General advice needed! :)

[Danny Bav]

Hey, I just joined the forum and there's so much information here that I don't know where to begin, so I decided to start a new thread.

 

I started learning Mandarin Chinese at high school for a couple of years, however it was very inconsistent and I didn't really learn much apart from basic sentence patterns, so I still consider myself a beginner at Mandarin.

 

I am now at university and I have studied one year of mandarin as a side module, we are following the New Chinese Practical Reader textbook and we're about halfway through book 2.

 

I want to know unique ways I can make progress (mainly with speaking and listening), because I find plowing through the textbook very tedious. (I will still keep it up during my university lessons, but I want another way to make progress too).

 

I can hold a short conversation about very general topics such as hobbies, where people are from, what they are studying, talking about their home town etc etc... As a result, I have made many chinese friends because I am very good at introducing myself in Chinese. However, after that initial conversation we tend to resort to English because I don't know how to talk about other conversation topics and what has annoyed me that in my Chinese lessons we learn topics and vocabulary to things like "Going to the hospital" and "Chinese festivals" which I find hard to actually apply to normal regular life conversations because they are so niche. Is there any resources or helpful tips anybody can give me to learn more conversational based vocab. It fustrates me that I can't apply vocab I learn in class because they usually have strange words that I would only apply in very select scenarios.

 

I am also planning to start watching some Chinese/Taiwanese drama's, but I know they speak very fast and I won't understand much. What is the best way to effectively learn some vocab from these? Are there any resources available (i.e. transcripts of shows), should I just watch and jot a few bits of vocab here and there? I figured the exposure to hearing mandarin more regularly would help me.

 

I think my problem is consistent study, I've learnt mandarin in periods and then kept having breaks and coming back to it which has caused me to forget sections of it. Is there any advice to do a bit of chinese everyday? I live a very busy lifestyle due to studying/societies/work/uni etc... So sometimes it's tough for me to get my books out in the evening and study Chinese everyday, but I wouldn't mind doing something like watching a chinese tv show, I just want to know how you guys have learnt Chinese over the years.

 

I am going to study in China for a semester in February 2016, so I wanted to prepare myself so I could converse verbally a little better (I'm prioritising listening and speaking over reading/writing, but I am still doing all of them).

 

I also talk to people on WeChat, but find myself resorting to the translate option a lot, so it gets a bit tough there constantly having to look up words and then that puts me off replying after a while because I can't have a flowing conversation because I keep having to look up vocab.

 

 

Any tips or tricks, helpful advice or even stories about obstacles you've overcome would be very appreciated!

 

Danny

 

[Lu]

I am also planning to start watching some Chinese/Taiwanese drama's, but I know they speak very fast and I won't understand much. What is the best way to effectively learn some vocab from these? Are there any resources available (i.e. transcripts of shows), should I just watch and jot a few bits of vocab here and there?

There are transcripts for various shows, try searching the forums. I haven't used these resources myself but see them come by regularly.

 

I think my problem is consistent study, I've learnt Mandarin in periods and then kept having breaks and coming back to it which has caused me to forget sections of it. Is there any advice to do a bit of Chinese every day? I live a very busy lifestyle due to studying/societies/work/uni etc... So sometimes it's tough for me to get my books out in the evening and study Chinese everyday

The advice is to do a bit of Chinese every day. Generally, it's better to study for ten minutes every day than two hours once a week. Things stuck in your memory better if you repeat them often. I don't know your life of course, but you should try and carve out a bit of time every day to study. Just after getting up perhaps, or during your lunch break, or after you get back from class, or on your commute, or whenever. If you use Anki or a similar spaced repetition system, you can study bits and pieces through the day.

 

As to how to find actual useful vocab, there are two ways I can think of (wait for other posters for more). One is to read and/or watch things that are relevant, write down the vocab that you consider useful, and study that. The other is to regularly (for example, every week) sit down with a Chinese friend or tutor and try telling them something you'd like to be able to say. Whenever you get stuck, they can help you find the right vocab, and you then go study that.

 

And in general: keep at it! You'll get better over time if you do, even if the progress isn't obvious right away.

[889]

Keep hanging out with your Chinese friends. You don't have to keep chiming in at this stage when you really can't add much to the conversation, but keep your ears alert as can be to their conversation, and afterwards keep playing bits and pieces of it back and forth in your mind. Don't let their conversation wash over you; pick up everything even though so much you will not understand. And don't let the conversation switch to English, or all will be lost (which is why you should more or less keep quiet at this stage and just absorb).

[James3]

I've known people who would keep a digital USB recorder in their pocket, turned on, so any interaction they had with their friends or colleagues was recorded and they could review it later.

[Lu]

I can see the value of that, but at the same time I'm glad I'm not one of such a person's friends or colleagues. If you decide to go such a route, make sure you tell everyone beforehand.

[Shelley]

I've known people who would keep a digital USB recorder in their pocket, turned on, so any interaction they had with their friends or colleagues was recorded and they could review it later.

 

I hope they told all involved that they were being recorded, bit of a breach of  privacy if not.

 

I would suggest finding a core textbook (I recommend New Practical Chinese Reader which you are using) and start at the beginning and do all the lessons, all the exercises, listen to all the available audio and watch all the videos. Don't move on to the next lesson until you have learnt and understood everything.

 

I would also suggest little and often, if you have a busy life, make room for 30 mins. to an hour per day for Chinese. You do need to put in the time, it won't happen otherwise. If learning Chinese means enough to you, you will make the time. You may have to give up something else but if you really want to learn Chinese you need to put in the work.

If like me, learning Chinese is a passion, finding time is easy.

 

Any tips or tricks

 

 

 

There are no tricks and my tip is study, study and then study some more.

 

Above all enjoy it, you learn better if you are enjoying it, if it becomes a chore, change you routine or take a break with something else Chinese oriented.

[Danny Bav]

Thanks guys for all the help.

I'm going to go through all the exercises in the New Chinese Practical Reader that I've already done as a refresh before my uni term starts again.

With the recorder thing, don't think I'll be doing that... sounds a little creepy and I know I wouldn't appreciate being recorded

 

By the way, do any of you use skype?

Would love to talk to fellow learners in chinese, it would be fun!

 

Danny

[renzhe]

I am also planning to start watching some Chinese/Taiwanese drama's, but I know they speak very fast and I won't understand much. What is the best way to effectively learn some vocab from these? Are there any resources available (i.e. transcripts of shows), should I just watch and jot a few bits of vocab here and there?

You can always try our First Episode Project. There are some transcripts and many vocabulary lists.

Specifically, 奋斗 and 爱情公寓 are well annotated and heavily discussed, but there are many other excellent shows in there. Some links may be broken, but with a search on youtube or youku, I'm sure you'll easily find alternative sources.

I suggest starting with a show described as "lower intermediate" and then going through it. Be warned, listening comprehension literally takes thousands of hours and progress is slow. So find something you truly enjoy and keep watching. Your level will pick up slowly, but consistently.