Have to think of words to learn?

[Strawberries513]

I was wondering if I was doing this all wrong.. you see.. I am at a basic/elementary level in Chinese, so I would say I know about 1500 words. But lately it seems that when I want to study or learn new words, I have to sit down and think about what word in English that I want to learn in Chinese!! Most of the time I cant think of anything. I know I'm not supposed to be doing it this way, but how should I find new words to learn?

Thanks for help

[roddy]

Do it by themes. 'Things I use in the kitchen'. 'Words to describe people'. 'Foods I like'.

[FSO]

I would recommend keeping a small notepad with you at all times. Then, when you find yourself wanting to say something you haven't yet learned (or that you have learned and forgotten), jot it down in English. Next time you see your teacher/tutor/bilingual friend, ask her or him, then write down the answer. Doing this, you will quickly build up vocabulary that is personally relevant, meaning that you will be less likely to forget it in the future.

[HashiriKata]

[when you find yourself wanting to say something you haven't yet learned (or that you have learned and forgotten), jot it down in English.] Next time you see your teacher/tutor/bilingual friend, ask her or him, then write down the answer.

This'd make the learner primarily dependent on others and you wouldn't go very far with this approach. What about thinking/ searching for yourself and only turn to others as the last resource or just for confirmation/ verification? The practical aspect of thinking/ searching the answer for yourself is that you'd remember it much, much better.

[chinesetools]

If you're thinking of taking the HSK someday, perhaps you could start on the level A and B HSK vocabulary. See this website at chinese-forums.com/vocabulary for a list.

[atitarev]

Do it by themes. 'Things I use in the kitchen'. 'Words to describe people'. 'Foods I like'.

I agree 100% with Roddy. I also learn new words this way and many language classes are structured using this method.

I also learn sometimes topics by heart. Stuff like describing my day, climate, geography, etc.

When reading something, you just the new words you came across, of course.

Inventing or thinking hard, which new words to learn is very often fruitless most of the time, IMHO but it makes sense when preparing a topic or before a meet-up.

Looking through some vocab lists are also a good idea, HSK or textbooks you use. But the words are out of context. It helps though, when doing it thoroughly, e.g. found a new word - look for usage example, use it in a couple of different sentences. That's why textbooks are best for this (new words are introduced in a context and with grammar explained) but you need to get them for your level, which is sometimes difficult.

[gato]

You probably should get a good textbook, like "New Practical Chinese Reader" or "Integrated Chinese." A good book should teach vocabulary that are useful and in a logical progression. It seems that both of these do.

See this thread for some reviews: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8420-new-practical-chinese-reader-vs-integrated-chinese&highlight=integrated+chinese

[kudra]

question: 1500 words = how many characters, ~ 600? Then you might be looking at 2nd year university books. In any case

for textbook suggestions see

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8091-texts-used-in-us-university-programs

[mr.stinky]

as a variation on themes, you need a set of words in context. think of it as situations,

and look up the possible vocabulary.

i.e. banking: last week i went to BofC to confirm that a wire transfer had arrived,

converted x amount from us$ to rmb, then withdrew a portion.

plumbing: the chain to the toilet flusher thingie (helps to know the english) snapped,

roommate removed the lid to manually activate the valve. oops! she dropped the ceramic

lid. now i gotta hit the plumbing supply shops for a replacement.

this beats studying the useless lists in the textbooks: like why do i need words for

lawyer, law firm, economics, representative, trade delegation, etc in first semester????

[kudra]

@ mr. stinky

You're out drinking with potential employers/clients whatever working to put together a deal, as luck would have it, to make bathroom fixtures in China to be shipped to the US. You think to yourself, "Boy! Am I glad I have ceramic toilet lid, and flusher thingy burned into long term memory instead of wasting time on words like trade rep, or law firm, economics, government policy, ..."

Just depends what your goals and interestes are....

I admit some embarassment that I had to learn(or relearn) lajitong (garbage can) in a class for parents/tots. Obviously living day to day in China affords the opportunity to pick up everyday vocab that is "useful". But I think there are also good reasons for learning and concentrating on the "high brow" or typical textbook stuff too, especially when studying somewhere, like Ohio in Strawberries513 case, where you are not immersed.

[Hero Doug]

I would recommend keeping a small notepad with you at all times. Then, when you find yourself wanting to say something you haven't yet learned (or that you have learned and forgotten), jot it down in English. Next time you see your teacher/tutor/bilingual friend, ask her or him, then write down the answer. Doing this, you will quickly build up vocabulary that is personally relevant, meaning that you will be less likely to forget it in the future.

I have to say I like this idea a lot, I'd just learn the word/phrases/sentences/etc at my own accord though.

[mr.stinky]

@ kudra

the point is to learn vocabulary you can use (for the immersed) or that is interesting (for

the, uh, dry?). what's the point of having first-semester students memorize words and

characters they'll just forget after the next test?

ok, i admit the toilet may have been a poor example. (but given the quality of plumbing

fixtures here, the vocab is needed almost on a monthly basis.)

[Aristotle]

I had an idea a while ago, that I have yet to try out (I'm doing Pimsleur and getting most of my vocab from that). Work on translating song lyrics you know. That way, you'll get a logical chain of words (i.e. sentances), which makes it easier to remember than just disconnected ones, and you'll already know the "story" in English, so it's no problem remembering what word is supposed to come next. When you get to a word you don't know, look it up. Then you could write the song down on a paper and repeat it until you know it by heart. Then you can just try to sing it for yourself when you need to repeat it.

For more advanced study, try to make the translation fit the melody/rhythm ("what other way can I say this to make it into four syllables?"). You'll not only get vocab practice, but might also encounter some interesting grammatical problems to solve. As an added benefit, songs are more easily remembered than texts without melodies, so you might be able to retain it better. And if you're really lucky, it'll get stuck in your head, so you'll repeat it a hundred times before lunch, involuntarily...

Maybe we should start a thread with song translations for people to work with. Anyone want to translate "I Like Big Butts" for me?

"Wo3 xi3huan1 da4 de... butts... he2 wo3 bu4 ke2yi3... lie" See, already two important and useful words I need to look up and learn.

Yes, my pinyin might be off (and I'm not sure about the da de construction), but I've only just finished Pimsleur 1, ok? They don't teach you pinyin there...

[kudra]

@ mr. stinky

what's the point of having first-semester students memorize words and

characters they'll just forget after the next test?

who would seriously advocate that? Any textbook worth it's salt will build and reinforce and review previously introduced vocab. I think many text book authors have this in mind and try to do this, albeit with varying degrees of success. The only 1st semester book I ever used was from the Huang and Stimson series which seemed to follow that model for material corresponding through 4 semesters. Of course not every word is reviewed in each chapter, but stuff definitely pops up again from earlier chapters.

As you were getting at, it must depend a lot if one is in China or not. If you are in the US, and fairly dry as you put it (good one ) then you've got some daily block of time to review and practice Chinese. Seems like a focussed curriculum say to get to the point of reading newspapers and understanding news podcasts won't have a lot (although some) room for spending time on mundane vocab.

The place where I get the "everyday" vocab is from watching episodes of Chinese Style Divorce for example. Then I can pause, and look up stuff if it seems interesting. Of couse watching CSD is probably not useful for 1st yr. students in the US.

I am skeptical that a text built around useful everyday vocab, even one that reinforced and reviewed in a systematic way, would keep the interest of high school or college freshman. Hower, that could just be my inner snob, filtered through my advanced age, coming through. geezer smiley>

[L-F-J]

Do it by themes. 'Things I use in the kitchen'. 'Words to describe people'. 'Foods I like'.

i have an awesome vocabulary book that already divides them like this, but how do you go about memorizing them and using them all once you get them? its kind of difficult to incorporate them all so as to commit them to memory....

[johnmck]

The place where I get the "everyday" vocab is from watching episodes of Chinese Style Divorce for example.

I am currently doing exactly the same thing and was just about to suggest this. I bought Chinese Style Divorce a while ago but only now am I able to watch it. You really need about 600 words under your belt if you want to avoid looking up every single word. Now I look up about one word every two sentences. It is slow but I am learning new vocab and the plot is excellent.

[heifeng]

I think that strawberries is a teen, so I dunno if Chinese style divorce is gonna be her ideal soap...

I would recommend, the (insert your own description here, but I'll use terribly addicting and more entertaining than I thought it would be...) Meteor Garden. Yes I admit it, I watched it. Twice.

If that's not your thing and you want something sappier and seemingly never ending, go for Aegean Sea" (Qingding Aiqinhai) I and II.

Consider them an investment in your Chinese education.

[L-F-J]

well, since we're naming them... sappy ones.

youtube has all episodes of 地下铁 in mandarin with chinese subtitles. "sound of colors" is the title its under.

that show was really good i thought. its one of those that'll make a man grab the tissue unless he's stonecold.

but for learning, it has lots of different voice types and speech rates. some people with deep voices, some high, some speak really fast, some more slowly. i learned a lot with it.

[DrZero]

You guys have sold me on Chinese Style Divorce. Where can I get it, and are there pinyin transcripts available?

I have a vocabulary of about 1,000 words ... do you think I should be able to get something out of this soap opera?

[roddy]

See here, particularly here to start with.

No transcripts available as far as I know. There is the book the show was based on.

Roddy