Getting rid of bad habits and learning new material

[Pengyou]

I came to China in 1998, expecting to be here 2 or 3 years...and, like Gilligan's Island, I just can't seem to get off of this "island" I studied Chinese for two years in 2005 using the Chinese Made Easier text books and reached an advanced intermediate level in oral Chinese on the school's assessment system (for whatever that is worth) but I never gave reading much thought. Even though I have forgotten some vocab and sentence structures, I speak Chinese very fluidly now, to the point where Chinese people think that I can understand everything they are saying! I would like to resume my studies to get rid of my errors, push my oral Chinese to an advanced level and learn how to read. I love to read and think that being able to read Chinese would help me maintain my vocab, even if I am not using it every day. I also want to prepare for the HSK so that if/when I return home I will be qualified to teach Chinese - I am a licensed teacher in the U.S.

I have checked with a couple of local schools in Shenzhen but none of them seem to know what to do with someone in my situation. They all want to take me back almost to the beginning using the textbooks that they usually use for their students who are learning from scratch. I do not mind doing elementary things but this seems like a waste of time.

I am looking into the graduated readers that have been mentioned in the past. I googled on various words....seems like a lot of stuff out there, some of it is probably good - maybe most of it is, but am not sure it is the best for me. I am looking for help to make a roadmap for the next three years. I have a qq and weixing account. I am willing to watch the same tv program over and over again to help me learn - I am not afraid of doing repititious things as long as I feel that they are leading me somewhere.

[li3wei1]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I'd gone the standard route with traditional characters, spent some years in Taiwan, then spent many years forgetting everything. Coming back to it, I found myself able to hold slow and basic conversations, but struggling with characters, especially as I had to switch to simplified. I'd say a combination of graded readers and flashcards is probably the most efficient use of your time. You'll find yourself saying, 'ah, that's how you write it!'. I used All Things Considered and Anything Goes, from Princeton University Press, but if your character knowledge is really basic you may want to start with the Chinese Breeze series. The Graded Chinese Reader (Selected Abridged Chinese Contemporary Short Stories) series might be okay too, but they provide pinyin right over the characters, which I find distracting. Also note that they've done them out of sequence, so number 3 is easiest, then 1, then 2.

[Silent]

I've not been in your position so maybe a naive presumption, but isn't it mainly a matter of learning the characters? If you're pretty much fluent knowing the characters and their pronunciation gives you the chance to vocalize what you read and basicly just listen to yourself to know what it says.A better approach would be to learn the sound and meaning with the character to avoid confusion due to words with the same sound.

[roddy]

When you say errors - what errors? Do you have pronunciation problems? Grammar a bit messy? If you don't know that, you can't really plan.

I'd book yourself in for an HSK exam a level or two below the one you'd ultimately like to pass, or do a mock one. Use that to see where you actually are and what your weaknesses are. Then you can come up with a plan of action.

I wouldn't rule out going right back to the elementary textbooks - but you want to be doing it to a very high standard, with a teacher than doesn't let you get away with 'ok for an elementary student', as you aren't one.

[abcdefg]

@Pengyou, I'm in a similar situation. I function in an entirely Chinese speaking environment in Kunming, holding many conversations every day without much trouble, though I occasionally hit tough spots and regularly make errors in appropriate word choice and grammar.

In the last few months I've been trying to improve my reading, since at present I can recognize a lot of words, but read them one at a time like a child, instead of automatically seeing them in longer, more logical clusters. Am using the readers previously mentioned as well as some native material that my teachers have "simplified" for me. Have also gone back through some previously used textbooks, re-reading the 课文 portions.

Have spent very little time and effort learning to write by hand, though I realize other people have found it useful.

Cannot suggest a road map or tell you my personal "success story" since it's all still in progress. All I can say is that we are both more or less in the same boat and I wish us both good luck and intelligent perseverance. (Your goals are higher than mine, since I have no intention of taking the HSK.)

[Erbse]

I have checked with a couple of local schools in Shenzhen but none of them seem to know what to do with someone in my situation. They all want to take me back almost to the beginning using the textbooks that they usually use for their students who are learning from scratch. I do not mind doing elementary things but this seems like a waste of time.

A lot of language schools are there to make money, not to make the world a better place. So they often aim for quantity. And there is no quantity in teaching the advanced Chinese learner.

Currently I spend a lot of time structuring my learning efforts and also I spend countless hours on the train to attend a intermediate/advanced Chinese class. Currently working on the implementation of my efforts to reduce wasted time. There are already good posts on this forum on what works and what doesn't.

Choose a book that you think is suitable for you, and then start learning. Pay a teacher to help you with this particular book.

[drencrom]

I hone my reading skills by using Weibo regularly. You see all sorts of real words that people actually use instead of those staid vocabulary words you sweat blood to memorize then find out nobody has talked like that for decades.

[imron]

You see all sorts of real words that people actually use

You also see all sorts of made-up words that people only use on Weibo/the Internet

[roddy]

Yeah, it it was a choice between sounding like a 1950s cadres speech or a 2010s teenage microblogger - well, comrades, the choice is clear...

I'm also dubious about Weibo for reading skills. What do you actually want or need to read? Read that. if you can't read that, read a simplified version of that.