zhouhaochen Posted October 27, 2015 at 03:56 AM Report Posted October 27, 2015 at 03:56 AM After more than a year of work my (well ours - I am just the editor and one of the authors) on how to learn Chinese is finally finished. It has the the slightly long title "The Ultimate GuidEbook to Learning Mandarin Chinese" and is meant as an answer to the question a lot of people keep asking me and others on and outside this forum: how should one go about learning Chinese. During the last ten years, I kept trying to answer that question in countless conversations. So the idea is to a summarize a bit what I would suggest (quite similar to the opinions on quite a few people on this forum I believe), but also get other opinions and perspectives. I obviously like my approach, but not everyone is in the same situation as I was when I came to China. I did not speaking a word of Chinese and had very little money, but with a whole year of time to do nothing but study Mandarin in Beijing. Lacking any kind of useful advice on how to actually do this, despite studying very hard I did not progress very much until I finally figured out for myself how I should structure my studies, so a lot of my advice on how to do it is based on not doing it how I first did it. Obviously there are very different opinions about the best ways to learn Chinese. Also, someone outside China studying a few times a week after work would go about it very differently to someone who travels to China for a full time university course. So the book is a selection of advice from ten different authors who did learn Mandarin and did so under quite different circumstances. It focuses on different topics, including the obvious ones like tones, character learning, listening etc. but also how to stay motivated, which resources might be useful and how to enjoy the whole thing. It includes several relatively famous authors, like Benny Lewis who's Chinese learning experience was intensively discussed on this forum, Richard Simcott who is quite an impressive polyglot or Verena Menzel from "New Chinese" for anyone who speaks German, but also people who just spend a lot of time learning Mandarin and I thought had some good advice to offer. I believe I would have saved myself a lot of time if I had read this 15 years ago. You can download it here http://www.livethelanguage.cn/how-to-learn-chinese This is the first time I am publishing anything like this and personally I would be very interested in any kind of feedback on the book. Good or bad I would love to hear you think, so this thread is for discussion, suggestions, feedback or whatever else you want to say. Cost: The Ebook is free of charge but requires a "social pay" (you have to like it on Facebook, G+ or Twitter). If you do not want to do that, there is also an email address on the site you can email and you will be emailed a copy (after which your email will be deleted - there is no database, no future follow up messages, spamming or anything else funny going on) or you can email (andreas@livethelanguage.cn) / pm me on the forum directly, 2 Quote
DachZanz Posted October 28, 2015 at 03:39 AM Report Posted October 28, 2015 at 03:39 AM Hey thanks! I just shared the link and am enjoying reading it. It's well designed, visually. Quote
zhouhaochen Posted October 28, 2015 at 10:43 AM Author Report Posted October 28, 2015 at 10:43 AM @DachZanz thanks! It's been a lot of work, so good to hear you find it useful It was originally meant to be a bit shorter, but somehow the content just kept coming and I thought it was all relevant, so did not want to take out too much. Quote
Video Vocabulary Posted October 29, 2015 at 06:07 AM Report Posted October 29, 2015 at 06:07 AM @zhouhaochen How good your Chinese is? Quote
zhouhaochen Posted October 29, 2015 at 10:15 AM Author Report Posted October 29, 2015 at 10:15 AM @Video Vocabulary difficult to say. I am certified to administer the HSK exam, but actually never took the new HSK myself. It is my main work language, so I speak and email with my colleagues mainly in Mandarin and can communicate without problems after work with friends. I can read documents I encounter frequently (like rental contracts or documents regarding teaching Chinese) without much trouble and those that I do not see frequently a bit slower, but might need to look up some characters. I would say I can say and express anything I want to in Mandarin, however sometimes not in the most elegant way and occasionally make grammar or tonal mistakes when speaking. I can watch and understand the news or a Chinese movie, but there might be words I do not know (politician's names for example). Sometimes when I write an email, especially when in a hurry, I do make grammar mistakes. I have been struggling with tones from day one of learning Mandarin do to a combination of a lack of talent and poor teaching back then, and while I can say and hear them alright now, they will never be a strong point of mine. I am not very good with Chengyus as my memory is not particularly strong and I tend to have forgotten a Chengyu before I find a situation where I can use it. In phone conversations people might think I am from Beijing for the first few sentences but after that either from a province they have not been to or identify me as a non-native Mandarin speaker. Overall, as a mathematical person with poor memory skills, who almost failed any language I learned and was kicked out of Italian for poor performance in highschool, I am quite happy with (and a little bit proud of) my level of Mandarin - but there is always room for improvement. Quote
Video Vocabulary Posted October 29, 2015 at 01:55 PM Report Posted October 29, 2015 at 01:55 PM Can we see any videos of you speaking Mandarin on YouTube or any other place? Quote
zhouhaochen Posted October 29, 2015 at 03:58 PM Author Report Posted October 29, 2015 at 03:58 PM @Video Vocabulary I never recorded a video of myself speaking Chinese, but the China Daily interviewed me in Chinese about learning Chinese and LTL two years ago and put a video online http://video.chinadaily.com.cn/2014/0108/2113.shtml 3 Quote
lechuan Posted October 29, 2015 at 05:31 PM Report Posted October 29, 2015 at 05:31 PM After seeing that video, I was motivated to download your ebook! Quote
zhouhaochen Posted October 31, 2015 at 03:05 AM Author Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 03:05 AM @lechuan thanks. I am only the editor and author of one chapter though. The other nine are from other Chinese language learners, all of whom learned Chinese (let's not start a discussion about Benny Lewis again though please....) and offer advice from their perspective - most of which I agree and all of which I find very valuable and valid. Quote
Video Vocabulary Posted October 31, 2015 at 02:07 PM Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 02:07 PM In phone conversations people might think I am from Beijing for the first few sentences but after that either from a province they have not been to or identify me as a non-native Mandarin speaker. I've just watched your video, apparently you are overestimating yourself, you doesn't sound like a Beijinger or any other Chinese, you sound like 老外 from the very beginning )) nevertheless, your vocabulary and grammar are much better than your pronunciation, just like it is for the majority of advanced Chinese learners. I've seen plenty of foreigners speaking Chinese at your level, but very few, speaking like native speakers. I wouldn't mind paying some money for the book about their experience... After seeing that video, I was motivated to download your ebook! On the contrary, I was not )) Quote
Shelley Posted October 31, 2015 at 05:01 PM Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 05:01 PM @Video Vocabulary how good is your chinese? Can we see any videos of you speaking chinese? 2 Quote
Flickserve Posted October 31, 2015 at 06:41 PM Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 06:41 PM I did email for the book but rather surprised at its brevity - it was a one page pdf IIRC, I did see Video Vocab's speaking before. It was on the forum. I would be rather happy if I could ever reach either zhouhauchen's or video Vocab's mastery of Mandarin. Of course, I would have a different accent to both of them! Quote
Shelley Posted October 31, 2015 at 08:31 PM Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 08:31 PM One page? The version I looked at had 47 pages, must be some mistake. Quote
Video Vocabulary Posted October 31, 2015 at 11:31 PM Report Posted October 31, 2015 at 11:31 PM @Video Vocabulary how good is your chinese? Can we see any videos of you speaking chinese? Well, I doesn't sound like native speaker as well )) But in my company we've got some foreigners speaking like native speakers, so I know it is possible and I'm working on my pronunciation to get closer to their level... I've posted some of my videos on this forum a couple of month ago, might record new ones soon... Quote
Flickserve Posted November 1, 2015 at 06:56 AM Report Posted November 1, 2015 at 06:56 AM One page? The version I looked at had 47 pages, must be some mistake.OK, one page of pdf and then 10 tips to be more accurate. Quote
zhouhaochen Posted November 1, 2015 at 04:08 PM Author Report Posted November 1, 2015 at 04:08 PM @flickserve, you must have been sent something else by mistake. It is indeed 47 pages long. It can be downloaded here or could you please email me on andreas@livethelanguage.cn and I can send you the correct copy? @Video I have not spoken to myself on the phone, so I do not really know, but was trying to describe what happens when I pick up the phone in Chinese. However I wouldn't find it surprising if someone would sound native during the first few sentences of a phone conversation (most of the most likely sentences that are the speaker is very familiar with) and then have an accent afterwards. Many Chinese certainly have trouble differentiating between a foreigner and someone from another province (who might very well be a learner of Chinese too). So not sure where your statement comes from. Anyways, lets try to keep the discussion to the Ebook instead of who has what kind of accent? The Ebook is aimed at people who are beginner to intermediate level and want to achieve fluency. 1 Quote
ChTTay Posted November 2, 2015 at 02:13 AM Report Posted November 2, 2015 at 02:13 AM Having met Zhouhaochen a couple of times, the impression I got of his Chinese was that it's excellent. Certainly it's a level of fluency I'm not sure i'll achieve. Even if, from one video two years ago, you have some doubts about Zhouhaochen's level, it was mentioned that they are just one contributor to this ebook. But in my company we've got some foreigners speaking like native speakers ... Videos or It isn't true!!! 1 Quote
Flickserve Posted November 2, 2015 at 05:16 AM Report Posted November 2, 2015 at 05:16 AM @zhouhaochen, Thanks for the resend. I received the whole book. Quote
zhouhaochen Posted November 2, 2015 at 12:05 PM Author Report Posted November 2, 2015 at 12:05 PM @Flickserve A good that it got through. Enjoy and 好好学习 Quote
Video Vocabulary Posted November 2, 2015 at 01:10 PM Report Posted November 2, 2015 at 01:10 PM Have read the book, looks quite attractive, and the content is simple and clear, tips are very useful for the beginners. One suggestion, why not to make it a video book, as British Council is doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-uYzReetEI Pretty similar to what you guys were trying to do, but video information is easier to digest and memorise. PS: Being a certified HSK examiner is really something to be proud of for a white folk, haven't seen one before, my respect )) Quote
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