The 2009 Aims and Objectives Progress Thread

[querido]

03APR09

Bump, if I may be so bold...

3. Relearn "Modern Chinese, A Basic Course" AKA "Modern Chinese Reader"

Done. DONE! Hahahaha!!

It was much harder than expected because I didn't learn it very well the first time, choosing a single-character-only approach. Now with 900+ full-sentence flashcards with audio, I hope to retain it this time.

2. Chinese Breeze graded readers level I

I still need 104 characters for "Left and Right"! While still very interested in this series, I'm putting it off a while, hoping for a different sort of experience.

1. New Concept Chinese for Children vols. 7-8.

I'll probably continue with these for now. It is hard; it is poetry; it is the beginning of literature, rather than conversation, and so to me it is a more ambitions road in the long run. I'm at Volume 3, lesson 1.

One quarter has passed- are my goals still realistic? I think so.

See you next month!

[Shadowdh]

Nice bump Querido...

as for my efforts...

1. Read more books, start to finish instead of just start to page 3 or 4...

This is proving a bit difficult at the moment as I am reading quite a few articles for my exams coming up... but I have started to work my way through the breeze graded reader series (under the level I should be doing I know but smalls steps) and I will be making a concerted effort on the BOTM this month...

2. Utilise my study time more effectively as well as study more

This is going great and working well... with exams looming and so much reading and writing to do for my dissertations its a load off that its kicking in...

3. watch at least one episode of the tv shows covered in the first ep thread on this board a day, even if its the same episode as I will need to cover each episode more than once to understand properly.

So far I have watched three and in fact started to watch two of the series getting 3 or 4 episodes in... understanding is still patchy but getting better...

4. listen to each of the podcasts I download at the moment at least once a in a day, hopefully more as again at least at first it will prove very beneficial for my learning.

More success here too... I listen to 2 or 3 a day now, usually twice as again understanding is still not my greatest skill... but its getting better... and I feel pretty good when I do get it...

5. Do more writing practice, daily lists and sentences at least...

Not so well on this front, but this is changing as my study timetable evolves this week... plus i have to write an essay in Chinese on identity so much practice will be had...

6. gain more fluency by practicing with my language partners and Chinese friends more...

This limping along at the moment... although I have met with one of my Chinese friends more lately its still not often enough imho...

7. finish and post the book review I have only half done from the great big book give away on this board (apologies to Roddy and Elina)...

Oh dear... most profuse apologies are offered yet again, although from 05 May this will be done, within a few days...

8. on a more personal level, train more regularly (weights and taiji) and more effectively... eat better/more healthily...

Getting there but still not at the level I would like... (although I have started and one does forget how sore one gets when restarting training again...)

9. Anything else that crops up that I should do...

As they crop up I get them done... mostly study at the moment but I also have been getting more done around the house... (buy a house they said, good investment they said, no one said anything about all the jobs it entails to maintain that house though...!!!)

10. Finish my masters and undergrad dissertations...

Well on the way, BA has to be finished by 20 Apr but my masters deadline is 15 Sep...

All in all I am fairly pleased with my progress, still need to work on a few things but steps are being taken...

[renzhe]

1) Finish the HSK vocabulary.

It's going slowly. I overloaded myself with flashcards, doing words, characters, traditional characters and writing flashcards every single day, coming up to 300+ flashcards a day, which led to total retardation.

I've decided to make the words my utmost priority, with everything else on the backburner, because I wasn't getting anywhere. About 1500 words left to learn, I should do that in the next 4-6 months easily.

3) Finish Legend of the Condor Heroes. I'm about halfway through.

Done.

4) Read some other book(s) after I'm finished with that.

Read 棋王, reading Ba Jin now.

5) Keep on working on characters , the new goal is 5000 characters.

I'm still stuck on 3700 and concentrating on retention. I'll stay at this level until it gets to a very easy-going point, then I'll start adding new ones. 5000 won't happen, maybe 4500, but that's not a priority, words are.

6) Get comfortable at speaking fluently about a wide range of topics.

The Chinese corner I'm attending is certainly helping a lot.

7) Be able to watch modern TV dramas and movies without subtitles

Haven't been doing this too much. Instead, I'm working on annotating Fendou. After that is finished, I'll get to some more listening practice.

10) improve writing my characters. Be able to write between 1000 and 2000 characters by hand by the end of the year.

I'm at around 750 now, but this is also taking a back seat to studying words.

An overloaded month for me, so I'm reducing the speed a bit.

[gato]

5) Keep on working on characters , the new goal is 5000 characters.

I'm still stuck on 3700 and concentrating on retention. I'll stay at this level until it gets to a very easy-going point, then I'll start adding new ones. 5000 won't happen, maybe 4500, but that's not a priority, words are.

Dont' worry. You won't need 5000 characters unless you are reading classical Chinese. And when you do start studying classical Chinese, it would still be a much more efficient to go directly to the writing, whether prose or poetry, rather than study characters in isolation.

One thing you might want to try is to add 成语 (literary idioms) to your flashcards. I recently went through about 400 idioms and was happy to see these idioms coming up over and over again in articles I read, whether it's in 《财经》 or 《南方周末》. Most idioms, as you probably know, are from classical Chinese. A side benefit of studying idioms is that you'll learn some new characters in their original context.

Here is a basic list of 250 idioms. It's a list from the Singapore Education Ministry for Singaporean high school students. It's a basic list, what you might consider to be a list of must-know idioms. There are lists of more advanced-level idioms on the internet.

http://www.plecoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=516

Most commonly used Chinese idioms

More idiom lists:

http://wenda.tianya.cn/wenda/thread?tid=0dd4f3a696a50fd6

求初中生必背成语200个？

http://wenda.tianya.cn/wenda/thread?tid=7f0eebd29a733cb0&clk=wttpcts

初中必记成语及解释

Edited April 4, 2009 at 08:31 AM by gato

[imron]

Here is a basic list of 250 idioms.

Gah, I'd probably be lucky to know 20% of those.

[Meng Lelan]

Is it my computer or what? I clicked on the first link that gato provided for the 250 idioms, and the page is listed as not available...

[imron]

Nope, the link is broken. Luckily he had the foresight to attach the list of the 250 idioms to the post as a text file

[Meng Lelan]

Yes, the text file is in notepad format, not easy to read in a format like that. Well, anyway, maybe if we all go to a Singapore high school we would fulfill our aims and objectives in what, four years?

[Guest realmayo]

Some progress:

i) study bloody hard

ii) Anki every day

iiii) learn to write a further 1,500 characters before May (already know 2,000).

v) learn traditional characters

vi) note and learn new words/expressions I see or hear, rather than just think "that's interesting"

i) 加油！

ii) yes

iii) that was too ambitious, and less necessary than I'd thought, I'll settle for 2800 by July

v) still plan this, still not yet

vi) yes, making a point to learn stuff I read and hear straight away.

[renzhe]

Dont' worry. You won't need 5000 characters unless you are reading classical Chinese. And when you do start studying classical Chinese, it would still be a much more efficient to go directly to the writing, whether prose or poetry, rather than study characters in isolation.

Of course, you're right. 3500 was the magic number for me -- when I knew most of the characters I'm running into. Learning more is a matter of habit more than anything else, and it's not high on my list of priorities. I still regularly run into characters I don't know while reading completely regular stuff. Not too often, but regularly nonetheless.

I'd say that if you read modern stuff that borrows heavily from Classical Chinese (like Jin Yong novels), you need more than 4000 characters under your belt to read comfortably.

One thing you might want to try is to add 成语 (literary idioms) to your flashcards. I recently went through about 400 idioms and was happy to see these idioms coming up over and over again in articles I read, whether it's in 《财经》 or 《南方周末》. Most idioms, as you probably know, are from classical Chinese. A side benefit of studying idioms is that you'll learn some new characters in their original context.

Yeah, I'm planning on doing that, but after I'm through with the HSK vocabulary later this year. There are some 成语 in there too, and the vocab is the priority for me at this time. But it's certainly something I'm planning to do in due time.

[imron]

not easy to read in a format like that.

I think the general idea was that you could import that list into a something like Plecodict, which would then automatically provide the meaning and pronunciation, as well as flashcards.

The other links Gato provided in his post above both contain the Chengyu plus a Chinese explanation. No pinyin is provided, however a mouseover popup translater like Chinese perakun or Kingsoft's Powerword would help solve that problem.

[OneEye]

4000 漢字

Not so good this past month.

be able to follow basic movies without subtitles (we're talking Disney movies and such)

Not happening. I need to make a more focused effort here.

find a buddy to practice speaking with - shouldn't be too hard once I'm ready

Not ready.

I have a long list of books I'm reading through, but I don't have any specific goal other than to not neglect them. All different subjects - personal development, finance, history, philosophy, fiction, etc.

Slowly but surely. Currently reading Brave New World. Picked up a Dover book called Myths and Legends of China so I'll be reading through that.

I want to be active more than I am. 2-3 days in the gym and 2-3 days of cardio per week is my goal.

Still kind of hit and miss but hopefully better going forward.

I'm also in a different job now, so I'm going for a promotion to Store Manager by the end of 2009.

Going well. Apparently I made a good impression on my district manager a couple weeks ago when she visited so that's good.

I've changed my study methods somewhat so I'm not focusing as much on learning individual 漢字. Or at least not for production. I'll still be working through Heisig's book but I also will be focusing on recognition, using a frequency list, along with adding vocab to my Pleco flashcards. We'll see how it works.

[wushijiao]

Mandarin

-Listen to 中國從談everyday, plus other podcasts. (I’ve also deleted my subscriptions to some of my favorite English-language, wasting time podcasts, like “Around the Horn”, “NPR Books”etc…so that I can make more time for Chinese listening practice, mainly Cantonese.)

Doing well on this.

-Read 爭鳴 (my favorite HK political magazine) cover to cover, and read 廣角鏡 (great for it’s sophisticated grammar and sentence structures, which helps me get better at writing through osmosis, I hope. I also like to see myself as a 決策者, or sorts).

Also going well. I'm currently reading the Chinese verson of "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" 佛陀之心by Thich Nhat Hanh 一行禪師.

-Write more. I’ve been writing a lot on Tianya this week

Trying to cut down on that. Two weekends ago, i spent basically the entire weekend writing and responding on a 350 post page, and I was constantly thinking and dreaming in Chinese then. While it's good practice, it's slightly a misuse of time.

New Goal (4/5): finish my HSK studying materials, and write character for an hour per day (until test).

Cantonese

-Listen an hour per day

Basically gong well, but I could do more.

-Finish all the books that I’ve bought by the end of March, 2009

Done. But I bought a new book at the end of March, Wedding Bells, one of the Ying-Ping Cream Lee books. So, I'm working on that.

-Try to have at least a few Cantonese conversations per day, and in the long run, switch to Cantonese working language with co-workers.

Somewhat successful. Need more work on this goal, however.

[gato]

Yes, the text file is in notepad format, not easy to read in a format like that. Well, anyway, maybe if we all go to a Singapore high school we would fulfill our aims and objectives in what, four years?

Singapore, being an English-dominant country, isn't that demanding in its Chinese education. In mainland China, you would need a lot more 成语 under your belt by the time you graduate from high school and take the university examination, maybe 1000 instead of 250. Memorization has an outsized role in education in China, of course.

[atitarev]

Chinese studies:

1. I should get Certificate IV in Chinese by the end of the year. (I don't foresee any problems). I have 2 degrees but I only study Chinese for fun). Extra work would be to go through "New Practical Chinese Reader 4", which I haven't started.

2. Finish Gulliver's travels book (with Pinyin). Reading it on and off. (Well on track, will perhaps pick up some more).

3. Challenge objective: Start and finish Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Chinese. Not the best of books but plenty online resources even about the errors in translation.

Japanese studies:

1. Finish NANA manga with a thorough analysis of colloquialisms. (Getting there)

2. Finish vol. 2 of Ultimate Japanese.

3. Having problem finding a good textbook for my level but perhaps, I'll find something not so primitive.

4. Challenge objective: Start and finish Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Japanese. he-he

Arabic studies: (lower priority)

1. Finish Teach Yourself Arabic.

2. Start and finish Elementary Modern Standard Arabic, volume 1.

3. Challenge objective: complete Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic (not sure I will be able to complete - massive religious texts, boring but good grounding in grammar).

I haven't set up any objective about speaking and listening skills (any language), I will just have to do my best and find better methods.

It's a good thread, we should really define our objectives.

Chinese:

1. I got my Cert IV in Mandarin and passed HSK Basic with 209 points (one point short to get A )

2. Completed Gulliver's Lilluputians, Giants and a couple of more short stories in Chinese, abandoned the others as I found them boring and stupid. I've done Graded Chinese Reader vol 1 and doing vol 2.

3. Challenge task - New Practical Chinese Reader 4 - only up to lesson 45 but will continue slowly, hopefully I can finish in the next 3 months or so. Not doing it regularly enough.

4. Abandoned Harry Potter idea, will do again if I find matching audio.

Overall I feel more comfortable and shamelessly start conversation with Chinese people, even if my Chinese still sucks. Watching Chinese movies with former classmates once a month or so, it's good!

Japanese:

1. Started Certificate IV in Japanese, catching up with Mandarin

2. Abandoned Harry Potter idea as well, will do again if I find matching audio - replaced the reading with 2 challenging books - "Read Real Japanese" with CD by Michael Emmerich and "Breaking into Japanese Literature". The 1st one is done except for the last, which uses puns and not much of a story. The 2nd is actually easier and the recording is a bit slower - except for Akutagawa Ryunosuke's stories.

3. Ultimate Japanese vol. 2 - done. Using Japanese for Everyone in class, it's OK if you use it thoroughly.

4. Nana abandoned as well. Will have to decide what next after the "Breaking into..." book.

5. Going to Japan for 2 weeks!

I could have improved Japanese but my focus has been and will be Mandarin, I think by the end of this year both Mandarin and Japanese should be about the same but better! I am the best in class, I think and it's not challenging enough for me but I can't commit to private classes. So I will have to rely more on self-studies.

Arabic:

Slowed down even more but almost completed "Teach Yourself Arabic" and completed "Ultimate Arabic" (standard Arabic part), only do refreshing work experiment translating downloaded short stories. A thorough review was almost like learning it again. Still feel very uncomfortable with Arabic and no breakthrough in sight. I don't mix up the letters any more, distinguishing the hard sounds and feel comfortable reading texts I read before. Occasionally I have a chance to listen to the news in Arabic, so I improved my comprehension a bit.

I like Arabic - if you try it, you get addicted, LOL. However, i don't have Arab friends and I don't have any particular reason to learn it. Will continue to spend 1-2 hours a fortnight on it, see what happens.

Edited April 8, 2009 at 05:38 AM by atitarev

[roddy]

This deserves to be a sticky I think - will swop it for a 2010 one when the time comes around.

[renzhe]

Stickying this is a great idea, and a timely one too.

It's the end of the month again, so how about a monthly roundup?

1) Finish the HSK vocabulary. I'm at around 6300+ vocabulary items, out of 8800 overall

I'm around 7300 now, but I've spent the last couple of months consolidating the stuff I already know. I've noticed a marked improvement in the ability to recognise words in spoken language and to use them actively in conversation, so I guess I'm improving, even though the numbers haven't changed much here.

4) Read some other book(s) after I'm finished with that.

I'm finishing 家 (should take another week or two) and then I'll probably read the remaining two books from the trilogy.

I'will also take part in the short story club when I'm finished with 家.

5) Keep on working on characters (both the ones encountered while reading, and the most frequent ones I'm missing), the new goal is 5000 characters.

I'm still at 3700, but the couple of months of consolidation have really helped me cement the knowledge of most of them. I've started drilling new ones already.

6) Get comfortable at speaking fluently about a wide range of topics.

This one's definitely getting better. I can talk to my girlfriend for hours nowadays. I can also tune into conversations far more easily.

7) Be able to watch modern TV dramas and movies without subtitles (I still need to glance at them often, but it's getting better)

Finishing Fendou now, I'll probably rewatch it without subtitles once I'm finished.

Also, I'm watching the Shaw Brothers movies, and those have no subtitles.

10) improve writing my characters. Be able to write between 1000 and 2000 characters by hand by the end of the year.

Over 800 right now. I'm also consolidating here, going over the old ones and waiting for Mnemosyne to space them out nicely before adding new ones. This is just supplemental stuff anyway.

[Shadowdh]

1. Read more books, start to finish instead of just start to page 3 or 4...

I knew this would be a difficult ask in April due to exams... and that has proved the case... but I did start the BOTM and will carry on after exams to finish... just one more exam to go...

2. Utilise my study time more effectively as well as study more

Pleased with this area, I feel there is room for improvement however... I will be revamping my study practice after the exams to concentrate on all aspects of Chinese learning in a more effective manner than just studying what I need to, to get me through the exams... poss do my study in the early mornings with grammar, writing, listening and reading... which would help work around family commitments...

3. watch at least one episode of the tv shows covered in the first ep thread on this board a day, even if its the same episode as I will need to cover each episode more than once to understand properly.

This is going well, I have also watched a couple of vids of the Chinese bridge competition and have understood alot more than I did when first watched a couple of years ago... fairly pleased with this and the podcasts at the moment.

4. listen to each of the podcasts I download at the moment at least once a in a day, hopefully more as again at least at first it will prove very beneficial for my learning.

I am listening to these regularly although I am falling behind in terms of release dates... ie I listen to a podcast a few times so in two days I will still be listening to it while a few other casts have been released... getting better with understanding what they are about though which is good...

5. Do more writing practice, daily lists and sentences at least...

Oh god has this improved... been writing lists and lists of characters and this has had a marked improvement not only on writing ability but reading ability and understanding...

6. gain more fluency by practicing with my language partners and Chinese friends more...

Not going well this month at all as except for one meeting I have only spoken with teachers and at my oral exam... which went better than I hoped but probably not as well as I expect...

7. finish and post the book review I have only half done from the great big book give away on this board (apologies to Roddy and Elina)...

Will get this done after exams, have done some work on it and will post very soon now...

8. on a more personal level, train more regularly (weights and taiji) and more effectively... eat better/more healthily...

Started then had to stop again for study... this will be restarted next week as from then I have more time...

9. Anything else that crops up that I should do...

Most things have been put on hold due to exams and uni work... much to my wifes dismay but it will be changing after next week as my last exam is next Tuesday...

10. Finish my masters and undergrad dissertations...

BA dissertation has been finished and handed in... just my masters one to go which is the same topic but with much more in the way of theory... should be finished this one well within the time and then its finally finished... woo hoo...

All in all I am pleased with my progress but still need to get my house in order so to speak... this will be easier to do come May as exam season is over...

[renzhe]

This is going well, I have also watched a couple of vids of the Chinese bridge competition and have understood alot more than I did when first watched a couple of years ago...

If you do watch an episode from the Grand Episode project, please drop a line in the relevant thread, even if it's minimal. It makes it more lively and helps other people choose interesting shows in the future.

[querido]

1. New Concept Chinese for Children vols. 7-8.

Volume 3, done!

Volumes 4-6 (second year) offer a nice little step up in maturity, including in the delivery of the audio. They are all poetry. Work hard through these three volumes, and I get to real stories, of rapidly increasing length, in volumes 7-8, and I can merge in the People's Education Press "Yuwen" series, for Chinese children in China.

In the interest of acquiring more adult conversational verbiage, at some point I might start on "Conversational Chinese 301", which I already own, another top-quality BLCUP product.

2. Chinese Breeze graded readers level I

Characters still needed for Left & Right: 89. At some point (this year), I'm hoping these will be "icing on the cake".

Four months have passed. Are my goals for the year still realistic? Yes.