<p>Is the mandarin taught in the class taiwanese mandarin or mainland mandarin?</p>
<p>both. In the "A" classes, taiwanese mandarin (traditional) is integrated more than the mainland one (modern), but teachers give you the option of choosing which to use.</p>
<p>ooh thanks for telling, i was a bit worried there</p>
<p>they dont teach cantonese huh?</p>
<p>I wish they did. =</p>
<p>Cantonese = Awesome</p>
<p>there's so many dialects in cantonese that it would be hard to teach, wouldn't it?</p>
<p>Ehhhh???</p>
<p>Well, you have "toi san", which is similar to Cantonese in some areas. =</p>
<p>But Cantonese is Cantonese =)</p>
<p>Mandarin Chinese is more important for college graduates in the global economy. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>haha cantonese is a lot of slang</p>
<p>
[quote]
they dont teach cantonese huh?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i'm also disappointed that ucla, which offers so many less commonly taught languages, does not teach cantonese. some of the other colleges with high chinese/cantonese populations offer it, but ucla unfortunately doesnt </p>
<p>
[quote]
Mandarin Chinese is more important for college graduates in the global economy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>cantonese can still be useful. the state department lists both cantonese and mandarin as languages in critical need. not really sure how cantonese got on the same level as farsi, mandarin, arabic, urdu, (north) korean, etc. though... :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is the mandarin taught in the class taiwanese mandarin or mainland mandarin?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>anyway, is there a difference between "taiwanese mandarin" and "mainland mandarin"? i was assuming you're actually just referring to traditional vs. simplified characters, but maybe there's more to it that i'm unaware of (besides the beijing usage of "-r" which isnt all of mainland)...</p>
<p>"some of the other colleges with high chinese/cantonese populations offer it, but ucla unfortunately doesnt"</p>
<p>Like UCI? :)</p>
<p>
[Quote]
anyway, is there a difference between "taiwanese mandarin" and "mainland mandarin"?
[/Quote]
</p>
<p>some words are different in "taiwanese mandarin" and "mainland mandarin" like trash, sweet potato, tomato (in some areas of china..), and just a couple of words. i'm also concerned whether they teach simplified or traditional characters..(i prefer simplified)</p>
<p>the professor and TAs for the A-series were really good at simultaneously teaching both. however, during the spring quarter, we were challenged to have basic comprehension of both (the lectures alternated between traditional and simplified). you're probably going to get more traditional writers in the A-series and more simplified writers in the regular series, but again, classes are taught using both so you shouldnt encounter any trouble picking one over the other. :)</p>
<p>My experience in the "Chinese for non-natives" was that it's largely focused on simplified characters.</p>
<p>now i have a question, is simplified more useful, or traditional? i see more and more people write in simplified, yet in news, i see it mostly in traditional.</p>
<p>Personally, I think Simplified Chinese is going to overtake Traditional Chinese in usefulness due to its online ubiquity... If you visit China news sites and Chinese blogs, the majority of characters are typed in Simplified Chinese whenever possible. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
[quote]
now i have a question, is simplified more useful, or traditional? i see more and more people write in simplified, yet in news, i see it mostly in traditional.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>are you watching news from north america? cuz chances are you're watching a channel broadcasted by ethnic chinese who immigrated from hong kong or taiwan, both of which use traditional characters. </p>
<p>in terms of usefulness... i guess that depends what you plan to do. if you're going to be doing business in or traveling to mainland china or working in an international organization that requires/recommends chinese, then simplified would serve you better. if you plan to read the newspapers in north america or do business in or travel to hong kong or taiwan, then traditional is better. </p>
<p>but a lot of asians are learning english these days :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Darn, my years spent in Chinese school now mean nothing. </p>
<p>Not like I remember anything though. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>yeah, i meant the news broadcast in north america when i was referring to seeing traditional chinese on the news. i never thought the day that simplified chinese will eventually take over would come. well, at least mandarin is still mandarin no matter where you speak it, right?</p>
<p>by the way, i think it's interesting that all 3 of you ended your post with that icon.</p>