Recent articles about how to learn Mandarin Page 37
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The three roads to mastering Chinese
Mastering a foreign language is a daunting task, especially a language as foreign as Chinese! In this article, I outline three possible roads that all lead towards mastery. They have in common that we really need to make Chinese an important and integrated part of our lives, because that’s the only way we can spend the time we need to really get to know the language.
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How to Approach Chinese Grammar
In this article John Pasden discusses how to approach Chinese grammar as a foreigner, starting by debunking a few myths and then going on to how to actually learn grammar. Chinese is a language where you can very far with just a few basic concepts and patterns, so make the most of what you learn and try to use it immediately. Then extend your knowledge gradually and return to old patterns for a more detailed look later when you actually need to. Grammar learning should be driven by an actual need for better ways of expressing yourself or understanding what people say to you!
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Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #2
The second milestone in the 2014 sensible character learning challenge has now been reached! This is a good opportunity to join the challenge if you haven’t already, and if you have, it’s time to report how the five weeks have gone. This article also contains information about prizes (character posters, free extensions and more) for the second milestone, as well as my own reflections of my character learning.
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Handwriting Chinese characters: The minimum requirements
This is a guide to handwriting Chinese characters. It’s not about writing beautifully, but writing correctly, including things like stroke placement, length and direction. There are numerous examples of handwritten characters (real examples, not typed characters) along with practical exercises to see if you have grasped the core ideas. The article goes somewhat beyond the bare minimum for beginners, but is certainly a must for anyone who cares about handwriting Chinese characters.
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Learn to read Chinese… with ease?
Can you learn to read Chinese with ease? ShaoLan, among others, claims that you can. However, these arguments involve a lot of cherry-picking and are mostly exaggerated.
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The grand listening cycle: Improve your Chinese listening ability
Learning to understand spoken Chinese is mostly a matter of practice and I’ve found that having fixed and regular routines helps a lot. This article introduces the grand listening cycle, which contains almost everything you want when it comes to listening ability. It’s a method I’ve used extensively to improve my own listening comprehension and it has helped me immensely.
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Three ways to improve the way you review Chinese characters
In this article, I discuss three things you can do to improve the way you review characters, mainly focusing on avoiding rote learning, time quality and making sure your study method really prepares you for what you want to use your Chinese for. The article also contains a video about how to improve your character reviewing with Skritter!
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Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #1
The first milestone in the 2014 sensible character learning challenge has now been reached! This is a good opportunity to join the challenge if you haven’t already, and if you have, it’s time to report how the first few weeks have gone. This article also contains information about prizes (character posters, free extensions and promo codes) for the first milestone, as well as my own reflections of my character learning.
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Why good feedback matters and how to get it
Teachers give feedback in many different ways, some terribly bad, others very good. The bad ones let you struggle for hours just to correct your essay, not necessarily learning much on the way. The good ones not only allow you to correct your essay, you also feel that you’re learning a lot and won’t make the same mistakes again. This article sets down some guidelines for how to give good feedback, useful for both students and teachers.
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Improving Foreign Language Pronunciation: Interview with Hacking Chinese on Language is Culture
This is a 70-minute interview with me done by David Mansaray of Language is Culture. In the interview, we talk mainly about learning how to pronounce a foreign language as an adult. I share some of my own knowledge, thoughts and opinions and there’s probably something for everyone in this interview. Listen to it directly or download it to your phone for later listening!
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