Intermediate Chinese Grammar online edX course

[grawrt]

Hi guys, I decided to join this too because grammar is a weak point of mine.

 

This weeks homework is pretty hard. so far on the first part I have 3/8 correct, I have to look back at my notes before trying again.

[Elizabeth_rb]

I managed to scrape 60% for week 2.  It would have been 80% if I hadn't forgotten the full stop at the end of two sentences.....  Duh!

[Shelley]

This may be something that you all know, but i just discovered it and i thought wow, this is useful, wonder if anyone else knows about it.

 

I am using chrome to view the videos and I worked out today CC meant subtitles so I turned on the subtitles and thought oh that's helpful, then accidentally clicked over the the subtitles with the right button on my mouse and a menu popped up and one of the choices was Translate this to English, so always keen for help I clicked and it all changed to English. it is not the best translation but it is a big help if your Chinese is not good enough to keep up with it.

 

As I want to learn and understand, I have found this a big help and it has encouraged me to carry on, I was getting a bit discouraged as I spent more time trying to understand than learning.

 

So onwards and upwards

[Elizabeth_rb]

I've not needed English support (beyond looking up a couple of words) as yet, but it's good to know it's there in case.  Thanks for your info, Shelley!

[Shelley]

Well missed the deadline for the homework Midnight UTC time is not the same as midnight BST. I knew I was running close to the wind but thought I had an hour to finish the homework.

 

Because i had found the subtitles i decided to review all the videos this afternoon and after dinner sat down to do the homework got it all done went to submit and all I could do was show answers, puzzled I checked the time and saw it was 2 minute past 11, which from what I can work out was 2 minutes past 12 UTC.

 

Well have printed out the answers and plan to use it for review, i think I would have just scraped a pass maybe not quite. somewhere between 50 and 60%

 

But not to worry now I can spend more time learning I will have plenty of time next week, and its not just about the mark its about understanding.

[Shelley]

Despite it being a stressed week having to take care of my 20 year cat while she was ill, getting better now, but still not 100%

 

I managed to get 100% on this weeks homework, I think it was because the concept of a place was clear.

And probably because I spent less time translating and more time learning.

 

How is everyone else getting on?

[Elizabeth_rb]

Similar thing happened to me this week, Shelley, only I'd mistaken 00:00 on 12 Oct to mean the end of the day, whereas it's actually the beginning.  Homework is due midnight Saturday, not Sunday, t'would appear!  But yes, UTC, I think corresponds to GMT.

 

Anyway, now I'm 'out of the running' and find my motivation to keep going has hit the floor.  Still, to be honest, I can do without it at the mo....

 

[Shelley]

Oh that's a shame Elizabeth (hope you don't mind if i drop the _rb bit , saves typing), sometimes though life does get in the way.

 

I didn't feel it was a lost cause just because i missed one deadline.

 

I am determined to keep going and put in a bit extra and hopefully pass, although the mark isn't so important as long as I learn and understand it.

 

I have also started a new edex course Historical relic treasures and cultural china, absolutely fascinating stuff.

 

i am really enjoying some discipline in my study, its at a good level for me and my lifestyle. I would love to go to uni and do an evening course again, but my health won't let me.

[Elizabeth_rb]

Don't worry Shelley (and, yes of course you can drop to -rb bit, that's only to make a unique user name), I've started again and am trying to catch up.  I've just watched the remaining two vids for week 3 and am planning on tackling week 4 and some of week 5 later on this week.  As a self-conferssed hardcore grammarian, I can't resist, PLUS I'm in on the Hacking Chinese blog extensive listening challenge and this course could count towards my goal of about half an hour per day.  I was feeling a bit over-stretched the other day and, in a way, giving myself permish to dump the course if I wanted, really helped me to NOT want to.  If that makes sense...

 

So, I'm still in! ;)

[Shelley]

Goodo, I thought about the hacking Chinese listening challenge but now i have started the Chinese relics one , I would overload my self  with that as well.

[Elizabeth_rb]

I've been counting all sorts towards the listening challenge - even having something on in Chinese in the background as I did e-bay auction listings or some cross stitching!

[Shelley]

Well didn't do well this week. Spent the last three days trying to get the videos to play all the way through. They would start then stop and not start again. They would run for about 3mins then stop the second one went for a bit longer 5 mins but no further.

 

Anybody else have this problem?

 

How is going for you all?

 

I couldn't understand the meaning of acrostic "a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words." is the dictionary meaning but I could understand it in relation to Chinese grammar.

 

Anyone work this out?

[myriadthings]

 

Not done week 5 yet, and have had some problems with videos playing in week 4, although they then went back to normal.

Not going too badly. 100% on week 4. And noticing (as I fill in some very complicated Chinese university forms) that the grammar course is having some effect, as I'm managing to put my thoughts in order more elegantly than before I began the course...

Anyway, on to week 5 later today.

[Elizabeth_rb]

How is everyone getting along with this?  I've just finished the week 6 homework section.

 

I wanted to see what others thought about some of the material in week 6.  When discussing the use of 到 and 在 as resultative complements（结构补语）, 徐老师 includes uses I would have considered to be prepositional, rather than RCs: 

 

我学到１０点了。

他把书放在书架上了。

 

I would have said that these were not actually verb complements, but prepositions.  What do you say?

[li3wei1]

I dropped out. I'm a study method butterfly, me.

[Shelley]

I have to say that this week I have not even looked at the videos.

 

It has been a difficult week for concentrating as my 20 year old cat died on Tuesday.

 

Only today is my head anything like clear and if by Saturday I feel up to I may give it a look, but if I miss this week I don't really stand a chance of passing so I would only be doing it for my own benefit and not for marks.

 

So we will see

[myriadthings]

Sad news! I hope that you are bearing up. 

 

Half way through week 6, and the going is good so I should make it through before the deadline.

 

I'm a bit puzzled by the 在 in 放在 as a resultative complement as well.  Anyway, have just received the textbook, and it is an excellent supplement to the course, so I might see if that can throw any light.

[myriadthings]

Damn, missed the deadline because of the time difference. Anyway, I'll continue on studying as this is all helpful stuff.

 

A further thought on the question of 放在 and 学到 as prepositions or complements...

 

In 他把书放在书架上了, in placing the book, you cause it to be on the bookshelf. So you place it, and through placing it, the book is located at such-and-such a place. The being-located, 在, is the result. Similarly  我学到10点了, you study, and the result of the studying is reaching such-and-such a time. So reaching — 到 — is again the result, so is a RC here. Does this make sense (it sort of makes sense to me, but that may be simply confusion...)?

 

There's a bit about this on John Pasden's excellent Chinese Grammar wiki: http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/%22Zai%22_following_verbs.

[Shelley]

Well I am not managing to keep up because I have completely missed this week. My brain is still not working at 100%

 

I am going to drop doing the homework but I will still watch the videos when I can.

 

I have found an alternative. i recently discovered the absolutely brilliant Scham's Outline of Chinese Grammar.

 

Anyone familiar with this book?

 

The reason i like it is because It starts with basics and explains every thing in English with lots of examples in Chinese with simplified/traditional characters, pinyin and translation so I can concentrate on learning the grammar and not having to look words up all the time just understand the example.

 

It has little quizzes and tests through out and there is an answer key so you can check and correct and learn and understand what was wrong.

 

I am making good progress with this and feel I am still taking part learning grammar just not doing the edex homework.

[lechuan]

I have found an alternative. i recently discovered the absolutely brilliant Scham's Outline of Chinese Grammar.

Anyone familiar with this book?

 

I used to have this book, but the same author later released Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar, which I found explained things more clearly. Quite a bit more expensive though, especially if you get the companion exercises book.