My recent studying methods

[Hann]

I try to borrow a few chinese movies a week from the language center where i take classes, and i usually watch the movie once with Enlgish subtitles just to fully enjoy the flick, and then the 2nd go around i use the chinese subtitles, even though sometimes i just skip to the parts where i found the dialouge most interesting.

When going the second time around, i try to listen as much as possible and not just read my way through it. I find this a great way to help with learning as originally stated. Focus on the listening and then if not sure what the character is or the tone, look at the subtitles, and find the word in your dictionary.

This also is a great help with my grammar, as many of the texts grammar is just plain dull. I much prefer to hear it used.

And without a doubt listening to various lessons etc on MP3 when doing whatever task helps a ton in keeping up with my class, and in just being able to understand the world around me.

[gato]

It'd be even better if the Chinese tv/movie you're watching has both Chinese and English subtitles. Though I'm a beginning learning in Spanish, watching Spanish television with close-captioning has helped my listening comprehension a lot, especially with those rapid-fire dialogues.

[sui.generis]

It'd be even better if the Chinese tv/movie you're watching has both Chinese and English subtitles. Though I'm a beginning learning in Spanish, watching Spanish television with close-captioning has helped my listening comprehension a lot, especially with those rapid-fire dialogues.

Since my main focus when watching is listening comprehension, I always watch with the subs off. Otherwise I lean to my stronger suit, reading, and don't actually practice listening. I only turn on the subs for individual scenes if I find something that's been said to be something I might use later, and I want to know exactly how to say it, rather than just follow it's meaning.

[AL LA]

Thanks Wushijiao for your detailed post on your study methods. I am just about to visit China and begin learning the language and would greatly appreciate your guide for beginners you metioned you could write.

Also do you have any opinions on learning Mandarin Chinese in Kunming would the accent be hard to shake off ?

Cheers.

[wushijiao]

Also do you have any opinions on learning Mandarin Chinese in Kunming would the accent be hard to shake off ?

My impression is that Kunming would be a great place to live and study in. Yunnan province is very scenic and the population is very diverse.

When one of my brothers came to visit me a few years back, he traveled to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an and Beijing. By the time he was in Beijing, he felt that China was nice, but not nearly as diverse, historic or as interesting as Europe. So I booked a ticket for Yunnan, and we went down there. Within just a few days he had completely changed his mind about China, considering Yunnan to be one of the best places he had ever been to.

Anyway, the Putonghua that they speak there is fairly standard (correct me if wrong).

I'll write out a plan for beginners, and hopefully other people can share their valuable experiences like they did in this post. I think almost everyone who has studied Chinese for a few years can say, "If I could do it over again, I think I would have done X differently" Hopefully, if you are just starting out, you can learn from other people's mistakes so that your studying can be more efficient.

[free_radical]

thanks, wushijiao

some excellent tips for studying