To start, I adore languages. I am returning to school Next fall and want to pursue a degree in a Foreign Language. I need some advice on what to choose. I am between Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, and possibly Russian. I am currently leaning towards Arabic but I'm having trouble choosing in general. My goals are to pursue the language through to a PH.D. and hopefully teach at a University. I would also greatly enjoy working with the government or other agencies and using the language I learned to help others. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know that the choice is going to be up to me in the end, but advice is always helpful in making a decision.

Where is the nearest Persian restaurant? 最近的波斯菜店在哪儿？ Is it correct?

Ok. So I want to get a tattoo in Chinese but I don't want it to look wrong or be the wrong symbols. I really want "Never Again" In Chinese on my back. But I just want to make sure I have the right Chinese words. Please tell me what they are and the pronunciation if you know it. Thanks :)

Translate into Mandarin Chinese- 1. I go to class at 8:00. Where do you put the Subject, Time Expression, and Predicate? Thank you all!!!!!!

Self-study? Learning online? Native tutor?Chinese learning software?What is the best way to learn Chinese?

I want to go to China and learn about the law

How do you say "boat builder "and "stay at home mom or home maker " in simplified Chinese Pinyin? Additional Details

Is this in Cantonese or Mandarin? Also, what does it say?? 中国是一个美丽的国家

I have taken both languages in high school, but now, I can only pick one to take in college. So, in your personal opinion, which should I drop and which should I continue taking? Which would be more useful? People have told me that French is a dying language, but still, I'd like to hear more opinions on this. It would be great if you could explain your answer, but you don't have to...

can someone translate this paragraph for me into Chinese traditional characters? I really don't know how. In China, Red is an important color for the New Year and they use firecrackers to celebrate. Western New Year is celebrated also with firecrackers. In China, Valentine's Day is celebrated different also. In China, Lanterns are very popular for Valentine's Day. It is celebrated usually by being with the family and having a nice dinner. Finally, people go outside and play.

So I've been getting frustrated about how to use le. I realize it's use to suggest the completion of an action and is not an indicator of past tense necessarily. I am using a book I bought out here in China and the English is not great at times and doesn't seem to even attempt to explain the difference between using verb + le and sentence + le. What's the difference between 他去了北京　ａｎｄ　他去北京了。　Ｏｒ　我买了两件衣服　ａｎｄ　我买毛衣了 (I know one is clothes and one is sweater). Please keep things simple. I'm no linguistics expert sadly. 谢谢

In my school, we have the choice of Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and French. Which one should I take, based on usefulness, and how hard it is to learn. We can take up to four years of any.

This is like a speaking competition. I need to memorize the essay/story. Also, it has to be in Mandarin Chinese. The competition is around 1/20/10. By then i need to memorize it. The story can be about anything. It can be an essay, story, anything. I'm looking for something that takes about a minute or two to read. Nothing longer. Please respond soon. If you wrote a story and you wouldn't mind me using it then thats fine. Or if you know a good website that has essays listed that i can use, that would be fine too. Remember, this has to be in Mandarin Chinese and im not looking for something i have to translate. Thanks!!!!!! (: (: (:

Chinese words are represented not by an alphabet but by little word pictures right? how do Chinese look up stuff in a dictionary?

This is important that it is correct, please write in Chinese characters. I need to know how to say (it doesn't need to be a word for word translation) these two phrases: 1. Please ship to this address 2. Please give me the tracking number for the package Help, it is important! Thanks! I don't need the pronunciations just the written words. I said this was important, thanks for using my question as an opportunity to slur Chinese people who speak English. Besides, those are Japanese characters.

您想借什么书？What can I do for you？” How do you understand?

Okay to keep a long story short I had learned Chinese for 7 years from a Taiwanese teacher. He taught me Mandarin and used traditional characters. Then my parents didn't have any money for more lessons because I had to go to college and well it's expensive. Anyway, I've been self learning mainly from the internet and it was very difficult with almost everything in simplified so I stuck with traditional ones first but there wasn't much material. I soon found a lot of Chinese dramas and movies to watch, and even the Taiwanese ones had subs in simplified Chinese. I can't understand everything just by listening, especially with so many words with the same pronunciation and the audio quality isn't the best. Oh and Hong Kong ones normally had traditional subs but the audio was in Cantonese - which I never learned - so those only helped me read Chinese but didn't help at all with my listening. Well it's been 5 years since and I'm still having trouble with the simplified and haven't yet fully got a hang of it yet. Besides I read simplified slower than I would read traditional. Is there anything that I can do so I can read simplified at ease just like traditional? I don't get why it's so hard.

My parents were born in Taiwan, and so, I am Taiwanese. Whenever someone asks me what I am, I say Taiwanese. However, this Chinese person said to me.. you mean Chinese? She said it's the same thing so don't say Taiwanese, just say Chinese. I am not very informed on my background at all and am not sure if she is correct or not. So, my question is, are the two backgrounds the same or different? Thanks!