# I am a beginner in Chinese.



## Ana Yelena

As a beginning student of Chinese, I always find myself saying (often incorrectly), "I just recently began to study Chinese." Is this correct below?

我 最近 刚 开始学中文了.

Or is there an easier way to say the same thing. 
谢谢.
AY


----------



## jsrwang

我最近才開始學中文。


----------



## Ovidius

我刚开始学中文 is all right.


----------



## paddycarol

我 (最近) 刚/才 开始学中文.
 
“了”is not supposed to be in your sentence.
“了”indicates something that you did or have done, and it always has some effect, more or less, on the current situation. Just similar to the perfect tense in English.
e.g. 
 Where have you been? 你去哪了？——我去学校了。

“最近”can be omitted. It's just up to you.


----------



## On Retrouve a Paris

or if you have already mentioned Chinese before, eg.
your friend: ah, you know Chinese?
You: 我是新手（i am a beginner)


----------



## Ana Yelena

大家，谢谢。我 知道 明显！


----------



## On Retrouve a Paris

Ana Yelena said:


> 大家，谢谢。我知道明显！



我们一般说的顺序是：谢谢大家。
我知道明显？ 我不明白这个意思，你是不是想说：显然我知道？（obviously I know)


----------



## yui.hime

Ana Yelena said:


> As a beginning student of Chinese, I always find myself saying (often incorrectly), "I just recently began to study Chinese." Is this correct below?
> 
> 我 最近 刚 开始学中文了.
> 
> Or is there an easier way to say the same thing.
> 谢谢.
> AY



I think you may want to change its word order like this:

最近 我 刚 开始学中文了

Either 刚 or 最近 can be omitted here(最近我开始学中文了 or 我刚开始学中文了)，and they can be uesd together, too.


Usually,了 should be uesd ，it's a function word showing completion.


----------



## samanthalee

Ana Yelena said:


> 大家，谢谢。我知道明显！



"Thank you, everyone. I understand you clearly." = "谢谢大家。我明白了。"


----------



## jsrwang

yui.hime said:


> I think you may want to change its word order like this:
> 
> 最近 我 刚 开始学中文了
> 
> Either 刚 or 最近 can be omitted here(最近我开始学中文了 or 我刚开始学中文了)，and they can be uesd together, too.
> 
> 
> Usually,了 should be uesd ，it's a function word showing completion.


The use of 了 is incorrect. You could add a 的 at the end:

我是最近才開始學的。
我是剛剛才開始學的。


----------



## yui.hime

-。- The usage maybe incorrect in some context,but it's natural

 我最近开始学中文了.

 This is definitely correct.


----------



## On Retrouve a Paris

samanthalee said:


> "Thank you, everyone. I understand you clearly." = "谢谢大家。我明白了。"



啊哈，原来他是这个意思！


----------



## paddycarol

yui.hime said:


> -。- The usage maybe incorrect in some context,but it's natural
> 
> 我最近开始学中文了.
> 
> This is definitely correct.


I'm sorry, but this is *NOT* correct as far as Ana's case is concerned.


----------



## yui.hime

If we eliminate either 刚 or 了 in this case

will it do? 0v0


----------

