Comprehension Mastery. Steps

[Sreeni]

How to read comprehension and understand completely.

steps to follow? Any other suggestions?

 

1. Read and underline the words which you do not know the meaning

2. Learn all the meanings

3. Understand

 

Sample Comprehension. 

 

现代人用各种手段减轻或取代必要的劳力活动。过去，出门总是要走，许多路，而现在人们有了各种各样的代步工具，走路的机会就自然少了。或许是这个原因，国际马拉松赛的冠军通常来自交通不太发达的国家。以前要学习新的知识，都得阅读大量的书报，进行辛苦的分析与思考。现在只要有部手机，学会上网，就可以获取大量的信息，轻松解答心中的疑惑，不需要再纹尽脑汁。不过，面对排山倒海而来的信息，很多人沉浸其中，不懂得如何取舍，最终患上“信息肥胖症”。过去上战场之前，士兵要练功夫，练习阵法，战法，现在的军事训练则越来越多采用高科技手段。过去嬰儿都是母乳喂养的，现在，很大程度上，母乳已被各种添加剂合成的嬰儿配方奶粉替代了。进步是巨大的，但与此同时，科学技术正逐渐取代人的思考，努力与付出。然而，我们的辛勤付出，往往带着人类独有的情感。当人们掌握了一个又一个先进的技术后，人类与生俱来的能力与情感，会不会逐漸消失？在阿拉伯民间故事《一千零一夜》中，残暴的国王听了女孩拉莎德的故事后，受到感动，改邪归正，不再随意杀人。如如果拉莎德不是亲自给国王讲故事，而是用手机播放故事，还能感动国王吗？毫无疑问，科学技术在很多方面可以造福人类。但是，人们应该有自己的底线：腿应该能够奔跑与跳跃;胳膊应该能够推举重物;手指应该能够精工细作;头脑应该善于学习，思索和想象;尤其是心，应该能够爱人，能够付出与奉献。

in first attempt you did not understand, how you improve?

[Woodford]

This was my thought process as I attempted to understand it (for context, my character recognition level is about 4500, and my word recognition level is 15,000+):

 

1. I started reading and immediately had to look up 代步 with my dictionary tool.
2. Was a little mystified at first by 出门总是要走, interpreting 走 as "go." But in this context, it specifically means "walk on foot."

3. "以前要学习新的知识..." -- This sentence is fairly easy, but as an English speaker, I can sometimes get a little confused when Chinese omits the subject of a sentence. It takes me an extra second or two to find out what's going on (i.e., who is doing the action).

3. I encountered 纹尽脑汁 and didn't quite know what purpose 纹 serves here. 尽脑汁 is somewhat more common, and I think it means "think really hard."

4. 取舍 is a new compound for me. I've seen both 取 and 舍 separately, but not as one word. But now it makes sense! Yes-- "accept or reject." This happens a lot with me. I know all these different words, but they're often combined into an endless amount of compound words, and sometimes I can guess the meaning, but sometimes I can't.

5. 配方 is also a new compound word for me. I had to use the dictionary again.

6. I really struggled with this: "往往带着人类独有的情感。" It looks like "often has humankind's exclusive feeling." Huh?

7. The meaning of the above (#6) seems to be clarified by this next sentence: 当人们掌握了一个又一个先进的技术后，人类与生俱来的能力与情感，会不会逐漸消失？ So now I think this "人类独有的情感" refers to the feeling of being human. Human nature and human feeling are in danger of being replaced by technology.

8. 改邪归正 - I've never seen this chengyu before, but it seems to make sense: "change evil to good." So can I guess its meaning: "turn over a new leaf" or "become good." That meaning is reinforced by 不再随意杀人, which comes right after it. This person will no longer do evil things.

9. 精工细作 made me pause for a second. I think that since 精 and 细 refer to something fine, delicate, or elaborate, it must refer to fine/delicate/elaborate work done by the fingers. 

10. In the last line, I'm still not sure what 复人 means. "Return to a person?"

I think perfect comprehension might come with more long-term practice. I try to read a lot of different books, and if I don't understand something, I try to think about it for a minute, and even if I can't figure it out, I just keep moving on. I figure it will be more productive to just read a lot of material, rather than spending a lot of time trying to figure out an odd phrase. As time goes on and I get more advanced, I may actually want to invest more time in figuring out those odd phrases. But I think I currently get the most benefit from just ignoring them.

[Sreeni]

On 3/4/2021 at 2:52 AM, Woodford said:

10. In the last line, I'm still not sure what 复人 means. "Return to a person?"

Apologies  it is 爱人 in last line. Have edited in the main post.

 

On 3/4/2021 at 2:52 AM, Woodford said:

(for context, my character recognition level is about 4500, and my word recognition level is 15,000+)

hearing first time by character and word count, but is exactly how to tell current Chinese Level I think
 

When learning vocabulary how you grouped them? By character or radical ?

 

regarding notes you use to write in book and anki and combination or just anki, one deck or multiple decks?  
 

Could you please advise lessons learnt or best practices in remembering and not confusing with other words? Thank you very much for patiently reading and giving point wise break-up.

[骏马的丕沿?]

If, in the first attempt, you do not understand, then just re-read it. Use a dictionary if you must. Making annotations can be good, especially if you aim to refer back to it later. It's ultimately down to personal preference.

 

[Woodford]

As far as vocabulary is concerned, I've just been using the SRS flashcard function on my Pleco iPhone app (I think I bought it for $9.99 USD). When I see a word I don't know (and I can't guess the meaning), I make it into a flashcard and study it. So for the above example, I would have made flashcards for  代步, 取舍, and 配方.

 

I use a really simple SRS algorithm. If I keep guessing a card correctly, I don't see it again for another 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 days, etc. Every time I get it wrong, that time cuts in half (64, 32, 16, 8 days, etc.). That's it! Right now, I have 15,500 cards, and some of them are spaced out as far as 512 days. I don't pressure myself too hard to remember everything--I just let the SRS algorithm do its work.

[Sreeni]

On 3/7/2021 at 10:13 AM, Woodford said:

I don't pressure myself too hard to remember everything--I just let the SRS algorithm do its work.

 

I like your slow and steady approach with Context. I am using Anki flash cards, and set a target to add 5 new cards per day. For reviewing the cards we can set 10,20, 50, 100, 500 as no of cards per review.  What is your preferred set of cards per review? 
 

On 3/6/2021 at 10:52 PM, 骏马的丕沿? said:

Making annotations can be good, especially if you aim to refer back to it later

 

Annotations is a good idea, when I can not recognise the word during review, I am adding notes. Thanks

[Woodford]

Nowadays, I have around 200 cards to review every day (I just review all the cards that are scheduled to be reviewed for the day, until they're all finished). Formerly, the amount of cards I added to my deck could greatly vary, depending on what book I was reading. Sometimes, I would read only a few pages from a difficult book, and I would find 50 or 60 new words. Of course, that's a crazy high amount. I think my worst day ever was when I had about 380 flashcards to review. These days, I only add about 5-10 new words--my vocabulary is larger, so I encounter new words less often.

 

Starting in February 2019, I studied the list of 5000 HSK words, using four different tests (writing, listening, reading, speaking). I introduced 14 new words a day, so that I could finish them within a year. I don't necessarily recommend doing that (word lists can be overrated), although it did benefit me somewhat. Because I finished adding all 5000 words over a year ago (and have no more new words to add), my review time is getting smaller and smaller (maybe about 15 minutes a day, at least for the HSK words).

[Sreeni]

Next Comprehension. @Woodford and others please help read and post your experience. Thanks

这不是一颗流星。

室內体育馆里，无数双眼睛注视着正中间的圆形舞台。马戏团的另一个节目“戏熊”就要开始了。

一头黑熊，腰里系着红围裙，右前爪上挂着篮子，挺着身子一担一摆地走了出来，那慈态立刻引起一阵哄笑。

我五岁的儿子小波突然站了起来，嚷道：“妈妈，熊！“是的，熊。

”我平静地应答，同时感到有些奇怪/他每年都不止一次到动物國玩，经常看到熊的呀，怎么会如此兴奋？

“妈妈，”他大声地嚷，“这头熊能不能把它的皮给我们？

周围的观众都转过头来，论异地望着他。我低声命令他：“坐好，不许大喊大叫！

“妈妈，我想给阿婆做厚厚的皮手套。”孩子望着我，天真无邪的眼睛犹如夜空中闪亮的星星。

我的心猛然一震，紧紧地抱住小波，泪眼中浮现出阿婆的那只手。

阿婆是我们家的老保姆。小波出生前，她就从乡下来到了我们家。为了一家人的饮食起居，她每天都忙前忙后的。半年前，阿婆突然中风，一连几天昏迷不醒。可是有一天，她那只没有瘫瘓的右手似乎总想伸出来。看着她那只顫抖的手，我不禁心潮起伏：她老人家每天为我们料理家务，不辞辛劳。此时此刻，她是想模摸孩子的脸蛋家晒洗好的衣服，还是想再一次提起菜篮？

小波和阿婆好像有感应似的，那一天，小波嗲墜墜地跑到阿婆的床头，用小手托摸那张满是皱纹的脸，连声叫着：“阿婆，阿婆！”没想到，阿婆被小波那稚气的声音唤醒了，长长地叹了一口气。也难怪，阿婆疼爱小波，小波也很喜欢阿婆，两人总是形影不离的。突然，阿婆使劲地张了张嘴，发出微弱的声音：“小———波——”

“阿婆，阿婆，你不要怕打针…”阿婆的手吃力地伸过来抓住了小波的手。小波看到了阿婆红肿的，生着冻疮的手背。有一次，顽皮的小波提起开水壶，眼看水壶就要翻下来，阿婆一把挡住了它，手却被溢出的开水烫伤了。从此，一到冬天，她的手背就要生冻疮。

小波把嘴凑到阿婆的耳边，轻声说道：“阿婆，爸爸昨天说，只要戴上厚厚的皮手套，手就不会生冻疮了。我长大了给你买。”听到这话，阿婆紧握住小波的手，然后慢慢地，无力地松开了......

黑熊还在表演，体育馆里一片欢笑声。我抹去眼泪，深深地叹了一口气，对小波说：“孩子，阿婆再也不会回来了。你的皮手套，她戴不到了!”

“那我昨天怎么还梦见阿婆呢？”孩子不解地望着我。

我想跟他讲梦的原理，想跟他说人死不能复生，可我什么也没说，泪眼朦胧中只见他那星星般的眼睛在闪烁。我原以为，孩子天真的念头会像流星一样转瞬即逝。现在我オ明白，这念头源自一颗真诚，纯洁的心，它是不会像流星一般消失无踪的。

 

[Sreeni]

I noticed the word, 一头黑熊, why 一头? One head of bear? Why not one bear?

[somethingfunny]

頭 is measure word for certain animals.  It gets used the same way in English - farmers refer to “head of cattle”.  Someone must have copied someone else.

[Sreeni]

too many measure words is another burden for Chinese learning, I think

 

https://www.digmandarin.com/chinese-measure-words

[Sreeni]

On 3/21/2021 at 11:29 AM, Sreeni said:

我的心猛然一震，紧紧地抱住小波，泪眼中浮现出阿婆的那只手。

猛然 měngrán suddenly; same as 突然 tūrán? 
 

can I assume 猛然 měngrán ferociously, as 猛 is ferocious?

 

Can translate “我的心猛然一震” => “my heart shook ferociously” ?