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Celebrate the Chinese New Year! A special feature by www.languageadvantage.com

1 February 2003 is the start of the Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Ram. Find out more about the Chinese Zodiac, and just as importantly, how to learn Chinese. We introduce our top 10 ways to learn Mandarin, featuring some of the best and most innovative language providers in the world.

Compare the Chinese calendar with the one that we commonly use in the West - the Gregorian calendar. In this calendar, dates are determined by movements of the earth around the sun. So you end up with 365 days and a New Year on 1 January (with a bit of adjustment with a leap year!).

However, the Chinese calender is much more complex. While it is still based upon movements of the sun around the earth, it also takes into account the moon and is heavily influenced by the lunar months between successive new moons. Add in the twelve animals, the elements, Yin and Yang and you'll start to see why the Chinese zodiac system is so complicated. And what is more, this is Year 4701 according to the Chinese lunar calendar - The Year of the Ram (sometimes called the Year of the Goat). So the Chinese calendar has much more to it than meets the eye. And, so does the language and culture of China.

Have a bit of fun:
Find out your Chinese birth zodiac sign>>
Write your name in Chinese>>
Try your on-line fortune cookie>>

Mandarin Chinese (or Putonghua, meaning 'official' language) is the most widely spoken language in China and indeed in the world - with over 1 billion speakers globally. According to Ethnologue, there are 202 languages spoken in China, one of which is Mandarin and one of which is now extinct.

Mandarin Chinese is also predicted to be the No 1 language on the web by 2007. That could be nearly a billion users with a local language of Chinese. Imagine the competitive advantage for your business if you could get just a fraction of this market. Or how many job offers will come your way in the next few years if you can speak Chinese or learn about the Chinese culture.

Our school children are taught a bit of English or a bit of French, or Spanish if we're lucky. But perhaps they should really be learning Chinese. Find out how you can get the Chinese language advantage!

We believe that it is now necessary for anyone wanting to travel or do business in other countries, wherever they may be, to just rely on English. Mandarin Chinese could well emerge as one of the next world languages, alongside Spanish. Chinese may become a real alternative to English in the years ahead, especially in the Asian trading blocs. You've been warned. Get the Chinese language advantage, before it becomes the Chinese language necessity.

So how do you learn Chinese, when you're hopeless at even French or Spanish - and when you've no time at all?

Well, here are some tips from Georgina Howard's book 'Breaking the Language Barrier' and some from me too!

- Forget your language learning at school
- Set yourself realistic targets
- You only need to learn a few hundred words to get started, not thousands
- Only learn the grammar you really need
- Learn the scripts in parallel, but learn to communicate too
- Build it into your daily routine (it's just like exercise, dieting) and really important to do a bit every day
- Have the confidence to give it a go.

Reckon you'll give it a go?

Well, start small and build it up over the months and years ahead. Before you know it you'll be fluent, visiting China, and wondering what the problem was with learning Mandarin Chinese…. But until then, we'll show you our top 10 ways of learning Chinese, featuring some of the best and most innovative language learning products on the market. Don't forget there is Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese (widely spoken in Hong Kong).

A first effort to get you started. Try a phrase book if you're going to China soon or fancy sampling a very different language. Take a look at the BBC travel phrase book here>>

The technology has moved on so far now, you can have a personal interpreter with you at all times! Try Ectaco's Chinese electronic talking dictionaries, for the intrepid traveller and gadget-mad.

For those starting out, or those that are really motivated, try your hand at studying on your own. You'll find out if you like the feel of Chinese. Try the best-selling Teach Yourself series or the world-famous Linguaphone series in Mandarin or Cantonese, which are both book and cassette courses.

This is a great way of learning Chinese, as you learn it as you did your own language. The best place to start is with the world-famous Pimsleur method, either with the Quick & Simple course to get you started - or the Comprehensive course if you're really serious about learning.

You can learn to speak Mandarin without being able to write it - after all, that is how our children have learnt their first language. However, if you want to get to grips with the Chinese script, try the Teach Yourself Chinese Script to get you started.

For those of you who are really serious about getting started or improving your Chinese level and need that extra bit of motivation, then enrol on a regular course. More and more local colleges and universities are offering Chinese courses, and if you're in the UK you could try www.hotcourses.com

For Mandarin Chinese, our favourites CD-ROMs are from Eurotalk, Rosetta Stone (learn by images and sound as you did as a kid) and the Learn Chinese Now!

If you've got a computer at home or at work and are not a technophobe, this could be the answer for you. You can go through the modules at your own pace and make real progress with the basic grammar and vocabulary. They're also great for refreshing or maintaining your level. You just miss the spoken in most cases.
Try the language advantage on-line page to learn more Chinese and about Chinese culture.

The ultimate in language learning - go to the country and, well, immerse yourself in the Chinese language and culture. And you'll have the time of your life and make friends for life.
Try EF for an immersion course in China.

And don't forget the culture. Even if you speak English, understanding the Chinese culture will help you get more out of your holiday, or get competitive advantage in business. Try a CULTURE SHOCK! Guide to China or the Teach Yourself Chinese Language, Life and Culture, to get a bit of knowledge about how the Chinese live and work.

Sarah Carroll is the founder of www.languageadvantage.com

Sarah has always loved learning languages and working and holidaying abroad. Before setting up Language Advantage, Sarah worked on global projects for Braxton (Deloitte Consulting) and Accenture (Andersen Consulting).

Her belief that you can get the competitive advantage through speaking languages and understanding other cultures has emerged through first-hand experiences of managing million dollar change programmes with multilingual and multicultural teams. And with jobs as mad as these, she's tried so many different ways of learning languages.

Sarah speaks English, French, some German and is learning Spanish. She's going to tackle Mandarin Chinese next and calculates that she'll then be able to talk to 80% of the world's population in one of their official languages. Well she has to practise what she preaches!

Sarah can be contacted on sarah@languageadvantage.com

Congratulations to the following 10 people, who are the lucky winners in the February 2003 Language Advantage Newsletter competition!! You will each win a Talk Now! Mandarin CD-ROM for beginners. You can now get the Mandarin language advantage!

To enter future competitions, sign up for the Language Advantage Newsletter at www.languageadvantage.com/newsletter

more information

If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter and be kept up-to-date with any new language and cultural providers and other developments in the language world, please subscribe to our newsletter at www.languageadvantage.com/newsletter. You'll also be able to take part in free giveaways, competitions and discounts.

Also, visit our Chinese language page and our languagestore for more of the best and most innovative language providers in the world.

For previous special features go to our directory archive of special features.