An American In Taiwan

Ran across this little list on the interwebs, regarding how many characters translates into how much understanding you have of conversations:

100 characters → 42% understanding
200 characters → 55% understanding
300 characters → 64% understanding
400 characters → 70% understanding
500 characters → 75% understanding
600 characters → 79% understanding
700 characters → 82% understanding
800 characters → 85% understanding
900 characters → 87% understanding
1000 characters → 89% understanding
1100 characters → 90% understanding
1200 characters → 91% understanding
1300 characters → 92% understanding
1400 characters → 93% understanding
1500 characters → 94% understanding
1600 characters → 95.0% understanding
1700 characters → 95.5% understanding
1800 characters → 96.0% understanding
1900 characters → 96.5% understanding
2000 characters → 97.0% understanding
2100 characters → 97.4% understanding
2200 characters → 97.7% understanding
2300 characters → 98.0% understanding
2400 characters → 98.3% understanding
2500 characters → 98.5% understanding
2600 characters → 98.7% understanding
2700 characters → 98.9% understanding
2800 characters → 99.0% understanding
2900 characters → 99.1% understanding
3000 characters → 99.2% understanding

Apparently, and this is up for some discussion, learning 500 Chinese characters will have you understanding 75% of what you hear. Of course, it was pointed out on Forumosa.com that you may be able to understand 75% of what’s being said, but in a sentence like “Will you please place these scissors in that cabinet?” What you will likely understand is “Will you please place these ______ in that ______?” Which is, in effect, completely unhelpful.

I was talking to Schmoopie the other day about the Chinese language. I was originally commenting on how much I enjoy French, and how surprised I am at the amount I still retain and am able to comprehend after four years of high school instruction nearly nine years ago. Learning Chinese is something I really, really need to do, so it’s really on my mind quite a bit. The classes at the university are not really to my liking, but I often piddle around with Chinese-learning websites and whatnot. The written form of Chinese is of great interest to me. Etymology, specifically, is fascinating.

It also makes it very difficult for non-native speakers to learn. And yes, I know that’s wash. It’s just an example. By difficult, I mean, by understanding that in the word the bottom radical is the shallow bowl containing the water (in the middle) being used to wash hands (sides) is easy… once you know what they are. But what about a word like 犇? The etymological root: three cows or oxen. The contemporary meaning: run about. See what I mean?

I really do find Chinese fascinating, though. I see pictures of Taiwan, or even when we were in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and I see all the advertisements and road signs and everything, and, man, I’m just blown away. Not by the fact that anyone can just glance at all that and understand it; anyone born into a language can do that. I’m blown away by the fact that I have to be able to do it!

Of course, I’m sure when English-learners are looking at our highway signs they feel the same way. English are hard, after all. This is why English-learning software and textbooks are worth their weight in gold. Well, that and it’s the international language of business. Well, that and the Western world ravished and raped Africa and the Orient in order to get some diamonds, silk and peppercorns.

But I digress.

Once I finish my degree, I’ll have more time to devote to learning Chinese. Wish me luck.

Tags: Chinese Language, study

This entry was posted by 美國人 on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 23:28 and is filed under Chinese Language. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.