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How long does it take Chinese kids to become fully fluent in mandarin?

username4347578

How long does it take Chinese kids to become fully fluent in mandarin if they live in China and go school there??

Reply 1

S.carter

Original post by ArtmisKco

How long does it take Chinese kids to become fully fluent in mandarin if they live in China and go school there??

Probably the same amount of time it takes british kids to become fluent in English if they live in Britain and go to school there

Reply 2

username4347578

Ah true but I was wondering since there are a lot of Chinese characters to learn to become fully fluent, what is the age that a child becomes fluent in writing a long with the speaking ?

Reply 3

idk01

Original post by ArtmisKco

Ah true but I was wondering since there are a lot of Chinese characters to learn to become fully fluent, what is the age that a child becomes fluent in writing a long with the speaking ?

I think a lot of characters aren't used much; I read somewhere that there are like 10,000 characters but the average person only uses 2500 of them

it's still a lot but we would certainly be capable of learning many more letters than 26

Reply 4

username4347578

Ah thanks for your insight!

Reply 5

Quick-use

I can speak from my background in Japan. Japanese people usually become properly fluent by the end of high school (or college/sixth form in England). By properly fluent, I mean that they will have officially learned all of the fundamental kanji (Chinese characters) essential for daily life/work/university. I believe they learn about 2000.

In China, I reckon they must learn about 3000-4000 by the end of school.

Reply 6

Notoriety

Original post by S.carter

Probably the same amount of time it takes british kids to become fluent in English if they live in Britain and go to school there

People in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, not Mandarin.

I know a few Hong Kongese. They have quite basic Mandarin, even after having been taught it in school for 15 years. To answer the OP, it is not as easy as you likely imagine.

Edit: I think I need to go to sleep.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 7

Quick-use

Original post by Notoriety

People in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, not Mandarin.

Not sure why this is relevant considering OP was asking about (mainland) China...

Reply 8

Notoriety

Original post by Quick-use

Not sure why this is relevant considering OP was asking about (mainland) China...

Aye I misread a bit/hallucinated/**** knows.

Reply 9

Quick-use

Original post by Notoriety

Aye I misread a bit/hallucinated/**** knows.

It's late. You should go to sleep. :fluffy:

Reply 10

idk01

Original post by Notoriety

Aye I misread a bit/hallucinated/**** knows.

have some warm milk bb xox

Reply 11

MagnumKoishi

Original post by ArtmisKco

How long does it take Chinese kids to become fully fluent in mandarin if they live in China and go school there??

To speak the language, presumably the same amount of time it takes for someone to learn English growing up in Britain.

However, the characters take far longer (understandably), and are still being taught in high school. Although you would have learnt many of the most common ones to get by with by a fairly young age