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DrZero -

I'm almost afraid to post this because I know I am in the minority, but what do you guys think
about learning with no characters, only pinyin? It's what I do, because I have a Chinese wife and
thus lots of reasons/opportunities to learn spoken language, but not much use for characters in
everyday life.
To me characters seem like they would take time away from listening and speaking (though I do know
a limited number of them). I know there is an advantage in being able to read and learn new
phrases and structures from written text, but I am just not sure it's worth the investment of time
yet because I hear Mandarin constantly at home. So far I feel like the approach is working for my
needs.
In other words, I am well aware that they confer an advantage, I am just not sure that the degree
of advantage merits the time investment vs. learning by ear and with pinyin, for my needs
personally.
What do you think?



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Shadowdh -

To be honest I believe that characters add a whole dimension of understanding and its pretty cool
to know them too... but for your situation it might be ok (and easier) to not learn them... if you
dont have a need then why do it...?? the only hurdle (that might not eventuate) would be if a word
sounded the same as another... then characters can come in handy, but then again you can usually
work it out...










jkmuller -

It's not really so much that knowing characters gives you an advantage, but that you cant read or
write Chinese without them! I don't think many Chinese people write in pinyin. I have actually
noticed that many Chinese American people know how to speak Chinese fluently, but can't write more
than a few characters. They generally end up in beginner Chinese classes in college.

Essentially, if you're comfortable with the idea of not being able to read or write, you might be
able to get away with it. Just realize that these are pretty essential parts to any language. From
what you've said about your situation it seems like you can probably do pretty well without the
characters, but you can always change your mind down the road anyway.










doumeizhen -

I agree. There are lots of people, including Chinese ones, who can speak and not write. It does
help to know the characters because there are so many words that sound alike, but honestly, if you
can speak well enough to understand and explain the difference (should these words come up in
conversation), then you are fine. Plus, the more I learn I find that a lot of words that sound the
same oftentimes are quite different, some colloquial some bookish, so I think the chace of this
becoming an actual stumbling block is next to nothing. If you are happy with your level and
willing to give up 'the other dimension" that Chinese adds, then don't fret it. Maybe just learn a
little so you can get around and point adn read with your future children.










YuehanHao -

DrZero,

For not completely disinterested reasons, I once considered a similar question myself.

I believe for any language both the spoken and written parts stand on their own; clearly literacy
is not necessary for fluency, and so too can some scholars read languages they cannot speak.
Homophones or other difficulties do not impact this decision, since good speakers will provide the
context that is necessary for understanding.

So I would suggest your choice is basically personal subjective preference. I feel that with
Chinese, perhaps moreso than other languages, significant insight into cultural history can be
gleaned by studying the written language (i.e., characters). While a lot of work must go into
memorizing, some of it will pay you back later, since the visual memory of a character can help
one remember how it might be pronounced and its meaning (these items can be encoded in the
character). So I would suggest it is a cost-benefit that only you can decide.

Another thing to keep in mind is that learning characters may not be a black and white enterprise.
For instance, in my experience, recognizing characters from memory is much easier than writing
them out by hand. So with this approach, after learning the pinyin, I could without too much
exertion, type my Chinese "homework" into the computer with an IME and, through the computer,
convert them to the corresponding characters. I found that to be a good first step for me.

约翰好！










taaba -

I personally think being able to read Hanzi adds a new dimension into the whole learning process
as well as enabling you to go your way and do your own thing with the newly acquired skills
(Reading and writing hanzi), but as our friend mentioned literacy is not necessary for fluency.










fundingd -

I would also have to say that you should take the time to learn how to read the characters. Like
YuehanHao said, if you can read then you should be able to type or send SMS by using pinyin and
selecting the correct character. It is much easier to learn to read in Chinese than it is to
write. Another reason to learn the characters is that pinyin will only get you so far. Chinese has
a lot of homophones and without knowing the characters you will greatly limit your understanding
of the language and limit yourself to only communicating simple ideas.

In the end, it really comes down to how proficient you wish to be in Chinese. But by simply
learning to recognize and read the characters, you will greatly increase your ability to
communicate in Chinese and develop more of an appreciation and understanding of the language.










laowai1980 -

That's one of the issues I am concerned about too. At the beginning I was thinking I should learn
both, but now I switched to listening/speaking mostly, I might get back to characters at a later
point, but now I feel characters will take away fun of learning chinese for me, so I skip them for
now. I think it's still a good idea to learn a few hundred most common characters even if you
don't plan to have enough literacy to read newspapers. That should help a lot, but what do I know!










Koneko -

Don't worry you are not alone!
There are tons of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore who can only speak Chinese but cannot write or
read Chinese.

We nickname them 香蕉人 (lit. Banana man)
Have you heard of this term?

K.










YuehanHao -

Koneko,

That is too funny! 哈哈哈哈！So it looks like DrZero really needn't worry about learning
characters after all, as long as he doesn't mind the possibility of earning a nickname like
"banana man!" Sorry if I am getting that wrong!

约翰好！












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