If you learn a new word, learn that word in a sentence. I am using books called remembering traditional hanzi combined with anki on my tablet. Listen to Mandarin as Often as Possible. Immersion is nice, but it has its issues. The biggest help for me personally regarding tones was the colour coded characters as seen in Pleco's dictionary app and MDBG chinese reader. I would say it's akin to attempting to learn english without ever learning the alphabet by trying to remember the shapes of the words themselves. From this, I learn swaths of vocabulary all at once. Ah, now here's my question - how often should one go back and review? The best way to learn new words is from context. Close. I went to class barely 70% of the time and failed them anyways, but honestly I learned so much. This allows me to read books beyond my normal ability because as long as it is a .txt file, I can email it to myself, which allows me to access it online, which allows me to use the chrome app. This is a long-term process that you’ll almost certainly continue using for as long as you study Chinese. It's truly entertaining and a great way to learn the language. 12 By Nick Mandarin Chinese May 25, 2020. It's a chinese dictionary with a flashcard feature, very efficient, all-around awesome app. Basically learning words you read or hear while studying or just going about your life. Just like I did for the listening challenge (The 10 best free listening resource collections for learning Chinese), I’m going to try to offer some free resource collections you can use. Holy shit thank you for recommending this! Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up. Lastly, go to China. Fortunately, we live in an era where technology is now part of our daily life, and where Chinese-teaching materials can be found directly on our personal devices. I don’t hold up the way I learned as an example for others, though. Bonus: Anki decks are readily available. With the written language, break characters down and make associations with radicals, as you will be repeating them over and over. The parts are called radicals, just for reference. I generally follow the above steps with Chinesepod lessons, and I find I retain the vocab via flashcards (and I also pick out interesting sentences and make flashcards for them too), but a few weeks later I don't feel like the lesson has quite taken hold in my brain. Please post interesting links, language learning advice, or questions about the Chinese language. In this article, I summarise the best advice I have on how to learn Chinese characters. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Also, when I learned Chinese I used good old fashioned paper flashcards and handwriting worksheets to help me memorize. I read diverse Chinese texts (recipes, novels, newspapers, textbooks, traditional character texts and when I was worse at Chinese just simple newspaper articles or childrens book) everyday at least for like 30 minutes. Start out by focusing on listening. 2nd tone has the questioning emotion. Make Chinese Friends. But it builds up, so you learn all the pieces before you learn a character with them. Fast forward (now in China), listening to Chinesepod and chatting with your friends at EVERY opportunity, suddenly speaking and listening become easier. So this has helped me in other ways as well. If you can, learn sentences. As I am quite a 'visual' person, when thinking of a character I can better associate it with a colour than a small tone marker above a vowel. I have now collected almost 290 resources for learning Chinese, all sorted and tagged for … Personalized learning. Be in visual and audio contact with the language as much as possible, even if it's in the background. Although I took classes at a school it involved a lot of time and now as I continue to improve my Chinese I’ve come to rely on online tools. You will hit a plateau so do as the Chinese do and 默写 until you get them all right. Native pronunciation Access our specially designed video course "Say It Right (S.I.R)" entirely devoted towards teaching the correct pronunciation of the Chinese Mandarin Language. The way you learn Spanish is not the same way you learn Chinese. It's great getting you focused on pronunciation from the get go, and will get you to the point where you can have a very basic conversation. Let us give you some of our thoughts on the best way to learn Chinese. The first month or maybe two, just focus on listening. Taking advantage of digital sources of Chinese that pertain to your goals in learning Chinese will also give you an idea of which characters are necessary to learn in that 3,000 . This application is definitely worth a try if you want to learn Chinese while on-the-go, no matter if you’re just starting out or just want to improve your vocabulary and speaking skills. I think this is because in early days I would think the English word... Don't do that. I think it is amazing. e. Teaching English while living in China or Taiwan. For a more physical way of learning the character, I practice writing diary entries by hand. Finding time to learn Chinese can be really complicated, especially when you have to combine it with work, studies, leisure, and other things important to you. I am trying to learn Mandarin in both its written form and the spoken language. It's kinda long and convoluted, but it helps me to say and write it. Study every day. I am anti-rote memorization as well as flashcards as a primary basis for learning. Not only are they commonly used characters, but you can infer meanings from other characters that use the classifiers in them. Good luck! This is good for understanding chinese, but terrible for actually improving it. I use tofulearn.com. I play the audio, and make a pause after each sentence, then I try to write down the characters based on what I heard. learning to read/write traditional chinese when i speak canto already. Immersion + study + effort. I think there's also some research that could back this up. 76% Upvoted. I use Tuttle's book Learning Chinese Characters. So I thought I could introduce some effective ways to learn Chinese online. Maybe I've just become lazy? You can get up to a comfortable conversational level without ever touching characters at all. Hover over any word, and then it gives you the pin yin and the definition in English. The stories they teach no only teach the meaning of the character, but the pronunciation AND TONE while using the radicals/components in the story as well. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the ChineseLanguage community. I just can't speak them for the life of me. What I do is listen to the recordings. But I have attained scholarship level certification in my ability to read and write essays on a computer, as in recognizing over 3000 characters. Language needs to be learned in context, not isolation. Reading and writing go hand in hand, for me writing was always a thing of shame, as it used to look like a 4 year old's scribbling but as I practiced it became cleaner albeit mechanical and now I can write much better but still no where as good as a local, how did I improve? So some of it is trial and error to see what fits. It seems like learning both the oral and written form at the same time is a gargantuan task and i don't even know where to begin. To me it would be breaking down the "parts" of the character and understanding them. This is a community for people studying or teaching Chinese - or just interested in the language. New reading vocabulary words need to be seen on the pages in their surrounding paragraph environment, new spoken vocabulary words need to be explained simply by a mutual speaking partner. I try to write something in Chinese once a month which challenges me to learn new characters to express different thoughts or things in my writings. Doing a little bit every day. Everyone who has spent more than 3 years learning Chinese has at some point probably thought "why oh why didn't I just learn 3 characters a day from when I first started". Scream the Chinese word in your head and think of the thing in your head so loudly that it blocks out other thoughts. Another great place to learn Chinese through video and audio lessons, ChineseClass101 allows you to choose from a variety of “pathways” that have been created for your level. But, I recommend Practical Audio Visual Chinese (PAVC) series. The tree is growing, but you only notice after a long time. On top of that, try karaoke! Luckily with the advent of pinyin and pinyin typing, writing via computer is pretty much a combination of speaking and reading. Other than that, practice and exposure. Do it! Ultimately no matter which method you choose, what matters most is daily practice and your commitment to it. Would appreciate any tips on how to make an effective study habit. Start building your vocabulary by memorizing and saying out loud common words, like greetings and food names. If you want to learn Mandarin Chinese, start by practicing the 4 Mandarin tones, which are ways of changing your voice to say the same word in different ways to mean different things. You will cement bad habits unless you're corrected, which Chinese people tend not to do unless you explicitly ask. Living in China has greatly improved my overall Chinese skill. Do I put every word or character I'm trying to learn into flash cards? It's amazing. Does anyone know some good material to help me learn, particularly books, but also any other programs that would help. You try to learn speaking and listening but it is very slow and takes a LOT of effort. The languages are in the same family and aren't too far from English. In school we've been using Integrated Chinese. Failing that, emerse yourself as much as possible in every way (movies, using Mandarin at restaurants, have someone to speak with) along with traditional study methods seems to work well too. As for speaking, you just need to be in constant communication with a patient native speaker. Then they slap a "best way to learn Japanese" sticker on and sell it to new learners. The reason is pretty obvious. Spend 15 minutes (or more if you wish) every day practicing writing them. After all, there's a lot of them! Write a diary! And, like I said, it's definitely worth spending a couple months first with a conversational Chinese course before starting the characters. For example, 說 has the character 言 in it, so I know it has something to do with words/speech. Duolingo lessons adapt to your learning style. 6 comments. Don't let embarrassment of messing up or your frog-like voice prevent you from a fun evening out with a small group of friends at the local Chinese karaoke bar. Below I list each of these tips on how to learn Chinese which you may want to apply to your studies. It makes it a lot easier. It teaches you the first 800 characters. Then, as I write the characters, I tell a story. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the ChineseLanguage community. Sometimes I save the new characters I learn on pleco. You’ll be learning without even realising and it’s actually great fun. I think it's good to use any textbook with audio. My goal is to help you find a way of learning that works for you. I give each tone, sound, radical a meaning/emotion in my head. You can learn a lot by listening to popular Chinese songs. This presents learners with a readily available pool of people with whom to practice their language skills without even leaving their country. You should try to learn as many as you can and as much about them as you can. This is a community for people studying or teaching Chinese - or just interested in the language. Only then will you actually grasp the language as itself, rather than an intellectual chore. Learning Chinese through TV shows is not for the faint of heart—but it’s certainly fun when you have a good Chinese foundation. What I do, is I write the character repeatedly, saying how to pronounce it, and thinking of an image of what it is (but not thinking the English word). Press J to jump to the feed. But once you have the radical and component base down, you can create your own mnemonics to remember the characters as you progress in vocabulary. Let’s dive straight in. Therefore if you want to learn Chinese characters for Cantonese, the traditional system is by far the best option. Best way to learn Mandarin Chinese? Try learning to count to 10, which actually lets you count to 99 since number vocabulary in … learning to read/write traditional chinese when i speak canto already . Luckily, improving your listening … Is there any advantage of learning traditional chinese over simplified? Our introduction of Crown Levels earlier this year has provided many new opportunities for personalizing your learning journey, The last thing is to be consistent in how you learn. Nciku is good for sentences (although sometimes a bit complex for a beginner). hi everyone - so basically i can speak/understand cantonese fluently, but i don't know how to read/write. But as another person commented, it's very rare to handwrite characters these days, and my company (full disclosure, I work for Yoyo Chinese) actually treats typing Hanzi on the computer as a method for improving character recognition. Basically just make it part of your routine or your life and you'll succeed. Secondly, I would head over to FluentU and start watching those videos. (Of course you learn the map after you've asked enough pretty girls to 'help' you :). There's also little deduction tests to test your comprehension too. You can even click on a word to see how it’s used in other … When you go into a restaurant it's much easier to ask someone standing next to you what the best food is rather than read the menu. I have already written about many of these topics before, so this is meant to be a summary and an overview rather than a comprehensive discussion, which would be way too long. Home Mandarin Chinese The 25 Best Podcasts To Learn Chinese In 2020. Please post interesting links, language learning advice, or questions about the Chinese language. It's been a while since I regularly studied due to health, but I can still understand nealry as manay characters as I used to .. Converting a Spanish course into a French or Italian course wouldn't be that hard. Every new character you learn write it out 25 times then write it 10 more times in different sentences. Not just about your day or feelings but your plans for the future, maybe a movie you are waiting for or how you plan to celebrate a birthday etc. Vote. Posted by just now. Once you find a method of learning, stick to it. Thanks for your input! In this post, you'll discover how to learn kanji the right way in 6 easy steps. This is a brilliant way to expand your horizons, not just regarding the Chinese language, but the culture as well. One little tip that seems to be quite effective is to always have plenty of reading material to hand and some form of electronic dictionary. Once you learn how to learn using Chinese itself, your Chinese listening and speaking will take off, and you will find much less value in spending the time to memorize characters. share. The most effective way to learn Chinese characters is to FIRST learn a little bit of the spoken language. Living there is not enough. My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters. But I'm not sure whats the best arrangement to make sure that I'm learning both at the same time. Even if it is a pamphlet for the gym, a childrens' book, newspaper, whatever. Chinese; The best new way to learn a language. Ditto on the mnemonics. Mnemonics! I read business books in Chinese and played many, many geeky board games and card games in Chinese. I'm currently on a 2 hours of study per day routine, I started 2 months ago and I made more progress in those 2 months than in the past two years doing whatever other methods. When you're at the bus stop it's much easier to make a friend and ask directions at the same time than it is to read a map. Cookies help us deliver our Services. The absolute best way is to move to China and try to survive (so I hear). Audio tapes/cds are for all intents and purposes a sort of passive "reading." It takes longer to learn at first, but before I knew it I could even guess the meaning of characters that I've never seen before. If you're bored in class or have a boring moment, whip out your notebook and write some characters or words. This website is a great way to learn grammar without navigating through the hundreds of Chinese grammar books out there. Best way to learn Chinese. You have to put yourself in an environment where you have to constantly use what you have learned. The website picks out the most important grammatical structures as well, making it an efficient study guide on top of everything else. It's like watching a tree growing. Hopefully, over time the Chinese character system will go from alien to familiar, familiar to interesting, and finally interesting to passionate bordering on obsessive. If not, then feel free to give it a miss. Third, start learning the vocab you hear in the FluentU videos. If you don’t understand what people are saying, how are you going to communicate with anyone? report. However, as a beginner, this isn’t something you should worry about too much. 5 Best websites and APPs to learn Chinese online . The best way to learn Chinese from music videos is with FluentU. Your time frame should be many many years before you can become very proficient (and if you do it faster, good on you, but often it takes a long time). Sign up to my newsletter for a 7-day crash course in how to learn, as well as weekly ideas for how to improve your learning! Mandarin has it's own set of grammar rules, pronunciation, and other nuances. It is only at the intermediate and above stages that it will start to hinder your progress. Has anyone else had the same experience? I use it only on my phone whenever i have a few minutes to kill and so far I'm up to hsk 4. Because this post covers everything you need to know as a beginner, it’s quite long! By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Do your best to make learning Chinese part of your daily ritual. Never let a day go by when you haven't spent some time just reading. For reading, I would start by learning the radical and component system. The task is gargantuan, but after a few years, learning does speed up. The key is doing them every day. If you’re tired of flashcards and lists, vocabulary quizzes are a great way to test what you’ve learned and ensure you truly understand the meanings of English words. hide. I uninstalled the popup appI was using after a year and now I have to actually make an effort to remember and memorize the words I don't know. I use the Zhongwen Chinese-English Dictionary Chrome App. I'm basically back to the basics with written Chinese, but my speaking and listening are more advanced-intermediate now. FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. Learning to type is a great step towards building your episodic memory of Chinese characters, as typing is in Chinese relies on reading ability, and will help you get familiar with the characters. In order to make a good Mandarin course a language learning company really has to go the extra mile. Short of taking the trip overseas, signing up for a class is the next best thing. Failing that, emerse yourself as much as possible in every way (movies, using Mandarin at restaurants, have someone to speak with) along with traditional study methods seems to work well too. As you get a handle on pinyin and tones, it’s time to start learning Chinese words – lots of words. Learning kanji characters is one of the hardest parts of learning to speak Japanese. Improving your listening comprehension is one of the most important things you can do while learning Mandarin. You should also copy out sample texts (news articles, whatever) and then read them back to yourself. The most effective way to learn Chinese characters is to FIRST learn a little bit of the spoken language. I'm better at characters than I am speaking. Learning Chinese requires a lot of hard work, but if you stick with it and practice regularly, it’s an amazing tool that will become an invaluable part of your life. As a sidenote to the advice here, if you have an iPhone or Android device download "pleco." See how we do it. Rigorous, rote memorization and lots of studying (it's not so much your method that matters as much as the fact that you're putting in the time, effort and interest). The Ultimate Guide to Learning Chinese through TV Shows 4 Great Romance TV Shows to Learn Chinese 命中注定我爱你 This thread is archived. And when you make this kind of effort, the characters will be commited to memory much faster than if you were just writing them repeatedly over and over again. I second his opinion about putting characters on the back burner until you have a strong spoken base. Learning with Duolingo is fun and addictive. Writing characters as i learn and recall them has led to my recall rate being very much higher than before, when i was just learning from sight. In your studies, you will come across characters that you have been using for months, only to realize that you just haven't ever seen the word written out before. I've been learning and teaching Chinese for more than a decade. Our bite-sized lessons are effective, and we have proof that it works. I believe radicals are totally essential. Gamification poured into every lesson. Just read and look up a couple of words wherever you are, everyday. Press J to jump to the feed. I personally think practicing writing characters past the first two years is a waste unless you want to teach Chinese. Whether you’ve been using Duolingo for a little while or are just starting out, you might be asking yourself about what the best way to move through a Duolingo course is. The absolute best way is to move to China and try to survive (so I hear). **rachelrhythem - You're kind of amazing to make up all that on your own! Now that you’ve realized Chinese is not that hard you might be wondering where to start. Each pathway includes a variety of lessons intended to be completed in chronological order, giving you a clear roadmap and a great way to measure your progress. Every word of each video is carefully annotated with an in-context definition, image and multiple example sentences.