Vocabulary lists

[Confucius17]

Hi everybody!

I have been learning Chinese for 5 months, gathering all the information I could from the internet and chinese books. Being fluent in French and in English, it was fairly easy to assemble several learning books (What character is that? - Pocket Oxford Chinese dictionary - English Pinyin dictionary - 40 lecons pour parler Chinois). The one problem is, even with three dictionaries I can't feel sure if I am using the correct translation. For each word, there is at least three possible translation, with characters in brackets, all over the place! So I was wondering if anyone knows of a vocabulary list on internet, where there is a clear layout for the simplified and traditionnal characters, pinyin and english translation?

I am really passionate about the Chinese language, and seize every opportunity to talk to Chinese people. If anyone is interested in helping someone learning Chinese please feel free to do so! 我是乐观的!

[in_lab]

I recommend starting with a textbook and a teacher. Boring, maybe, but it works.

[Pravit]

For each word, there is at least three possible translation, with characters in brackets, all over the place!

Any dictionary worth it's salt should have examples using the word in question, so that you can be absolutely sure of which one to use. It should also list expressions using this word. Are you talking about translating from Chinese to English or English to Chinese? Anyhow, just try sitting down and reading the first part of your dictionary where they explain the format and what all the abbreviations mean. It may be boring, but it will help you use your dictionary better in the long run.

About a vocabulary list, I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are multiple translations of single characters or words because the right one to use depends on the context. So a complete vocabulary list would probably not be any easier to use than your dictionary(because it would be a dictionary. ). However, if you are referring to a vocabulary list for some certain book, say, a vocabulary list for "Practical Chinese Reader", or something, if the book itself doesn't have one, sometimes you can find one online.

[confucius]

www.zhongwen.com

[Confucius17]

Thanks for your replies!

What I meant is that in the section of the dictionary translating from english to chinese, there can be several different possible expressions.

Let's take the word "glance", for example:

glance /gla:ns; US glaens/ v 1 扫视 saoshi; 看一眼 kan yiyan 2 [4 characters without pinyin] glance of sth 擦过 caguo; lueguo 掠过. glance n [C] 1 一瞥 yipie; 扫视 saoshi. 2 [2 characters without pinyin] at a glance 看一眼 kan yi yan

What bothers me most is the characters in brackets, which I cannot find in the introduction, and which have no pinyin! I already know Zhongwen.com, as it is the most reliable and practical site for learning chinese on the internet!!!

[Pravit]

So you're using Oxford University's Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English dictionary, are ye? I have the exact same one. Anyhow, let's look at the entry:

glance /gla:ns; US glaens/ v 1 扫视 saoshi; 看一眼 kan yiyan 2 [短语动词] glance off sth 擦过 caguo; lueguo 掠过. glance n [C] 1 一瞥 yipie; 扫视 saoshi. 2 [习语] at a glance 看一眼 kan yi yan

The bracketed characters are notes most likely intended towards Chinese-speaking users of this dictionary(and I have the feeling this is a dictionary more oriented towards Chinese-speakers).

The two entries for the first meaning(that is, to look at something) are just two different ways of saying the same thing.

Second entry:

短语动词 - duǎnyǔ dòngcí. "phrasal verb." A verb that is more than one word. Our example is "glance off"(for instance, "I threw the rock and it glanced off the wall."

The glance(noun) entry is for the noun form of the word. "She took a quick glance into my eyes."

The last entry:

习语 - xíyǔ - "idiom." In this case they are talking about the idiom "at a glance", for example, "At a glance, it would seem that (bla bla bla)."

[Confucius17]

Thanks a lot for giving such a helpful answer! I also had the feeling that this dictionary was orientated towards chinese people, but it is still extremely useful! It allows me to make mistakes and learn from them!

Thanks again!

[Haizi]

It is word-frequency-based, which allows CFL learners to learn the most commonly-used words first;

It is also character-frequency-based, which means that CFL learners will not miss those commonly-used characters in their early stages of CFL study;

It is modified and revised by dozens of China's top experts and scholars in CFL teaching to be optimized for CFL acquisition;

It indicates the scopes of HSK tests, which are currently the most recognized standardized general Chinese proficiency tests in the world.

[Pravit]

Errr...what is?

[Haizi]

It's in the subject.

[Pravit]

Ah, I see! I don't normally look at the subject of replies in threads.