In a multicultural country like Malaysia, it is a common scene to hear various languages being spoken simultaneously at the same location.
While Bahasa Melayu is the official national language, most Malaysians are effectively bilingual, if not trilingual. This is one of the foremost reasons why many Malaysian parents decide to send their children to a Chinese medium primary school, commonly known as SJK© even if they themselves do not speak the Mandarin language. It’s a bonus to be able to read and write in three languages!
In fact, even our Yang Di Pertuan Agong recently expressed his desire to learn Mandarin to foster effective communication in the country.
In this article, we will talk about the various aspects of learning Mandarin and how one can learn Mandarin at different levels effectively in Malaysia.
The Multi-Faceted Language — Difference Between Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese & Other Dialects
As a Malaysian, you would have heard people using the term Mandarin and Chinese interchangeably when they are referring to the mother tongue of the Chinese community.
Are they really the same? What about different Chinese dialects?
Firstly, we need to establish Mandarin (known as Putonghua普通话) as the official language that is taught in our Malaysian Chinese institutions.
In actual fact, Mandarin is a branch of the Chinese language and is commonly spoken in Beijing, thus serving as the official language of mainland China and also in Taiwan (with a slightly different accent).
If you have ever visited China or watched any China-produced dramas/documentaries, you may have noticed that the spoken language can sound very different according to region. In fact, a vast majority of them don’t actually speak “pure Mandarin”. But they all use the same writing system known as 汉字(Hanzi).
This is because apart from Mandarin, the Chinese language comprises other dialects and branches, such as Cantonese (commonly spoken in Guang Dong, Guang Xi, Macau and of course, Hong Kong).
Apart from that, there’s also Southern Min (a dialect spoken in the province of Fujian and Taiwan). It is more commonly known as Hokkien in various parts South East Asia. Those who are living in Penang will know exactly what we are talking about now.
Some other common Chinese dialects that are spoken in Malaysia include Hakka, Hainanese, Teochew, Fuchow and Kwongsai.
You can start exploring these classes in Johor Bahru to learn Mandarin as an absolute beginner.
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Similar But Different — Discovering The Chinese Writing System
Now that you have learned about how Chinese can be spoken differently, it’s time to talk about the writing system.
China, Singapore and Malaysia follow the 简体字(jiantizi) — simplified Chinese writing system while places like Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan follow the 繁体字(fantizi) — traditional Chinese writing system.
Let’s take a look at this example. The verb “to fly” is written as 飛 in the traditional Chinese writing system, while it is written as飞 in the simplified Chinese writing system.
Having said that, it is important to take note of differences in the Chinese writing systems before you start working or studying in Hong Kong or Taiwan because the Malaysian Mandarin subject syllabus follows the simplified Chinese writing system right from the teaching level at pre-school.
To master Mandarin comprehensively, it is not only about having flawless pronunciation but it is also about cultivating solid reading and writing skills. To achieve that, we highly recommend you to enrol in a Mandarin class to build a strong foundation to be confident and competent in the language.
Find out where you can start learning Mandarin in Kuala Lumpur.
Finding A Mandarin Tutor Near You — Use Superprof
With so many language learning centres and private tutoring options available today, it could take you a long time to decide on the right Mandarin tutor.
Fret not, we got you covered!
Sit back, relax and let Superprof find the perfect Mandarin tutor for you in just a few clicks. Superprof is a student-friendly tutoring platform that connects tutors with students for an array of subjects!
It is not only a student-friendly tutoring website, but it offers a detailed filtering system that caters to every student’s needs, no matter which part of Malaysia you are from. When it comes to learning all the subjects that are offered at Superprof, both face-to-face tutoring and online tutoring are available.
Let’s say you are from Penang and you would love to look for a home tutor that can teach you Mandarin in Seberang Perai. You can just input Mandarin as the subject and indicate Seberang Perai as your physical location in the search box of the Superprof Malaysia homepage.
From there, you will immediately be directed to a wide pool of tutor profiles that offer Mandarin lessons in Seberang Perai, saving you lots of time in the long run.
The filtering process does not stop there. You can also adjust the filtering tabs on the upper left of the website to make your requirements as specific as possible.
For example, you can request tutors who are native speakers, adjust the maximum budget for your hourly class rate, review the average rate of the lesson according to your location and even select the tutor’s response time.
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Superprof Online Lessons — Flexible Learning Anytime And Anywhere
Online learning is here to stay, regardless of the different learning levels that we are in.
With online lessons, you can enjoy learning Mandarin from the comfort of your home, whenever and wherever you want. Not only that, you can also freely pick a Mandarin tutor that is not from your current location.
If you are opting for online lessons, you can choose a tutor that fits your criteria without worrying about travelling. You could be interested in the teaching methodology from an online tutor that is based in Ipoh, for instance.
All you need to do is just contact the tutor via the message feature and you can start discussing about future lessons!
It’s also important to note that online lessons are generally 20% more affordable than regular physical lessons at Superprof, making it a popular pick among students all across the globe.
Also, online lessons cater to different learners’ paces, schedules and learning preferences too. For instance, a policeman might be interested to master conversational Mandarin to help him communicate better with Chinese passengers on the road. As such, he could take online lessons that fit his working shifts and also review his lessons whenever he can.
With online lessons, you can also save lots of money on physical learning resources and just download them in a folder via your mobile device.
Having personalised online Mandarin tutoring also means that you will have a self-paced study, which means you can proceed to different learning levels at your pace without having to wait for others.
One-to-one learning enables you to receive the sole attention from your Mandarin tutor. Above all, our Superprof tutors provide great support to students at all levels too.
Learning Mandarin has never been so easy!
Pursuing A Chinese Language Degree in Malaysia
For those of you who have completed your secondary school education and passed your SPM Bahasa Cina subject with flying colours, you may wonder what’s the next step you can take.
If you intend to continue your tertiary education in a similar field and expand your knowledge of this language, you should probably consider taking a Chinese Language Degree.
We have purposely listed three different local higher education institutions that you can compare and review.
#1: University of Malaya — Public University
The University of Malaya offers The Bachelor of Chinese Language and Linguistics Programme. It is a 7-semester course (including an internship).
- Location: Kuala Lumpur
- Tuition fee: RM 7,900 (Total)
#2: University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) —Private University
UTAR offers the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Chinese Studies Programme. It is a 3 years full-time programme.
- Location: Kampar, Perak
- Tuition fee: RM44,050 (Total)
#3: Xiamen University Malaysia — Overseas Branch Campus
Xiamen University offers The Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies (Honours) Programme. It is also a 3 years programme, where lessons will be conducted in both English and Mandarin.
- Location: Sepang
- Tuition fee: RM24,000 per year
Currently based in Melaka? Discover where you can take Mandarin classes from Melaka tutors.
Source: Xiamen University
Achieve Your Goal Of Becoming A Mandarin Master
Remember, it’s important to set the right goals for your Mandarin learning journey.
Regardless of your current learning level and purpose of learning, make sure they are measurable and most importantly, realistic. Don’t overcommit or underplay your ability but base your learning structure and method according to the right intensity.
For example, if you are a beginner who just started learning Mandarin this month, your goal for next month could be to hold a Mandarin conversation completely in Mandarin with a native speaker or write three simple self-introduction sentences that include your basic information such as your name, age and occupation.
You can refer to this example:
- 你好，我的名字是阿里。Hi, my name is Ali
- 我今年27岁。 I am 27 this year.
- 我是一名警察。I am a policeman
When it comes to learning a new language, the cliché rings true. Practice makes perfect. As long as you maintain this consistency, you’ll master Mandarin comprehensively in no time!
加油! You got this!
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