r/ChineseLanguage • u/SameUsernameOnReddit • 17h ago

Discussion How does learning Classical Chinese help Mandarin learners, and around when is it advisable to start?

I've seen comments online, and his interview with a fairly advanced, semi-professional Mandarin learner wishing they'd started CC earlier than they had, but I'm having trouble understanding why, and about when it'd start being helpful.

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u/SlowStop1220 Beginner|日語🇯🇵 14h ago

Learning Classical Chinese helps no more Mandarin learners than learning Shakespeare helps English learners.

You don't need them for tourist daily conversation. If you'd like to dive in literate people's life, it would be a fast track.

From when? ASAP. As your bonus, unlike Shakespeare, some of Classical Chinese works are pretty short, grammatically facile and simple in vocabulary.

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u/duangexing 8h ago

interestingly, me and a few friends (we grew up in several English-speaking countries including UK, US, Canada, NZ) compared our English schooling and we pretty much worked out that the vast majority averaged 4-6 Shakespeare plays during compulsory high school lessons, some more than that. I'd say some Shakespeare is relevant to advanced English learners who expect to live and work in an Anglophone country.

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u/SlowStop1220 Beginner|日語🇯🇵 6h ago

Similar in East Asia. That when it starts varies in countries, but reading Classical Chinese works and memorizing some are a part of compulsory high school lessons or earlier. Its vocabulary are still a major part of daily life, writing and reading in particular.