, at least write, I have seen that it helps to remember words.
Overall: I have seen that to not lose motivation you have to see progress, and by speaking and practicing reading you can see so. Also chinese community is good at encouraging people and this will also lotivate you.
My personal advice: Do not get overwelmed by writting, use it just to learn, and eventually you will memorize and learn words. After a year then you can decide if you would like to dedicate full time writing and if it is worth it for you. Try to enroll on classes or language exchange even although you do not know how to speak, you will love chinese community and will feel encouraged to learn more.
I hope this somehow helps somebody :)

但这并不像大家想象的那么难。
我的经验：经过1年6个月的学习，我现在是汉考4级。每周6/7小时的课程，2/3小时的家庭作业和自学。利用一些空闲时间来收听中文的油管视频或初学者级别的播客。我的说话水平相当不错，一般是汉考3级，因为我已经尽可能多地说话，在巴塞罗那会见中国朋友，使用HelloTalk应用程序与中国本地人交流。
现在我每周学习4到5个小时，每天努力学习，至少要写字，我发现这有助于记忆单词。
总的来说：我知道为了不失去动力，你必须看到进步，通过说话和练习阅读你可以看到这一点。而且中文社团很善于鼓励人们，这也会激励你。
我个人的建议是：不要被写字搞得焦头烂额，用它来学习，最终你会记住和学会单词的。一年之后，你就可以决定你是否愿意全身心地投入到写作中，以及这对你来说是否值得。尽管你不知道怎么说，但是尽量报名参加课程或语言交流，你会爱上中文社团的，并且会觉得受到鼓励，而去学习更多的东西。
我希望这能在某种程度上帮助到某些人 :)

ChorusFlare
I started one year ago and I have to say Chinese isn’t hard BUT extremely much to learn. The biggest advantage for me was the „simple“ grammar.

我一年前开始学习中文，我不得不说中文并不难，但是要学的东西非常多。对我来说最大的优势是“简单”的语法。

freethenipple23
Chinese children don't even start using hanzi until like 3rd grade. Before then, the focus on pronunciation and tone using pinyin.
It takes like 7 years (optimistic here) to master Mandarin.
Another interesting tidbit: the way the Chinese government defines literacy is different depending on where you live; in urban areas, you need to know at least 2000 characters to be literate; in rural areas, it's 1200 character. Although I've also seen a much lower requirement of like mid 900s
HSK level 3 is 600; HSK level 4 is 1200 characters of vocabulary.

中国孩子直到三年级才开始使用汉字。在此之前，重点放在发音和拼音声调。
掌握普通话大概需要7年的时间（乐观估计）。
另外有一个小趣闻是：中国政府对“识字”的定义取决于你居住的地方；在城市地区，你至少需要知道2000个汉字才能识字；在农村地区，是1200个汉字。虽然我也看到了一个更低的要求，像900个汉字。
汉考三级是600个，汉考四级为1200个。

ThisIsSoroush
You said "it feels so overwhelmed". If your native language doesn't distinguish adjectives like bored and boring, overwhelmed and overwhelming, you'll have an easier time than me with Chinese. I still can't get rid of my "English" way of thinking.

你说“感觉太受挫了”。如果你的母语不区分像厌倦、厌烦、受挫这样的形容词，你学中文会比我更轻松的。我仍然不能摆脱我的“英语”思维方式。

earthworm969
I just tell you the chinese is simple if you regards it as picture.

我只是告诉你，如果你把中文看作图画的话，中文是很简单了。

handle_ah_brah
In the same boat. I've basically accepted that it will be a lifelong pursuit and that, no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes, I will continue getting better the longer I do it.

同样的处境。我基本上已经接受了这将是一个终生的追求，不管它有多么困难，或者需要多长时间，我学习的时间越长，我就会变得更好。

Successful_Lychee339
I like that Chinese has uniform width on the characters, with most words 1-4 characters. English has words that can be horrifically long, such as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (ok that's Welsh, but still).
That I can read more Chinese with less horizontal eye movement is great - much more efficient than English.Frankly, I think horizontally-oriented alphabets such as that of English are inefficient.

我喜欢汉字有统一的宽度，大多数单词是1到4个字。英语中有些单词可能非常长，比如Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch(好吧，这是威尔士语，但仍然是这样)。
我可以用较少的水平眼球运动来阅读更多的汉字，这很棒——比英文更有效率。
坦率地说，我认为像英文这样的横向字母表效率很低。

WhittyViolet
I'm not here to give many examples, but Chinese Poetry is one. The amount of information that can be conveyed in so few characters and syllables is pretty impressive.

我不想举很多例子，但中国诗歌就是效率高的表现之一。这么少的字符和音节所能传达的信息量是相当惊人的。