i think the best way to study Chinese is

[Yang Rui]

Here's my view on Chinese films, Chinese music, and the real best way to learn a language...

Films: are more or less useless for beginners. Research has shown that babies who watch TV pick up no language from it. They need people to speak to them in that annoying cootchy-coo language, breaking everything down into simple chunks, eg pointing at a tree and saying "tree" or being given milk and hearing "have some milk". I know adults learn languages differently from babies, but the principle is the same. We need slow, repetitive sounds so we can get used to it. Anyone who is interested in language should read Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct".

Once you have reached a good level, it's useful to watch films as a way of conditioning your ear and listening to speech spoken at a normal pace.

Music: I think this can be very useful, even for beginners, and especially if you have a copy of the words with pinyin and characters. It gets you used to the sounds, repetition means it's easier to remember words, and you can subconsciously pick up simple sentence patterns. You have to be careful to remember to learn the tones though.

It's useful to sing to yourself in Chinese, just to practise getting your lips around a long flow of Chinese words.

But i think music and films can only be a supplementary part of the language learning process.

Once you've reached a certain level, the absolute best way to learn Chinese is to get a Chinese boyfriend or girlfriend (preferably one who doesn't speak your mother tongue). Your vocab will explode and you'll be able to practise every day. Once you can argue properly in Chinese, you know you're good.

[HashiriKata]

the absolute best way to learn Chinese is to get a Chinese boyfriend or girlfriend (preferably one who doesn't speak your mother tongue).

I'm not sure if your "boyfriend"/"girlfriend" would be happy with this

[woodcutter]

Isn't there some kind of moral issue involved? The best way to learn Chinese may be to capture a Chinese person, lock them in your bedroom cupboard, and refuse to give them food and water unless they instruct you. It's not nice to use people just so you can learn though.

[Yang Rui]

I wasn't suggesting you get a Chinese partner purely for the purpose of mercilessly using them for their language sklls. But if you do happen to meet someone you like, your Chinese is likely to improve very quickly.

I think most people would be wise enough to notice if they were being used purely as a linguistic educational tool anyway:

"Oh darling I love you."

"Er, yeah, me too. Could you just go over those directional complements one more time?"

It would probably be better than kidnapping someone and keeping them in a cupboard, because that person might not like you, and then they might teach you incorrect grammar. Imagine the humiliation when you then get all your 的，地， 得s mixed up.

Sorry if i hit any raw nerves.

[Jive Turkey]

Research has shown that babies who watch TV pick up no language from it. They need people to speak to them in that annoying cootchy-coo language, breaking everything down into simple chunks, eg pointing at a tree and saying "tree" or being given milk and hearing "have some milk".

On the contrary, little if any research in childhood language acquisition supports what you're saying. There has been plenty of research that has put serious doubt to the notion that children need "mommy talk" to acquire their mother tongue. Not all cultures do the mommy talk thing, but their children still manage to acquire their mother tongue. You also can't make blanket statements about all TV programs. Kids can pick up tons of language if they are watching something that appeals to them; the difficulty of the language does not have to be dumbed down to the level you are describing.

[Yang Rui]

little if any research in childhood language acquisition supports what you're saying. There has been plenty of research that has put serious doubt to the notion that children need "mommy talk" to acquire their mother tongue

Not according to world-renowned linguist Steven Pinker. I'd be interested to read the research you're talking about, so if you could post some details of it i'd be grateful.

Kids of a certain age, whose language skills have reached a certain level, can of course pick up "tons of language" from the TV, or indeed anyone they hear speaking. But for a baby who can barely speak, i still doubt that watching TV alone will be of any help.

According to my own experience, watching Chinese TV before you have reached at least an intermediate level, it is very difficult to pick up much new vocabulary. You might get a few words if there are subtitles in Chinese, and it might help in getting your ear accustomed to the sound of the language, but i don't think just watching TV on your own could play a major role in language acquisition.

[liuzhou]

Anyone who is interested in language should read Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct".

I thoroughly agree! It should be compulsory reading for anyone who professes to have an opinion about language. (I.e. everyone.)

I have endless respect for Prof. Pinker, but you do him a great disservice. You are using him to support things he categorically refutes. I suggest that you read it again more carefully. Professor Pinker does not say that

Research has shown that babies who watch TV pick up no language from it.

What he says is that babies who are ONLY exposed to language input from television, pick up nothing.

Not according to world-renowned linguist Steven Pinker.

Rubbish. I really think you have to read it again. He points out that of motherese is not universal. and gives a long and detailed description why he thinks the whole motherese argument is nonsense.

In any case, he is talking about first language acquisition. He says very little about foreign language learning - a totally different concept.

[xuezhongwen]

Yang Rui said what I would say, "get a bf or gf that's native speaker" is probably one of the best way in learning any language. Natural language is an amazing thing, you can learn it the scientific way of understanding every grammar and phrases, and follow the formula to form the sentences, or the artistical way of just living in it.

Of course, like HashiriKata, a lot of us don't have the *luxury* any more, but the spirit is the same, you got try to create/find an environment that you are buried in it as much as possible. Treat the language as fun and just use it.

However, I don't know if I agree that it would be super helpful if your bf or gf does not speak your language at all.

[lpascoe]

I confess, I'm lazy, so I cannot do without a teacher and some kind of formal class. I found when I studied on my own, I'd study like mad for a couple of weeks, then nothing for months. An unwillingness to waste my money, or flunk tests, means I study regularly now.

Having said all this, I have to say - don't knock the movie thing! While it can't replace text books and listening to tapes (not for me anyway) I think it is excellent listening practice. Especially if you do not live in a Chinese-speaking country and don't get the benefit of listening to anything other the contrived "conversations" on the tapes accompanying most text books.

Feel free to laugh, but watching soap operas has done wonders for my Chinese. The language used in soap operas (and I'm talking about the really cheezy ones here) is much easier than movies and contains a lot of everyday, casual conversation and slang. I pick up tonnes of new phrases and vocabulary, just by guessing from body language and piecing together the (usually pretty juvenile) plot. I have some soapies on VCD. That way I can go back and listen again to stuff I missed the first time.

What's more, I've discovered a lot of my students (I teach English at a cram school for kids), friends and even Chinese teachers watch the same soaps, so I can ask them what happened if I didn't quite understand.

I started learning to write Chinese characters 2 years after learning to speak. By watching Chinese subtitles while listening to soapies, I find I've learnt to read pretty quickly.

Finally, watching soap operas doesn't feel like a chore. It's a way I can unwind after work. And for some reason, perhaps not to my credit, I find it a lot easier to find an hour in my schedule to watch a melodramatic soapie than to write lines

[skylee]

I find it a lot easier to find an hour in my schedule to watch a melodramatic soapie than to write lines

Same here Not an hour but hours, 呵呵.

[foxlady]

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