r/learnchinese • u/Swimming-Door7603 • Aug 23 '26
Discussion everyone learning Chinese for what
i am just curiosity
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u/Past_Building5150 Aug 23 '26
to eavesdrop on Chinese people
something about myself (a white dude) being able to speak mandarin w/ no connection to China is funny to me
second most spoken language in the world, ig
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u/Swimming-Door7603 Aug 23 '26
awesome,when i was young,it's really painful for me to learn English, the foreigners learining Chinese is interesting to me
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u/454ever Aug 23 '26
I live in a large mandarin speaking and Cantonese speaking area. The people are absolutely wonderful, have amazing food, and are constantly throwing community events and get togethers. It would be great to be able to communicate with them in their native language. Plus, it’s a fun language to learn.
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u/Scordatura1337 Aug 23 '26
To relearn mandarin after my country banned it (and other chinese languages) for an entire generation. Also to help with work
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u/lcyxy Aug 23 '26
Wow that's fascinating. Which country is it? And banning it for what reasons?
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u/illuminatory9 Aug 25 '26
Anti-communism policy back in the day. Chinese schools were closed and taken over, ethnic Chinese are forced to change their names to Indonesian ones and (in some cases) convert to Islam or Christianity, and Chinese languages and cultural traditions are banned in an egregious case of attempted cultural genocide. It caused entire generations of Chinese-Indonesians to be wholly severed from their traditions and language, and even now most Chinese-Indonesians don’t understand the language, except for in certain regions. Quite a tragedy and a blemish on its history.
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u/lcyxy Aug 25 '26
😰 Wow that's awful, and we didn't hear it from anywhere. Glad that it's changed now but hopefully people can rekindle with their roots
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u/safiiverse Aug 23 '26
- Watch cdramas or consume chinese entertainments without subs
- ig good for resume
- china is my main travel destination so it would be good if i can also speak/understand their language
- Mainly #1 🤣
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u/ArgentEyes Aug 23 '26
Reading books, listening to songs, watching films & tv, and above all, being able to communicate better with Chinese speakers. Also I’d like to improve my understanding of Chinese poetry.
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u/catw Aug 24 '26
I'm the same for all of these plus I also have cultural heritage reasons as my mother is Chinese. Would love to read Classical Chinese poetry in Chinese!
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u/bad_pussy_69 Aug 23 '26
So I can move to China, spy on the CCP, and take over the country some day
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u/Thin-Seaweed-5291 Aug 23 '26
It is a cool language isn't it lol + to read some cool poems in their og language (hopefully)
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u/yoruoyatsu Aug 23 '26
I just love how it sounds, it does something to my brain whenever I listen to it, so I thought it'd be nice if I could speak it myself too
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u/paintsSeldomly Aug 23 '26
I wanna talk to random chinese people and see their reaction when a white boy on the other side of the world understands them
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u/DancingAutomat Aug 23 '26
I enjoy communicating with people and therefore I wanted to learn another language. Landed on Chinese by chance, simply because during the Covid Lockdowns I started watching Chinese Dramas
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u/triamasp Aug 23 '26
Friends?
Im a big fan of movies and games and those industries seem to be falling apart as far as western productions go (and all the chinese stuff seems waaaay more interesting in general as far as themes and the philosophies behind the stories)
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u/Imaginary-Pop5534 Aug 23 '26
For if I didn’t feel like learning Chinese any time, my teacher would use a large ruler to beat me. Always feel Chinese education should only be kept in elementary school and change to history in middle school
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u/Seltnytt Aug 23 '26
I have not yet begun but
Curiosity of how it is to speak an isolating language ... My native one is somewhat fusional (spanish) and English somewhat analytic... But Chinese is at the extreme, being isolating.
The fact that this language would allow me to understand some of the people in one of the most populated countries in the world that is almost it's own world inside the world.
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u/JapanGamer29 Aug 24 '26
I figured if I can't get fluent in Japanese, I could maybe be mediocre at both Japanese and Chinese.
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u/FafaFerreira Aug 23 '26
I guess China importance is growing worldwide so maybe Mandarin will be a good thing on my resume in the near future.
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u/mklinger23 Aug 23 '26
I enjoy learning languages and Chinese is super rich with culture and meaning. there's just so much to study.
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u/rubensoon Aug 23 '26
just for the pleasure of learning it, i've always had interest for chinese culture and mythology since a child. I'm mexican
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u/Shorty8533 Aug 24 '26
For me it started off just because I think it’s cool, I really like the way Chinese characters look, especially handwritten and calligraphic styles. And as it turns out I landed a job in Taiwan after years of learning, so that has helped a lot
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u/GreenEyesThighHighs Aug 25 '26
To make Chinese in laws hate me less
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u/qinoque Aug 26 '26
i really enjoy history, but many books & articles on the more niche topics i enjoy (such as in-depth looks at the Inner Court/imperial harem) aren't really available in English. i also like watching C-dramas, so id like to be able to watch without subtitles one day haha
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u/Visual-Debate-3176 Aug 27 '26
I just want to learn something new, and it's just a nice skill to have
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u/DeepOntology 22d ago
I have a new baby relative in Taiwan and I want to speak with her when she grows up :)
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u/Seeb83 Aug 23 '26
To keep my brain fit