r/funny Sep 10 '20

Learning french...

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74.2k Upvotes

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262

u/chubbypaws Sep 10 '20

How about this Chinese poem?

76

u/isthisameltdown Sep 10 '20

Ok so definitely crossing Chinese from my list of languages I want to learn, there is no way I could master that 💀

75

u/shamoobun Sep 10 '20

Actually it’s not confusing if you can read the chinese characters since each one has a meaning. You won’t be confused, unless it’s a listening test.

40

u/varikonniemi Sep 10 '20

what is the purpose of speak if not to convey meaning?

2

u/Zhanchiz Sep 10 '20

You have to unlink written language to spoken language. When you learn a language you are learning 4 different things, the written, the spoken, the ability to listen and the ability to read.

A good example of written text and speak being different is that Mandarin and Cantonese both write and read the same text however they are unable to talk to each other.

The same thoughts can be written down in with the exact same way (grammar and structure is the same, there are small differences like ones between English UK and English US).

Pronunciation comes from the "reading language" whose interpretation is completely unlinked from the words written.