Stuck

[afriday11]

Hey, I've been studying Chinese for about two years now (my first year I self studied and taught English in China, then went back to the States and completed year two of Chinese at The Ohio State University) but lately have felt like I am in something of a rut. After graduating from OSU I though if I moved to China for a year or two I could become pretty fluent, but I now see that is probably not the case. My school was shut down due to H1N1 so I am only working 12 hours a week, which you might think would improve my Chinese, but really I kind of need structure in my life and now waste too much time and have actually gotten worse at Chinese (on the up side I read the 1,200 page book Gone With the Wind in two weeks). Now that that I am over that recent obsession I have decided that I need to make a change and avoid time wasters like awesome TV shows or epic novels.

My listening is ok, to the level that I can watch TV and understand a good deal, and I can have conversations with people who don't speak English, but I am becoming aware that I often speak incorrectly and really need to improve my 口语 grammar. I kind of feel overwhelmed with the options available and can't find a book that I think is good. I went through NPCR 1-3, but find that it is not a well designed book. It isn't interesting, it introduces tons of new words it doesn't repeat already learned vocabulary much, there isn't much grammar in it, and, most importantly, when it comes down to it NPCR isn't practical.

I have been listening to Chinesepod quite a bit recently, which has improved my listening, but I have quite a bit of trouble remembering how to say the words that I have learned and end up spending something like an hour a day reviewing everything on my software flashcard program mnemosyne (which after about 15 min it feels like pulling teeth). I am thinking about taking an 1.5 hour Chinese class everyday in a school in the Wudaokou (the uni district of beijing) and then meet with a tutor for an hour, but it takes me a while to get to Wudaokou, and again I found that the texts they use are similar to NPCR.

Another option I though of was to listen to Chinesepod every day and make flashcards of only the most useful phrases and hanzi that I think I should know. The only problem with this is I already have trouble keeping up with all of the flashcards I already have and really dread doing them everyday. Leonardo Da Vinci once said something like, "study without desire spoils the memory and retains nothing it takes in." When it comes down to it there is something to that, but learning can't always be fun. I can't think of anyway to really learn how to say new vocabulary except through doing flashcards and then speaking to people.

Sorry that this is kind of a disjointed rant, but I'm just kind of frustrated and looking for some advise from some seasoned veterans on where to go from here.

But as of now here is everything that I use:

Chinapod

NPCR (not too often now)

Mnemosyne (flashcards)

A graded Chinese reader (full of short stories)

A Chinese comic book

Thanks,

-Friday

[zhen_shuai]

Can't say I'm a season veteran, but I've had some of the same experiences.

A couple of things:

1) Since you are in China, you should try to take advantage of the fact that anything you do with native speakers counts as language practice. So, for example, a painting class or a dance class. If you have a hobby, it can be a great tool for getting language practice that more fun and relaxing than classes or tutoring. One of the best ways to find classes like these is to ask around, or have a friend who speaks Chinese ask around for you. Sometimes bookstores have art classes, or will know where you can take them. Universities are a good bet for sports and martial arts.

2) It can help to try out several language partners until you find a good match. Even with someone who you get along with great at first, you can run out of things to talk about, esp if all you do is study Chinese.

3) I've found Anki to be more adaptable than Mnemosyne. Just my two cents.

4) If you watch TV, try to follow a series. You will end up invested in the characters and find yourself wanting to watch the show just to find out what happens next. I recommend the shows 奋斗 and 蜗居. See the tv forum on this site for vocab and links, generally a great resource for discovering new shows.

Finally, keep your head up! As Samuel Beckett said, "Ever try, ever fail, try again, fail again, fail better."

[Flying Pigeon]

I didn't like the NPCR books either. Have you tried the Chinese Made Easier books?

[jbradfor]

If you feel you need to work on 口语, but don't want to travel to Wudaokou, have you considered phone lessons, or meeting the tutor somewhere closer?

I have been listening to Chinesepod quite a bit recently, which has improved my listening, but I have quite a bit of trouble remembering how to say the words that I have learned and end up spending something like an hour a day reviewing everything on my software flashcard program mnemosyne (which after about 15 min it feels like pulling teeth).

IMHO, 1 hour per day on flashcards, if you really want to improve your Chinese, is pretty minimal.

Also, I've been a fan of CP for a couple of years (and a subscriber), and as much as I like them, I have serious issues with their vocab selection, especially at the higher levels. In particular too many obscure words, too little repetition across lessons. For variety, and to keep yourself from being bored, you might want to consider other sources.

[SunDaYu]

It sounds like you are already at a pretty high level. Since you are in China I would just talk with the locals and then carefully listen to how they respond and try to mimic them. Also, join some clubs, sports, or other activities to interact with them and force yourself to speak sentences with more variety and new words.

One on one teachers are the way to go too. Get them to really correct your tones and word usage since the average guy wouldn't want to bother with that.