Why Mandarin is hard: It needs more brain work

[Acemundo]

haa.....many of us are smarter

 

 

 

LONDON - Speaking Mandarin may take more brainpower than speaking English, the BBC reports.

 

It says researchers in Britain have found that people who speak Mandarin use both sides of their brain to understand the language whereas English-language speakers need to use only one side of their brain. Advertisement

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The researchers said the findings could boost understanding of how the brain processes languages.

 

This in turn could one day help scientists develop better ways of aiding people to relearn languages after a stroke or similar damage to the brain.

 

In the study done by Dr Sophie Scott and her colleagues at the Wellcome Trust, brain scans were carried out on a group of Mandarin and English speakers.

 

It was found that the left temporal lobe, which is located by the left temple, became active whenever English speakers heard English.

 

The researchers believe that this area of the brain links speech sounds together to form individual words.

 

When these people heard Mandarin, both the left and right temporal lobes became active.

 

Dr Scott said: 'People who speak different sorts of languages use their brains to decode speech in different ways.' Mandarin is a notoriously difficult language to learn. Unlike English, speakers use tones to distinguish between different meanings of words.

 

According to the BBC, the researchers believe that this need to interpret tones explains why Mandarin speakers have to use both sides of their brain. The right temporal lobe is normally associated with being able to process music or tones.

 

'We think that Mandarin speakers interpret intonation and melody in the right temporal lobe to give the correct meaning to the spoken words,' said Dr Scott.

 

'It seems that the structure of the language you learn as a child affects how the structure of your brain develops to decode speech.

 

'Native English speakers... find it extraordinarily difficult to learn Mandarin.'

 

She said the findings could help scientists understand how the brain learns language, and this could also lead to new drugs to help people who have lost their language skills.

 

'There is evidence from other studies that certain drugs affect learning in the brain regions that support hearing and speech,' she said.

[Guyver]

Sure or not?? Mandarin got not past tense, present tense, past participle, etc... should be easier mah!!

[Guyver]

Also...

 

Where are you going? 5 syllabus....

Ni qu na? 3 syllabus....

 

Should be easier... i suppose...

[En0203]

haha, think all those speaking chinese would say chinese is easier to learn, while others say the same for their mother tongue..

 

i would say any language is easier to learn if u learn/listen to them since young

[Acemundo]

english is some longish. but not necessarily more difficult to pick up.

 

i guess it is quite easy to pick up english even if it is broken but harder to perfect it.

 

main problem with learning chinese is recognition of the words which can be quite a stumbling block. it is harder to pick up mandarin but once easier to perfect it.

[Super7]

"........... Sure or not?? Mandarin got not past tense, present tense, past participle, etc... should be easier mah!! ...."

 

i olso say..... wor tong yi......

[Super7]

i agree that mandarin words are hard to recognise/memorise.... sometimes even if i remember the sound of the word, but forget how to write it........ english is different, if i remember the sound, i still can try to spell it (at least 80% correct)....

[Smiley]

a lot depends on your up bringing, your environment.

 

both english and mandarin is not difficult to learn in terms of speaking. english structure is more complex. chinese words are more difficult to remember and write.

[King]

chinese must stat from young ,otherwise.......

[Smiley]

not true, you see ang moh learning chinese in their mid life. but i guess fr every language, starting young would be an advantage. then must hv practice and determination to learn.

[Honzai]

my chinese very lousy leh ...

does it mean my brain processor speed is low?

[King]

they learn half-way ,get hauled

[Acemundo]

maybe not enough ram

[Smiley]

i took up japanese 10 yrs ago....no practice so didn't carry on.. now they are alien to me.

[Owen_fan]

I'm chinese educated! my daughter was look after by my sis, who only speak chinese to her. so when she enter P1, no problem in chinese, but english ???? on the other hand, my son was sent to childcare when he was 2 years old, he can speak english, but chinese ???. As for me, english so so, chinese long time never used, oso so so only. So I think one have to read more, speak more in order to learn new lang.

[Smiley]

sounds familar. my 2 elder nieces were look after by my mum, chinese good good english so so. my 2 younger nieces look after by my sister-in-law, english good, chinese si-mi lai-eh. so now all of us try to talk to them in the language they are weak in. now their languages ok in terms of speech, but written is still a problem.

[King]

like one of my pal.

 

who took jap during school.

can read and understand when in jap,but he will nvr SPEAK.kekeke

[Smiley]

he better liao, i cannot read speak or understand...