Core vocabulary > dialogs > grammar?

[littlebigman]

Hello

I was wondering if there is a method to learn Chinese (or any foreign language, for that matter) that has the following features:

1. Vocabulary is based on statistical studies, and is introduced gradually, eg. 100 most used words, then 500, then 1.000, etc.

An example of this is "A Frequency Dictionary of Mandarin Chinese: Core Vocabulary for Learners", just like 汉字 are learned in descending statistical importance

2. Focus is clearly on oral/aural competency, ie. 汉字 may be printed, but more for the reader to passively get used to seeing them until ready to start studying the written language

3. Each lesson is heavily based on dialogs, with grammar introduced only when required to make sense of an otherwise incomprehensible sentence, so that students don't get bored with grammar and learn the language in a more natural, practical way

Thank you for any feedback.

[sebhk]

I think the Pimsleur audio courses are pretty close to what you described.

[littlebigman]

Thanks for the tip. BTW, is there a section in this forum where I would find a review of the main language methods available in English to learn 普通話?

[SiMaKe]

@littlebigman

...main language methods...

If you haven't looked already, reading in this subforum would be a great place to start. It includes wide ranging discussions and suggestions about the many different aspects of learning 普通話 as well as links to many useful non-forum sources.

I only suggest this broad approach as your ultimate objective (i.e., your purpose for learning and the desired level of competency) is not clear and may influence which method(s) are optimal for you.

Here are some references that might help:

A highly rated article by wushijiao

http://www.chinese-f...-for-beginners/

An another that might be closer to your specific question

http://www.chinese-f...ms-vs-theories/

[littlebigman]

Thanks for the links.

[Chhhi]

Does the Pimsleur course introduce the writing system? I think that's pretty important with Chinese.

[c_redman]

Does the Pimsleur course introduce the writing system? I think that's pretty important with Chinese.

No, it doesn't. Nor does it even address the different Chinese sounds. If you didn't know that x and sh or j and zh were different sounds, or how to make the r sound, you wouldn't appreciate the nuance of what they're saying and you're then repeating. So you definitely need to be familiar with all the sounds of Chinese before starting.

[littlebigman]

Looks like the Pimsleur method isn't really what I was looking for then :-/ I'm used to hanzi from Japanese, so having Chinese written in both pinyin and hanzi is important. And getting the pronunciation right is even more important for Chinese.