Listening to tapes - what do you do?

[yonitabonita]

Hi folks

I'm studying by myself this semester and sometimes need a reality check.

I'm doing the HSK in December. I've got myself a listening course and am ploughing through it by listening to the tapes, doing the questions in the book, and trying to remember the new vocab that comes up. But is this enough? I'm wondering others are doing for listening.

Thanks in advance,

Yonita

[wushijiao]

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but I posted about a good HSK listening book (and the strategies it teaches you):

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8525-hsk-%e5%90%ac%e5%8a%9b%e9%a2%98%e5%9e%8b%e5%88%86%e6%9e%90%e4%b8%8e%e8%ae%ad%e7%bb%83-%e5%88%9d%e4%b8%ad%e7%ad%89&highlight=hsk+listening

[heifeng]

Not knowing your current level of listening, but here are my suggestions:

If I recall correctly, the part that can be kind of tricky for the listening portion of the HSK初中考试is when they throw in some of the more colloqial expressions. The only books I really used were a set of HSK phrase and key word books for listening (here's the link for one here 《HSK听力关键词》:http://jingguan.china-pub.com/computer_download/kanwu/showerror.jsp?id=113779&bookname=HSK%CC%FD%C1%A6%B9%D8%BC%FC%B4%CA. The books are slightly bigger than pocket sized and one's red, the other's blue (usually where you see one, you'll see the other, the blue one's in that link). They are good to carry with you and pop open during moments of boredom. I think that familiarizing yourself with certain expressions, taking practice exams, and knowing what kinds of questions they will ask is really the best thing that you can do, especially with only a month or so remaining. I think I ended up getting an 8 in listening and had only really used those 2 books, but also had the habit of watching tooooo many soap operas at that time too, which probably helped for this level exam=)

GoOd LuCk!!!

[roddy]

Quick plug for these - in that post I also link to the red and blue books heifeng mentions.

As for the actual question - if it's a course designed for the HSK and it's well-produced, then yeah, that should be enough. If it's just a general listening course, then I might be inclined to get a book that focuses on the HSK to supplement (or perhaps replace) it.

[wushijiao]

The books are slightly bigger than pocket sized and one's red, the other's blue (usually where you see one, you'll see the other, the blue one's in that link).

Those two books are great. I think I orginally bought them based on roddy's review of the books , even though I had no intention to take the HSK. After listening to the tapes like they were an the Bible (on tapes) for a few months, I just can't imagine how any Chinese learner can do without them.

Anyway, the blue one (听力惯用语) is mainly about idiomatic expressions and slang, and it is probably a useful thing even for those not taking the HSK. The red one (听力关键词) is mainly about reviewing the various meanings of words that look easy on the surface, but may in fact have many meanings and uses. Looking at the book now, an example, is 说. Most people know it means to "speak, say" but they may not know the additional meanings of 1)scold, reproach, blame 考试不及格，妈妈会说我的．2) mean (as in, to refer to someone) 我可不是在说你．

[yonitabonita]

Thanks folks for the responses.

Being a forum hussy, I couldn't not get the tingli series recommended by Roddy, so that's what I'm using. I resisted for ages since there's no CDs. But despite the tiny hassle of having to get a tape player, it's a huge improvement to the tingli materials I was using before. I'm finding that I'm staying awake. So once again, thanks for your excellent advice Roddy.

Y

[roddy]

Well, keep hussying and get the book wushijiao recommends, the red and blue ones that everyone recommends, and if you aren't already doing so, get a set of practice tests to spread out between now and the exam so you can keep track of your progress. We expect nothing less than an 8

It is a hassle not having cds. It's not a major hassle to record the tapes to your computer and then convert to mp3 format - though if it's something you might only use once or twice, it might not be worth it.