Reading vs Listening

[JustinJJ]

I gave up learning words in anki, but learn exclusively from reading and listening (I'll look words up sometimes, but I don't anki them).

 

I'm wondering what people think of the relative merits/benefits of reading vs listening

 

It seems to me that listening helps with speaking fluency (and obviously listening speed and ability to understand accents) because often when I'm talking what pops into my mind is something very similar to what I've heard many times before on the radio or on TV. 

 

I've found that the benefit of reading is mainly to broaden my vocabulary so that I have a better understanding when topics are more complex, but it doesn't help with fluidity of speech, other than that I have more words to choose from when I'm speaking.

 

I've found that by maintaining reading and listening since I left China about a year and a half ago my level has continued to improve a lot and I haven't felt a plateau (the improvement seems gradual but constant). When I first came back home sometimes I might have to think a bit if topics were a bit more complex, but now I don't feel restricted in speech at all unless it's a topic I don't know (e.g. last night at a CNY dinner someone was talking about dressage which I didn't know the word for so didn't get). I can only attribute this to reading and listening because I haven't done anything else (other than talking to people, e.g. girlfriend).

 

What are everyone's thoughts on what skills reading will benefit and listening benefits respectively？

[Pokarface]

Hi! What's your Chinese level?

Reading seems to make digesting new vocabulary easier but only if the material is at your level or slightly above it. Try writing random sentences (that actually mean something) in either pinyin or characters using the new vocabulary. Write stuff you would actually say in real life and try reading it aloud. Creating my own output makes vocabulary stick for longer.

 

Likewise, listening is also a progressive skill and that's why you'll find podcasts, videos split in different levels. Listening helps me learn how to use the vocabulary I already know in different ways. It is possible for me to learn new vocabulary from videos only if the situation where the new word is used is ”memorable“。 Something incredibly awesome has to happen while using a new word in order for me to ignite that learning sensation from videos; otherwise, it's faster to see it in written form and practice it by reading and writing it in examples.

 

For example. Last time I went over HSK 1 and 2 flashcards (like you, I don't tend to learn vocab this way). I got 83% correct. I think reading/listening content that contains the missing 17% of vocabulary WILL help me deduct and learn these words; however, HSK 4 content at my level might be too daunting since I haven't even completed HSK 3 vocabulary. Although I do believe it's possible to learn advanced words before you reach an advanced level simply because you think they sound cool or happen to be used in your daily life.

[JustinJJ]

I'd say my level is reasonably advanced, I'll be going China with a client next month to do some interpreting for business meetings - I find dialects challenging though. I agree that words or phrases that I see that sound 'cool' stick easier. For me I don't try to memorise new words any more so whatever sticks sticks and whatever doesn't I'm not too concerned about.

I also find that when I'm listening to a voice that appeals to me I remember more of the phrases (so use them more in conversations) and when I'm reading a book that appeals I take more in regardless of the level. E.g. I tend to pay a lot of attention when I hear 范冰冰 speak because I like her voice or if I hear people speaking 四川话 I'll tune in, but I tried reading Harry potter recently (easier than some other books I've read) but couldn't concentrate on it because I don't personally find the text that interesting.

[imron]

I'm wondering what people think of the relative merits/benefits of reading vs listening

They are complementary skills, and both necessary

[shitou]

I believe I am using a similar approach for getting a little bit better in English. When I am chatting or consuming media by reading or listening, I just look up some word if I am interested - but I cannot remember that I ever made a vocabulary list or note about a new word. It seems to flow in automatically if the topics are interesting enough. Whatever I intend to learn, I get the necessary information usually in English, but I never took a language book (after I left school), to explicitly learn this language. Learning becomes effortlessly if I focus on "the goal behind the goal (of learning English)", which is to understand my friends, the topics that I learn, etc. For example now 90% of my Chinese grammar books, dictionaries, etc. are also written for English speakers.

 

But regarding my Chinese learning I am still in the previous stage - I am still trying to get a foundation, similar to that which I once got for English in my schooldays, that allows me to apply a similar strategy for Chinese. When I am able to learn for example another language by chosing books for Chinese speakers who want to learn that language, I am almost where I want to get. I know it is still a long journey...

[shitou]

 

I'm wondering what people think of the relative merits/benefits of reading vs listening

Without knowing a lot about Chinese but a little bit more about my process of learning English, I totally agree with your observation, JustinJJ, and also with imron. Depending on the goal, listening might be secondary. But for becoming better in a verbal conversation listening seems to be a must. Also I find it crucial to listen to as many different speakers as possible. Coming from a school where they taught "Oxford English", it was really an "ear opening" experience when I listened for the first time to American or Scottish speakers. In the beginning I tried to listen to information about the same topic, spoken in different "tongues". In the meanwhile I get more and more used to it. You find the same differences with speakers of the German language who come from different regions. And I guess the differences are also given if you compare Mandarin speakers from Taiwan, and different regions in China.

 

Once I had this interesting talk with a woman in a bookstore in Taipei. She told me she was teaching Chinese in Germany for many years, and gave me some good advice how to choose a dictionary for a beginner. During our interesting talk we also came to this topic of different ways to pronounce the same language. She stated that "Taiwanese are a little bit lazy with their tongue", so they sometimes pronounce the Pinyin "zh", "q", "j", etc. slightly different than it is taught in courses that teach the Beijing dialect. Knowing this, I found it is just a matter of some hours to adjust my ears to that difference.

[JustinJJ]

Coming from a school where they taught "Oxford English", it was really an "ear opening" experience when I listened for the first time to American or Scottish speakers. (*can't find the quote function on my mobile*).

I can relate to that. When I first starting learning Chinese teachers would speak very standard mandarin in class, so if someone in real life varied slightly from the standard e.g. Accented, different pitch, different speed etc it would be very hard to understand, but from listening to various material e.g. TV, radio, people, it became easier over time. I have an ABC friend who is trying to learn Chinese but because he is so 'busy' says he only has time to maintain his anki. I told him yesterday that just doing anki (with no reading or listening) won't help his Chinese, he won't understand real people speaking any of those words.

I had an interesting way of accidentally learning to understand the Sichuan dialect. My girlfriend speaks to her family on the phone in kunminghua. The first time I heard it I understood nothing but gradually understood more and more over time. What was particularly helpful was that she speaks slowly to her grandfather, so this was more comprehensible to me. Now I can more or less understand the conversations she has with her family and friends in the dialect (though not to the same level of comfort as I would if the conversation was in standard mandarin). Some time after this I was listening to a TV show in the Sichuan dialect and found that I could understand the bulk of it because it is close to kunminghua. Speaking those dialects is likely to be a challenge for a long time though!