Here is another case in point where someone who isn’t a Native Mandarin Chinese speaker speaking Mandarin Chinese, staying within "Pronunciation Guidelines" and being understood. Here Prime Minister Rudd is doing his interview in Mandarin Chinese even when the reporter tried to continue exchanges in English, Mr Rudd insisted on using Mandarin Chinese. Mr. Rudd may not sound like a native but he is clearly well understood.

I got an email recently from a student studying Mandarin Chinese at a well known "School of Higher Language Learning" in the US. The heart of the student’s email to me was that she is constantly getting ridiculed by her Mandarin Chinese teacher for not "Sounding like a native." The student said that this teacher would say things like "Yeh, OK.., but you don’t sound like a native." Well, has this "teacher" ever sat down and figured out that the student doesn’t sound like a "native" because, well …she isn’t. I’m sure this will ring a few bells from some and whistles from others.

First of all, I think one needs to sit back and define what a native Mandarin Chinese speaker should sound like. Most Mandarin Chinese teachers should only in the primary stages teach "Standard Mandarin Chinese." Today, the names that often refer to this language standard are: "Standard Language [pŭtōnghuà / 普通話 / 普通话 ] 〞in mainland China, "National Language [guóyŭ / 國語 / 国语 ]" in Taiwan, Han Yu [hànyŭ /漢語 / 汉语 ] or Hua Yu [huáyŭ /華語 / 华语 ] in Singapore. Now remember that these terms for the most part are referring to the same language. Now Standard Mandarin Chinese is largely based on the spoken Beijing dialect (běifānghuà / 北方話 /北方话) that was the dialect used by the imperial governing class of old China.

As China is certainly a large country, regional "local languages" and accents of people from different parts of the country is just as vast and in some cases completely different. The differences of accents in China is a lot more distinct than say the accents of an American from Boston compared to that of an American from Tennessee. I mean a lot different. We all carry an accent that sets the greatest impression upon us during or before our adolescence. The differences in North American English accents aren’t vastly different. In most cases, a person from New York City has no problem speaking with a person from Alabama, although both speak with slightly different regional accents. Dialects or "local languages" carry a lot more distinction than just accents. So because of vastly different accent retroflection and phonologies a person from Xinjiang Provence may have a slightly more difficult time using Mandarin Chinese to orally communicate with a person from Heilongjiang Provence. Does it really matter who is a "native speaker"?

When learning a second language, especially after adolescence, most people will speak the second language with the accent of their mother language. What is more important is that pronunciation is kept within proper "pronunciation guidelines." This means that proper pronunciation should adhere closely to the standard pronunciation of the language being learnt. So if you are saying the word for "cat" it shouldn’t sound like you are saying the word for "dog" as the correct pronunciation of the two are very different.

I can’t say for sure that this particular teacher’s ignorance of language learning or culture will develop into a stereotype of other "non-natives" attempting to learn Mandarin Chinese. It isn’t that important to sound exactly like a native speaker. What is more important is adhering to pronunciation guidelines and getting the message across. 

I had an enlightening conversation with a few expat friends this weekend. The topic of discussion was why we came to China or Taiwan. Most of us wondered how friends and family "back home" viewed us living and working here. First we focused on why we came. Most of us came to the conclusion that something what I’ll call "cultural mysteries" lead us to wonder in this direction.

It appears that Westerners have a romance or sense of mystery with anything Chinese, and this includes the language. I myself, and many other non-Chinese living on either side of the Taiwan Strait, may come under this category. Interests in Chinese food, medicine and Chinese Martial Arts can easily be found in the West. I think this view of anything Chinese by Westerners is too well understood by people marketing these "cultural mysteries." Now a day you hear more non-Chinese quoting Confucius than Chinese. Take a visit to the Jade Markets of Taipei or the hutongs in Beijing. The hutongs of today have become market places for local and international tourists.

Today, more and more people of non-Chinese decent are finding the studying of the Chinese language of great value. This is a direct result of China and the region’s future economic and global strength. I can’t say that I have the answers because I don’t. My only purpose here is to share some reflections on this topic.

What’s this? Non-Chinese singing in Chinese! 

I think one must ask why is studying Chinese a personal goal and how will studying this tonal language help him or her in the future. Well, everything we have studied in the past was somehow geared for use now and in the future. Granted not everything we’ve learnt in the pass has been applicable in our daily lives. So how can learning Chinese ensure usability and personal advancement in the future? Well, open another fortune cookie because it can’t.

Yes, it’s true that China will become more of a dominant factor in many parts of the world. Our global economy will become more integrated with China. So if you have interest or the desire to understand how those outside your own language circle think and function, why not combine the skills you have developed at home with a language such as Chinese? 

A listener to our audiocast just sent me an email asking this question. Believe me this is not the first time I’ve received mail like this and it surely won’t be the last.

Many people teaching Chinese will pimp off the line that China has a recorded history covering over 6,000 years and Chinese is spoken by nearly 1.3 billion people, also, China is becoming a leading player in the world’s economy. Well, to me the last statement sounds more like a treating reason to learn Chinese. Never the less, the fact is that the world is becoming smaller and foreign language training is a highly requested skill. Tools like the Internet have increased the amount of interaction between nations and their peoples. Learning about other cultures has become more of a required asset in today’s ever-so interactive and changing world.

I must admit that there are many reasons for learning Chinese. After all Chinese is not only spoken in mainland China and in Taiwan, but in Singapore and parts of Malaysia as well. In fact, one can find that Chinese, of one form of the other, is spoken throughout Southeast Asia and in Chinese communities in Europe and North America.

My personal reasons for learning Chinese started with my early interest in Modern Chinese history and traditional Chinese Martial Arts. I don’t feel my reasons are unique in anyway. So to further my understanding I decided to acquire a better understanding of the Chinese language as well as culture. Another factor may have been that I went to a US university that then required that every student have at least two years of foreign language training. As a result of my interest, I ended up as a student in one of Beijing’s leading teacher’s universities studying not only the Mandarin Chinese language but Chinese history as well. Upon my return to the US I was granted a scholarship by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan to continue my studies in Taipei. As of today, I have over ten years of formal Mandarin Chinese training.

Well, it has been a long and fun road as well. This site was developed to help those who want to learn more about the Chinese language. While developing this site I’ve found myself fortunate to be able to work with some of the best Mandarin Chinese "voices" in both Taipei and Beijing. I’m so happy to be working with so many native Chinese speakers who also have the same passion to share in the teaching of Mandarin Chinese.

Our training method allows the learner to observe how the Chinese language is used in daily real-life situations. Our course structure allows previous taught materials to be constantly reviewed and reinforced for immediate and correct use.

If you have any questions or personal experience concerning learning Chinese, please leave a comment. We would be happy to hear from you.