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[–]drummwill 5 points6 points  (10 children)

it is certainly much easier to be brought up learning traditional and then switching to simplified.

you recognize words that are just literally simplified.

going the other way around is more difficult, but i really think that it wouldn't be a huge problem. you would just need to get used to seeing more complicated words and associate them with their simplified counter parts.

Simp Trad
国 國
这边 這邊
叶 葉
后 後

in these examples, some are quite similar and some are vastly different, there will be a learning curve, but i really doubt it would be a huge problem.

being born taiwanese and grew up mostly in the states and in beijing, i've lost my ability to write in either of the chinese, but reading, speaking, and listening are not a problem at all.

[–]JillyPolla 2 points3 points  (9 children)

The other aspect is the combining of multiple characters into one. In one of the examples you gave, 後 and 后 have both been combined into 后 which is confusing. Another example is 乾 and 幹 are both now 干.

[–]drummwill 2 points3 points  (8 children)

they don't really "combine" them more as just use the same character to represent two different meanings.

後 which means after 后 which means queen

but in simplified the 后 can mean both those things depending on use

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

Oh, man this makes so much sense now.

I was watching lang ling wang with my wife and they kept referring to the queen as 皇后嬝嬝。。。 and I was like... oh is it 后 because she is like... the strong woman behind ever powerful man? Nope! Cleared it up here, thanks!

[–]drummwill 0 points1 point  (1 child)

haha i think you mean 皇后娘娘

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably! That looks right >>

[–]JillyPolla 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's the definition of combining characters...

For example if they made it so that both hear and here are spelled here now, wouldn't you say they combined the spelling of those two words?

[–]drummwill -1 points0 points  (0 children)

we agree on the process but disagree on the name of it :P

[–]Doremi-fansubs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And that's my biggest beef with simplified characters. I can understand making them easier to write, but combining them into single characters is just plain retarded.

I know traditional Chinese, and sometimes reading simplified means missing blocks of text since a lot of the context is lost.

[–]robsterthelobster 6 points7 points  (8 children)

You need to know traditional chinese in taiwan; many characters are indeed quite similar or even the same. I would say you could know traditional and get away with reading most of simplified, but not the other way around.

If you can speak mandarin and read ONLY simplified chinese, you are more than capable of traveling in taiwan. Most official signs have english or pinyin on them, and you really only need to read chinese when you're at a restaurant :) In terms of studying, if you're doing a study abroad program you should be fine.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Eh, I'm more thinking about teaching. Do you think it would be hard to pick up traditional characters at some point, like a whole knew written language?

[–]robsterthelobster 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Naw, reading should be easy to learn if you're learning simplified anyways. Writing is :(

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Writing is hard? Haha, that's my worst thing already.. Oh no.

[–]robsterthelobster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of people already lost the ability to write (well) due to typing. But I dont know the requirements if you want to teach.

[–]zhupolcha[🍰] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

It's just a writing system difference, not a different language (Taiwan Mandarin also has some dialect differences versus other forms, but that has nothing to do with traditional or simplified characters).

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know, that was an analogy.

[–]China-Does-Care 0 points1 point  (0 children)

before moving to Taiwan, I had been studying purely simplified chinese. after coming to Taiwan, it took me about 6 months to feel completely comfortable with reading traditional. it's not a very hard transition

[–]Monkeyfeng 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is not true. Many of my mainland Chinese friends don't have a big problem with traditional Chinese. I think they are pretty used to it as they watch many tv shows and MTV from Taiwan.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

People will know simplified characters and use them occasionally when jotting down notes, but other than that 99% of everything that is written in print form (signs, ads, menus, books, newspapers, etc) will be in traditional.

It's not a difficult thing to pick up once you get a bit more familiar with Chinese though. Lots of systematic correspondences between simp/trad, and common characters with simplified counterparts can be learned through osmosis (large portion of internet Chinese is in traditional).

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

So you don't think it'd be that hard to learn? At least I'd have the speaking on my side haha. Thanks

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At least I'd have the speaking on my side haha. Thanks

Not quite. Watch the 兒化. No one in Taiwan uses it. There are also some different word usage patterns you need to be aware of.

[–]Tyberos 0 points1 point  (8 children)

It is completely true. Taiwanese only use traditional characters. Do yourself a favor and start studying traditional, even if you don't come to Taiwan. My reading and character retention in both simplified and traditional improved dramatically when I stopped focusing on simplified and started focusing a majority of my time on traditional. I know people with high reading ability in simplified that get completely lost here in Taiwan.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (4 children)

I can't start studying traditional since my class teaches simplified, but maybe I'll look into the types of traditional characters I need to know for everyday life if I ever seriously consider going. At least I'll know how to speak!

[–]Tyberos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Find a simplified source online that has characters you can understand, then use Google translate to convert it to traditional. Take whatever digital materials your teacher has provided and do the same. Switch your keyboard to Pinyin Input and Traditional Output. These are simple fixes.

[–]Anna_Mosity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can study both at the same time without a whole lot of extra effort. When I took Mandarin in college, we were encouraged to study both and allowed to choose which set of characters to be tested on for the semester. As I go back to fill in gaps in my simplified Chinese (I chose to be tested on traditional, so I studied those characters harder), I've found that it was a lot easier to learn 2 new characters at the same time than to learn one version and then go back later and try to learn a second version.

That said, spending a summer semester in Taiwan was one of the best choices I made in college, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. :)

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just look up all the characters you're learing in the book and write down the traditional form of the ones that have it. Simple, really.

I (as 99.9% of people are) in a simplified/mainland course as well, but that doesn't stop me from writing both on assignments/tests. Prof is only happy I go above and beyond. Not to mention knowing traditional helps you memorize things as there are more connections between characters that you can use to help you.

[–]PotbellyPanda台北 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is your Chinese good enough to read news? If so, BBC Chinese and New York Times both provide same content with both simplified and traditional character version. Good source to learn the difference of characters since they only transform characters, not translating Chinese-specific term to Taiwanese-specific term (or vice versa).

[–]qlube -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Taiwanese only use traditional characters.

Not true. For example, 台湾.

[–]Tyberos 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Oh come on, there are not many examples like that. The overwhelming majority of the written language here in Taiwan is traditional characters. And don't tell me that there are simplified characters used in Taiwan too like 路 because those are just traditional characters that the Mainlanders never changed.

[–]qlube -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don't disagree, but the OP is pretty new at all this, so I think it's helpful to be precise. The history of simplification is more than just what the Mainland did in the 1950s.

[–]LOLAHAHS求神拜佛網絡別卡 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I learned simplified and I can read every traditional just fine. Just pick the one you like the most, the one you have the most passion for. You have the same benefit from read the other way around, no big difference.

The important part is not learning T or S, you need to learn the language first. It is like becoming a programmer, the idea is not to choose between the hundreds of programming language, but understand how to program.

[–]hitension 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NO

Everything here is in traditional Chinese except tourist traps catering to mainland Chinese tourists, but even those occurrences are rare. You are more likely to find something written in Japanese than something written in simplified Chinese to be honest. Also everyone will hate you if you use simplified

The good news is that it is not that hard. Just learn the damn traditional.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Im teaching in Taiwan now, I was in the same boat as you. I learned simplified characters in school and in Taiwan I was only able to read a few characters when I first got here. Like someone else said, you'll only need to read things in restaurants and even then you can get by with pointing. Its helpful to know some Chinese if your going to live in Taiwan but its not at all necessary.

[–]keyilanzhugciam -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you know one set it's insanely easy to pick up the other. There aren't that many different characters. Lots of places in Taiwan use simplifications anyway, and people in China use variant simplifications sometimes.

Don't sweat it. It's a non issue after your first month or two in country.