Thought I'd say hi and pop in a quick post. I haven't been on in awhile due to health but haven't forgotten my blog either!
The other day I was telling a Chinese friend how my son said 'I love my mum' completely unprompted! Very exciting stuff! :-) Anyway, I was explaining how my son said 我爱我妈妈 (wo ai wo ma ma), and left out 的(de) which turns 'I' (我) into my (我的) making it possessive. Basically, I was taught (and books teach) that to say 'I love my mum', you would say 我爱我的妈妈 (wo ai wo de ma ma). My friend told me however that when speaking, Chinese people normally leave out 的(de) and just say it the way my son did. Apparently the other way is still correct but Chinese people don't normally speak like that and often just say 我 instead of 我的.
It seems to me that when foreigners are taught Chinese, we are taught to say what is grammatically correct, not what native Chinese people actually say. It makes it feel a bit tricky sometimes and I wonder about what I've learnt and whether Chinese people would really speak like that. I guess it's just a case of learning it properly and then trying to get experience and discovering the 'real' way to say it. Or maybe if you're only worried about speaking, you could just go straight for learning how Chinese people usually speak. I want to learn speaking, reading, and writing though so I probably need to know it grammatically too. I really hope I have the opportunity soon to learn the language in an authentic setting where I am surrounded by it and can learn how it is used by native speakers.
Looks like you are enjoying learning Mandarin.
ReplyDeleteAs I have read in your post that when the foreigner are taught the Mandarin, they are taught only what is grammatically correct, and not how the native people speak. I would like to share my experience when I was learning Japanese. I was taught what was grammatically correct and when I got opportunity to visit Japan, what I came to know was that my way of speaking Japanese was very much different from that of the Japanese people. Gradually I started learning Japanese as I mixed with the people.
Have you been to China? I guess once you visit that country you will come to the essence of the Mandarin.
Anyway keep writing, I will keep reading your posts. I following your blog here too.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good to know what I'm learning isn't entirely going to waste. I haven't been to China yet....I'm really hoping that will happen sometime soon. :-) I can't just 'up and go' with a husband and 2 kids to organise as well. Should have gone when I was younger. :-)
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