reading for fun vs. study

[bagz007]

Following some advice I've seen on this site, I recently tried to inject some FUN into my Chinese studying--namely, by getting a hold of some good Chinese martial arts fantasy. By all accounts, Jin Yong is the master of this genre, so I started reading 射雕英雄传 in both hardcover and on the computer (where I could use Wenlin).

A problem quickly emerged, which I have to believe other students have faced: as you really get into a story/movie/whatever, do you worry about understanding/mastering each word or just sit back and enjoy the ride? With Jin Yong, I pretty much understood exactly what was going on as the novel progressed, despite an avalanche of new vocabulary. For one thing, you have the context of the story to help you with new words. You can also look at the characters and put two and two together, as often the new word is just a slightly different synonym or derivative of something you already know.

After reading a couple hundred pages, I started feeling guilty over glossing over so many new words, expressions, etc. and just focusing on enjoying the story. Anyone else come across this problem?

[Pravit]

My Chinese reading isn't at that level yet, but I think the question of chasing down every unknown word can apply to learning any foreign language. When I was reading "The Master and Margarita" and other books in Russian, I only bothered looking up words when it was absolutely necessary(that is, I didn't understand the gist of the sentence without looking up some key words), or if a word kept popping up and I couldn't guess it's meaning from context. I think in reading something of any length you'll inevitably learn the more important words(since they pop up more frequently) but in my experience it's almost pointless to look up fairly rare words, since you'll inevitably forget them unless you make it a point to put them in a list and review them later on. And who wants to do that when you're just trying to enjoy a book?

BTW, any hints on finding the e-text of that book, since you mentioned you're reading it on the computer?

[skylee]

That is the same problem I had when I read 紅樓夢 (Hongloumeng) for the first time - there were so many expressions whose meanings were ambigious to me and words that I didn't (or still don't) know. It was so difficult that I could not go on reading it (I was fairly young then). And when I tried reading it again later it seemed easier, though the old problem was still there but I could go on, understanding the story, even enjoying the details.

The same applied to Jin Yong's books. When I read them for the first time I didn't understand every word (mainly because of young age) but it didn't stop me as the stories were so engaging and enjoyable. And these books are good for re-reading again and again (and for the venerable author he likes to rewrite them again and again )

I agree with Pravit's view.

Here is an online version of 射鵰 in simplified Chinese. There is no guarantee on how accurate / good these online versions, though.

[roddy]

What Pravit said. If it's bothering you then by all means underline or highlight the problem words as you go along, then go back and look them all up at once later, but in the meantime, enjoy the story . . .

[wushijiao]

by all means underline or highlight the problem words as you go along, then go back and look them all up at once later

That's pretty much exactly what I do. I pretty much always read with a pen or pencil. Then I underline interesting things and write notes and short comments in the margins of the book, or on the top of the page. Things like, "author's argument about X", "Character X- kind person", "Li Peng- what a dick". Since almost all Chinese history and political books have no indexes, this makes it easier to re-read and find info later on.

Then I usually double underline words I don't know, which I then look up later at the end of the night. Of course, if I have a hunch that a particular word is crucial to understanding the plot/meaning, then I look it up directly.

Personally, I tend to lean to the side of looking up almost everything because 1) it is a good way to find new meaningful vocab, and in its natural context, and 2) I tend to be curious about words I don't know.

Also, I think my underlining system has had at least two major benefits 1) I pay attention more to the book when reading carefully with a pen, and it cuts down on day dreaming. 2) sometimes when you read a difficult sentence or paragraph, it takes a minute or two of mulling over the new language or ideas in your head before you "get it". Then you quickly underline what you just read. The process of quickly underlining helps build speed reading capabilities, in the sense that you start to read multiple characters connected together in big blocks, rather than just as individual characters or words.

But then again, there is a time and place for just reading for fun. If you can read Jin Yong, and if you like it, I don't think you need to worry too much!

[bagz007]

Thanks for the useful feedback/advice...nice to see others dealing with similar issues, too!

For the moment, I'm giving Jin Yong a rest in favor of something that I can more or less fly through sans any new word guilt: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time translated into Chinese (got it through a Taiwan bookshop--apparently they don't sell it on the Mainland).

You're obviously not getting as much from reading Chinese translated from English, but I got so guilty reading the first Wheel of Time book in English that I said what the heck...at least I'm killing time in a more productive fashion...that's the beautiful thing about watching junky Chinese TV shows, too...

[bagz007]

Yeah, the version skylee posted looks identical to what I used. I did several comparisions throughout the book and each time it had the exact same content as the hardcover...

[TheManInTheHat]

Bag, I am really glad that you brought this up. Maybe not quite the same boat as you, but I recently found myself losing the love of studying this really cool language, and that was mainly because I found myself not having nearly enough fun with it.

I picked up a book and found myself being nitpicky about every word, chengyu and phrase I didn't know, but as Roddy and others have suggested on this thread, I am going to give myself a break and just underline what I don't quite get.

One thing I love about living in China is that most of the broadcasted shows have subtitles, so I can watch a decent show and still technically be studying. If it's modern I generally get it. If it's a historical piece and I don't quite get it at least there is usually some fantasy style kungfu or a babe on the screen

I haven't actually read the Wheel of Time myself, but let us know how it goes. It might be another new avenue for R&R study.

Cheers,

Minth

[Lu]

Personally I don't want to need to look up words when I'm reading for fun, and if I need to do that I just take it to mean that the book is too difficult for me. I never read for fun with a pencil in my hand, only for study. But different things work for different people. In any case I'd not fret over words you don't know if you can still enjoy the story, and if you're really getting lost in the story because there are too many words you don't know, maybe it's better to try another book first.