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I was learning Mandarin/simplified for a while and it took me some time to identify whether I should be listening in on a conversation or reading a sign or not.
by wickedchicken 16y ago
I was learning Mandarin/simplified for a while and it took me some time to identify whether I should be listening in on a conversation or reading a sign or not. I don't have a good guide on Canto/Mandarin (it doesn't help that many phrases sound similar in both to a Western ear) but for writing I zeroed in on identifying the 'i' on the left side of simplified 'shuo' (说) versus the 'stack of pancakes' in traditional shuo (說). Since the 'i' appears frequently enough in characters in signs, I found it to be a pretty good signifier that what I was looking at was simplified.
- wickedchicken 16y agoAlso, the article doesn't mention that native speakers (especially ones born recently) are often able to speak or read some part of the 'other' language. It's a similar situation to French Swiss knowing some German and vice-versa.
- sunqiang 16y agoI am a native speaker(not born recently though). it still hard to speak or listen 'other' dialect, but more and more Mainland Chinese Speak mandarin instead of dialect， so it's more and more easy to communication.