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Celebrate
the Chinese New Year!
A special
feature by www.languageadvantage.com
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22 January 2004 is the start of the
Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Monkey.
Find out more about the origins of the Chinese lunar calendar and
the celebrations for Chinese New Year. Start afresh and learn one
of the most important languages in the world - Mandarin. We introduce
our top 10 ways to
learn Mandarin, featuring some of the best and most innovative language
providers in the world.
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Origins
of the Chinese lunar calendar
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The Chinese
lunar calendar follows the movements of the moon very closely and
all months have 29 or 30 days. Every few years, there is a leap
year, but instead of having just one extra day (as in the Western
Gregorian calendar), there is an extra month added to even up the
fact that there are about 365.25 days a year (the real time it takes
the earth to go around the sun). So, the Chinese New Year is always
in late January up to mid February, but it depends on the timing
of the New Moon that month.
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.
This close relationship between the earth and the moon are reflected
in the language. The word for day is in fact the Chinese for 'sun'
and the word
for month is 'moon'.
It is said that the Chinese lunar calendar started as the Xia calendar
in the 21st - 16th century BC. It is still used widely for cultural
festivals and agricultural life, although the Western Gregorian
calendar was adopted with the arrival of the Republic of China in
the early 20th century to bring China in line with the national
calendar's of most of the rest of the world. So in the traditional
Chinese lunar calendar, this is Year 4702 (although some would say
it is 4701 due to a discrepancy over the start date of the calendar).
So the Chinese
calendar has much more to it than meets the eye. And, so does the
culture and language of China.
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Festivities
around Chinese New Year
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The festivities
for the Chinese New Year usually last for 15 days and include many
celebrations including:
Spring cleaning
Fireworks
Bursting of crackers
Lion dance
Lantern festivals
Chinese New Year Eve family dinners
Chinese New Year Day holiday
If you're around,
go and join in the festivities. Some of the more famous celebrations
outside of China take place in London's
China Town and San Francisco's
Chinese New Year Day Parade.
Have a bit of fun:
Find out your Chinese
birth zodiac sign>>
Write your name in Chinese>>
Try your on-line fortune
cookie>>
Send a Chinese
New Year e-card>>
Mandarin Chinese
is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is emerging
as one of the next world languages, alongside English and Spanish.
This is important from a trade point of view as a market of over
a billion people continues to open up. Imagine the competitive advantage
for your business if you could get just a fraction of this market.
Or how many job offers would come your way in the next few years
if you could speak Chinese or learn about the Chinese culture.
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. But it is not the only
language spoken in China. According to Ethnologue,
there are 202 languages spoken in China, one of which is Mandarin
and one of which is now extinct. And of course, Cantonese is widely
spoken is some parts of the world such as Hong Kong.
So find
out how you can get the Chinese language advantage!
So how do you
learn Mandarin Chinese, when you're hopeless at even French or Spanish
- and when you've no time at all?
Take it easy,
set realistic targets (it will take a while) and find time to study
or practise every day if you can. Focus on learning a few important
phrases to get you started and to build your confidence, then worry
about the grammar, structure and scripts. Sometimes learning a totally
different language, such as Mandarin, can be liberating - and will
certainly give you a sense of achievement and open up a wonderful
new world to you.
We've selected
our top 10 ways of learning Mandarin Chinese, featuring the best
and most innovative language learning products on the market.
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>>
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Carry a hand-held translator
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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.
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Learn by audio-only method
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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 can also try contacting
the Chinese embassy in your nearest major town for information about
learning Chinese.
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. The BBC
is launching a new Mandarin course soon!
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Take an immersion course abroad
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The ultimate
in language learning - go to China and immerse yourself in the Chinese
language and culture. And you'll have the time of your life and
make friends for life.
Try Language Advantage Courses Abroad
for an immersion course in China.
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... and don't forget the culture
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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
Deloitte Consulting and Accenture (Andersen Consulting).
She believes
that you can get the competitive advantage through speaking languages
and understanding other cultures and has seen the language advantage
in action while managing global change programmes with multilingual
and multicultural teams.
Sarah has also tried many different ways of learning languages.
Sarah
speaks English, French, some German and Spanish (still improving!).
She's now tackling Mandarin Chinese 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
Visit
our Chinese language page
and our Language Advantage Courses
for more of the best and most innovative language providers in the
world.
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
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