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What do you need to know before you start learning Chinese?
Before you begin to learn how to read and write Chinese, there is one thing you need to know, it is a very difficult language that will take years and years of dedicated hard work. If you have not had any experience with Chinese culture and calligraphy in the past, it can be difficult sometimes.
Chinese writing is very different from most other languages in the world. There are tens of thousands of characters that represent different words and you will have to memorize many of these words and learn how they are used grammatically in a sentence. It is a tall task so if you are planning on learning Chinese, be sure you are ready to invest the time required, it is not an overnight process.
The symbols used in Chinese language are very different from those in Western and Latin languages. There are relatively few patterns in the Chinese language compared to that of Spanish or English, and that is what makes it especially difficult to learn.
Unalike the French and Spanish languages, which use English letters with a few new symbols and minor changes to the American alphabet, such as accents and dots over certain vowels and other minor changes to characters, the Chinese language does not use any of the letters or shapes we are very familiar with. Hence, there is a lot of learning and memorizing that needs to be done in the initial phase of learning how to write in Chinese. Once you become more experienced with Chinese writing, you will be able to catch on quickly and learn new words and construct more complicated sentences quicker, but the first few months of memorizing symbols and how they are used in sentences can be very monotonous and tiring. This is the phase when many of those who attempt to learn Chinese, give up because of the sheer amount of work involved.
If you have a strong work ethic and are overall a hard worker that needs to learn how to write in Chinese or is just generally interested in the subject, make the attempt and be sure to stick with it and not give up right away. It is going to be very difficult to memorize the characters at first so be sure to anticipate that and remember that it will get easier once you become more familiar with the characters and how to construct proper sentences.
