Chinese is a language with more than 800 million native speakers. Therefore, learning Chinese is a great way to broaden your horizons, immerse yourself in other cultures, and advance your career. Of all, there are many other Chinese dialects spoken all throughout the world, including Malaysia, therefore there isn’t just one!
For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to studying Mandarin Chinese when we discuss Chinese culture, the Chinese language, and learning Mandarin for beginners in this post. Mandarin is not only the official Chinese language used in Malaysia, but it is also the language that is most widely spoken in the People’s Republic of China. Do you still need to pass Chinese tests then? When learning Mandarin Chinese, you need to be aware of the following in order to prepare for any Chinese exam.
What does Malaysia mean in Mandarin?
If you don’t already know it, Malaysia is known as (or “ma lai xi ya” in Pinyin) by both Chinese people outside of Malaysia and Chinese people inside Malaysia. We don’t know who chose the country’s name in Mandarin Chinese, but after saying it out loud a few times, you’ll notice that it sounds very like its Malay equivalent.
How many Malaysians are fluent in Mandarin?
Chinese people make up about 25% of Malaysia’s overall population. This is correct, yet Mandarin is not just widely spoken by Chinese people. It is no secret that individuals outside of Chinese-speaking families and those without Chinese ancestry speak the language as well. The primary language of instruction in Chinese schools is Mandarin, which may account for this. Being able to communicate in Mandarin would make one trilingual because pupils are taught Bahasa Melayu and English in addition to other official languages.
Mandarin is not spoken by all Chinese people in Malaysia.
Assuming that everyone who is Chinese in Malaysia speaks Mandarin on a daily basis would be irresponsible. In reality, some Chinese Malaysians are completely illiterate in Mandarin! For daily communication, these people rely on various dialects of the Chinese language. Your ancestors most likely originated in the People’s Republic of China’s southern provinces if you are a Malaysian Chinese.
Malaysia thus has a wide variety of southern Chinese types. They are Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Hainan, and Foochow, which are the most widely spoken. For instance, Penang and Kedah are big users of Hokkien. Rather than the official Mandarin Chinese spoken in the nation, it is typically the elderly population that maintains their proficiency in these dialects. If your neighborhood Chinese “uncle” replies to you in Hakka rather than Mandarin, don’t be shocked!
However, Mandarin is becoming more widely spoken in Malaysia. The younger generation is choosing to learn Mandarin for beginners and even take HSK Mandarin in order to keep up with the times, where being able to speak Mandarin is essential in this day and age, even though Mandarin may not have as long of a history as its Southern Chinese counterparts.
Is Attempting to Learn Chinese Worthwhile?
Chinese is a straightforward language. Chinese is supposedly one of the hardest languages in the world to master. However, if you look attentively, there aren’t any intricate designs that will make you scratch your head!
When it comes to the Chinese language, there are no tenses. Concerned about how to effectively explain past, present, and future events? All of that is left out in Chinese, including verb conjugation, pronouns, nouns, and the plural forms of things. Consider the scenario if you wished to inform someone that there were apples on the table. Saying “is all that is necessary. Whether there are one or many apples, the form of the character for “apple” remains the same!
Chinese does have its own unique rules for speaking, writing, and other language-related activities. Chinese is actually one of the simplest languages to learn grammatically; you may wave goodbye to the intricacies seen in languages like English.
What additional advantages come from taking Mandarin language lessons?
If you’re thinking about taking Mandarin language lessons, you can gain a number of advantages, including:
A remarkable culture
The best method to interact with one of the oldest cultures in the world? Learning Mandarin will allow you to fully appreciate the rich Chinese culture, even if it is only for an HSK test. Knowing Mandarin can provide you with a deeper knowledge of life if you’re interested in ancient history or wonder what life was like for people then. Such a history is also prominently included in a vast lot of Chinese poetry and literature, which you can discover by studying HSK Malaysia.
Perhaps you’ve always wanted to sample different Chinese cuisines but haven’t known what to try besides the standard Hainanese chicken rice. You may learn about all the different kinds of Chinese food, from the Zongzi made famous during the Dragon Boat Festival to the essential Tang Yuan of the Lantern Festival, even if it’s for a Chinese exam!
An improved brain
Even though Chinese is a simple language in and of itself, your brain will nonetheless work hard when learning it. According to studies, learning Chinese helps people maintain their mental acuity. What place does this occur? It has been hypothesized that it resides in the temporal lobes or the regions of the brain involved in language learning and comprehension. There is proof that persons who speak Mandarin use both of their temporal lobes to grasp the language, in contrast to English speakers who only use their left! One of the factors contributing to this unique quality is the Chinese language’s unique tone, sound, and script, especially when compared to English. Mandarin Chinese speakers employ intonations to discern between the many meanings of characters, as can be seen in Pinyin.
More prospects for a career
Speaking more than one language is a significant plus for getting into a field you want, just like how businesses like to recruit people who are better people managers than others. You will immediately appeal to foreign businesses if you can communicate in Mandarin. Any worldwide firm would prefer potential employees who can readily interact with and create agreements for Chinese clients given that the People’s Republic of China is one of the major economic powerhouses.
In other Chinese-speaking nations like Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, you can easily learn Chinese and get employment. If you can communicate in Chinese at work, there is no need to be concerned about language obstacles in these other nations. This is your opportunity to broaden your job experience in a foreign nation. Learning a new language can be challenging, and this is true of many languages, not just Chinese. Keeping that in mind, you too can persevere and pass your Chinese proficiency test!
How Do I Prepare for the HSK 1 Chinese Exam?
Your profession may benefit from learning a foreign language, which can also broaden your horizons in terms of new encounters, cultures, and ways of thinking. All languages, whether they be Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, or Japanese, are helpful. There are tests you can take to demonstrate your linguistic skills in order to determine your proficiency in a foreign language. People who are studying English typically take the TOEIC or TOEFL tests, but people who are learning Chinese must take the HSK. The HSK, which has six levels, can demonstrate your proficiency in Chinese to potential employers.
The HSK 1 is the test’s entry-level level. You must be familiar with 150 frequently used characters and fundamental Chinese grammar rules in order to pass the exam. You must be able to identify and translate them. In contrast to HSK 4 and HSK 5, which already require you to be familiar with a variety of Chinese characters, pinyin is also utilized in the first two levels of the test. The combined time for the reading and listening sections of the HSK 1 is around 35 minutes. You have hardly enough time if any at all. Either you already know the solution or not. You will need to create time to revise because you don’t have time to waste.
What strategies work best for passing the HSK 1?
You must first become familiar with Chinese vocabulary. The vocabulary lists you need to know are simple to find online. For the purpose of translating the characters for the exam, there are websites with practice exercises. Utilize all of these free resources available online. They are freely available to you at any time without cost. For individuals who don’t have a lot of spare time or don’t have enough time to attend classes, this is a wonderful choice.
However, learning Chinese can be really helpful when getting ready for assessments of this nature. The CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) levels A1, A2, B1, etc. correspond to the levels of the HSK exam. Finding the classes that apply to the exam you’re studying for will now be a lot simpler.
Additionally, you can study Mandarin privately with tutoring. When students and tutors have an understanding of what the student wants to study, the tutor will create a curriculum that suits the student. You can also ask your individual tutor for suggestions and criticism. You can learn how to unwind, concentrate, and take the right actions to ace your Chinese exam. Contact us for more details.
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