Getting Started

[Lewis Stott]

Hi Guys,

I'm sure you get a million posts like this, and I've read the stickies recommended for beginners...but I was just wondering what sort of things you guys would recommend I work on.

I'm currently enrolled on a course at my university basically going through 'Chinese in Steps Level One'. I'm trying to use flashcards to complement this too. Anything you recommend doing alongside the textbook in particular?

Also, when learning languages before, like Spanish, I've quite quickly got in to watching TV programmes and reading articles etc...although something tells me this way take a while in Chinese. How long does it take to advance to this sort of level in terms of an hours study a day say?

Thanks guys, this forum is excellent!

[Areckx]

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat... learn writing only after you understand the spoken language(unless of course you are like me, and have studied Japanese for quite a long time...or even Korean, since both languages use the Chinese writing, especially Japanese.)

Keep an open mind.

Don't assume you know anything. Like the show, GUESS GUESS, GUESS!!!!! Everybody guess!!! You guess, you guess, you guess, guess guess!!!

One minute you'll think you have a handle of it, then someone says something that breaks down all of the barriers of what you thought you knew.

Actually, start learning how to write characters with proper stroke order from the beginning. It takes a lot of work, because there's a reason, it has to be done. If you don't push yourself through this stage, you'll never truly understand how the Chinese brain works.

Get a notebook and write down the most frequent characters repeatedly until you can recall its reading and meaning without thinking about it when you read a text.

From day one, make an effort to read a text. It can be anything in Chinese, don't worry about content or difficulty, as long as it's in Chinese. It can be manga (http://www.iieye.com) and make sure you don't get frustrated from looking up entries constantly in the dictionary.

Learn how to use a Chinese dictionary. Learn the 288 radicals. (or 308, whatever the number is) and learn how to look up by radical, learn the different types of characters. http://en.wikipedia....ng_SKIP_numbers this should help.

EDIT:

Listening is the most important of all, especially in the beginning. Get as many dialogues, audiobooks, radio news, music, tv shows, movies, and all kinds of podcasts. Make sure you are getting audio in your target dialect(for me I focus on Beijing and Taiwan) if Cantonese, Hong Kong, etc... Learn to distinguish dialects, and remember that individual people have different ways of talking. Watch a variety of movies/shows, not just modern, not just historical, not just anything. DO EVERYTHING.

EDIT:

If you don't know where to start, I have a bunch of playlists on my youtube channel, and links to others' channels who have a large amount of Chinese help. http://www.youtube.c...ser/archetypexe

Check out laoshu505000, he knows a lot.

Either way, try to avoid English materials ABOUT Chinese, and get to the meat of the matter. It's okay to read this forum from time to time, but if you are, it means you're not spending time with Chinese, so make it short and sweet. (try to learn something new that you can have going in the back of your mind in order to improve your study effectiveness, etc)

EDIT:

http://www.tudou.com / http://www.youku.com (start clicking around, don't be afraid, they also have Japanese stuff　日本)

http://www.mdbg.net/...p?page=radicals best dictionary in addition to pleco for your iphone

http://tunein.com/ra...-933-FM-s25609/

http://tunein.com/ra...io-1006-s11162/

EDIT:

and use THIS http://mandarinspot.com/bookmark

[renzhe]

I don't think that there's a perfect program. You want a mixture of approaches, addressing grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking and reading. Most people have adapted their program many times since starting, and I think that it's a natural part of learning. Just make sure to examine your progress and address any imbalances over time. I've found that intensive vocabulary and character study in the beginning pays off in the long run, but different people have different opinions on this.

What is far more important is to find a pace that won't burn you out, and then persevere daily, over many years. Get ready to be involved with this for years to come, and make it a part of your everyday routine. You'll need to find materials that are interesting and will keep you coming for more. In my experience, people who stick with it and focus on continuous, measurable improvement tend to be successful. People who look for the best, fastest method which saves time tend to give up quickly.

By all means, look for useful resources, use all clever advice you find, but keep in mind that whatever you do, you won't escape the tedious hard work.

As for TV shows, check out the specialised subforum and the index thread we have: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/24097-tv-series-recommendations-and-index-thread/ Start with something easy, if it's too hard, revisit in half a year. TV shows are a great way to learn.

EDIT: One piece of advice I definitely want to give you is to concentrate on pronunciation and tones in the beginning. Even if you ignore everything else. Get native speakers to listen and correct, make sure you can hear the tones and repeat them in isolation. Do not mess this up, it's the one thing most people regret later.

[imron]

Get ready to be involved with this for years to come, and make it a part of your everyday routine....people who stick with it and focus on continuous, measurable improvement tend to be successful. People who look for the best, fastest method which saves time tend to give up quickly....you won't escape the tedious hard work.

+1 for this.

[Areckx]

忍者 knows his stuff. pay attention to his forum posts.

[heifeng]

I'm currently enrolled on a course at my university basically going through 'Chinese in Steps Level One'. I'm trying to use flashcards to complement this too. Anything you recommend doing alongside the textbook in particular?

EDIT: One piece of advice I definitely want to give you is to concentrate on pronunciation and tones in the beginning. Even if you ignore everything else. Get native speakers to listen and correct, make sure you can hear the tones and repeat them in isolation. Do not mess this up, it's the one thing most people regret later.

Also, try to find a language exchange partner that speaks somewhat standard (at first at least) or a tutor to start actually using and reinforcing what you are learning in class. You'll pick up some good vocab and learn how to use the language a lil' more naturally this way. (I did this my first year per my professors recommendation since I was the only non-heritage speaker in class and my study partner helped me significantly) I'm just assuming here (and you know what they say when you assume) but usually universities have a few (or more )Chinese students, especially post-graduate students and many are friendly and willing to do a language exchange.

Best of luck (really, I mean get ready to work hard, but enjoy the journey!)

[大肚男]

great advice from everyone.

my two cents are as follows...

1) for characters, I really recommend he heisig method. you can get his "remembering the hanzi" fairly cheap on Amazon. it will teach you towrite characters without resorting to wrought memorization. If you decide to this route, I can email you an anki deck that I created that contain the heisig characters I learned so far with their readings and all meanings.

2) I also would like to recommend popup chinese podcast. they have different levels ranging from absolute beginner to advanced

the podcasts are fun, funny, and ideal for retention.

3) I also like lang-8.com, which is free website where you post an entry in the language you are learning and native speakers would correct it. the website is also great to meet language partners o Skype with.

to be honest, I would stay away from Chinese shows in the first year or so, because from my experience, it was really frustrating not to understand anything, but that is just.

Also, don't get discouraged if you don't progress fast as you did in Spanish. I learned Spanish in only three months after I got in an accident and had to stay with my exgirlfriend's family who didn't speak English. but Chinese is substantially more challenging.

Finally, try to immerse yourself much you can in the language and culture, and beware of some Chinese students who want to practice English with reciprocating.

good luck and 加油

[tijana93]

hi everyone:)♥ its my first time posting here so im not really sure how this site works...

could u recomend some reading listening or any kind of material for beginers? maybe something around hsk 1 and 2? i know this is a very low level, but id really like to improve my chinese as much as possible...r there any children books or maybe mangas or anything like that in simpliefied characters that can be downloaded or read online? i guess characters r a bit difficult for beginners, so maybe the more i read the easier itll be...i dont know...pls help...thx:)♥

[Areckx]

@tijana93

http://www.youtube.com/user/ArchetypeXE?feature=mhee#p/c/C41DE5EE33602A83/0/ZhFhKjoitUQ

[Lewis Stott]

Thanks everyone, really helpful advice. I'll check out all your suggestions. Thank you!