Numbers are so hard. They are probably hardest part in a language.
Chinese numbers are really logical and easy to learn, but it's not easy to recognize them when listening to a speech, especially "5" and "10".
To overcome numbers really needs persistence and practice.

Study brings us so much joy when we are totally absorbed in it, when we are forgetting all other things that are not related to it, when we are laughing happily at our progress.

But this happy paradise can also turn into hell when we are totally absorbed in it, when we are forgetting all other things that are not related to it, when we are laughing happily at our progress, because, in the gloomy distance, we know we have enlist us to be a slave of its mercy.

The easiest way to kill a passion of learning Chinese is to do it too much and for too long. Our brain is just not wired this way. If a student goes to Chinese class for 4 hours every day and for three months consecutively , that probably translates into eight hours study every day and a very tired and unproductive student at the end of the third month. Still, people consider that is brave, hard working and with stamina. There is definitely something wrong.

My recent observation about class notes is that they are to the point of totally useless. I like to take notes during the class. And then I seldom, if ever, go back and check them. Most of the time, I give myself console of being a good student because I take notes quite diligently. The biggest function of my class notes is that they are there. For a lot of people who are learning Chinese, it is quite true that they never review their notes. They may have vocabulary cards they go back often, but practically nothing else.

Recently I made an effort of reviewing my old notes. Then the real reason dawned on me. Notes are boring. It's in a fragmented and chaotic manner. Therefore it really is fine not to take them too seriously. However, I am not so sure if I can ever dispense this habit. Probably I really should.

Listener's forum. If you follow my podcast, this definitely helps.

http://zaiyici.blogspot.com/

april

Can you forget everything you have learned in five weeks? Maybe not everything, but one student showed she nearly did.

The good news is that things came back to her quickly once she got back to her studying routine.

In case like this we understand a studying routine is so important.

april
www.mslmaster.com

I learned a few phrases Hindi and I found them so useful in India. I suppose the few phrases I uttered now and then brought out the best qualities of common Indian people.

And it is also true that if you repeat something for many times, it became natural for you.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Babies are often observed of having amazing linguistic ability. It's sheer because of their repetition ability. Russell wrote about his daughter: At the age of eighteen months, when supposed to be sleeping, she was overhead saying to herself: "Last year I used to dive off the diving-board, I did."

Obviously, the whole sentence doesn't mean anything to her.

When we are learning as an adult, we still need this stage. The more important is the next stage: put known words and structures into a sentence which carries the meaning you intend it to. That requires a lot of power and manipulation.

Online Dictionary

Online dictionaries are wonderful things. I find I am using them more and more. They made self study a lot easier.

So far I find that online dictionaries are very good for word to word. The only short coming is that they don't provide a lot of examples like traditional dictionaries do. But that probably will change in the near future. For sentence to sentence translation, they are not very useful. Neither are the traditional ones in that aspect. Human brains are the best for that job.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Grammar

Grammar is important, but it doesn't exist without language. The best way to practice grammar is to write essays and to have conversations.

I have seen people who are so absolved into grammar books, and forget that to study grammar is to make writing beautiful and speech clear.

april
www.mslmaster.com

The Weakest Link in Communication

There are so many forms of mis-communication. I think the worse one is that people don't listen. When it comes to using a second language to communicate, a terrible mistake is that people pretend they understand.

Listen and understand, which in Chinese is only one word 听懂, hold as the weakest link. And it is so easy to break.

april
www.mslmaster.com

How To Improve Reading Chinese

There is a secret in improving your reading skills quickly. And that is to copy some texts constantly, over and over again.

You can fee you are getting better in a very short time, let's say, four weeks. You can tell by reading the subtitles on TV or movies, or reading the next article, etc.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Children Stories

Are children stories good for beginners? I think they are good only if the beginners are children!

There many people who are frustrated because it's hard for them to find any suitable reading materials in Chinese. Often the books which includes pinyin are children story books. However, I find that what qualifies a story as a children story is only the content, not the grammar. It is actually quite hard for a beginner student (who is a grown up) to read a children story.

An alternative way, perhaps, is to read all different kind of textbooks as extra reading materials.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Accents

In linguistics, accent refers only to pronunciation, while dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary as well.

Nowadays, accents are quite standardized. It is impossible to speak without an accent. In most languages, the majority of accents are reginonal. And people's first language characteristics will have an impact on their second language. In the end, people carry all different kinds of accents.

I believe that all accents are equal. So, for me and for all the people who are learning Chinese, it doesn't matter whether you carry a Taiwan accent or Bejing accent.  There should not be too much fuss about how you pronounce a certain word, or whether you have that 'r' sound or not.

Moreover, there are the newscasters of national TV. And they have traditionally been regarded as carrying "official" accent, that is, the accent that is considered to be standard and neutral. And that will make our accents fluid and ever changing.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Connections

It's always useful to find connections among words, and that also helps to remember them. For example: 酒 jiu,

we can have 酒店, 酒吧, 喝酒, 啤酒, 葡萄酒, and later on can extend to 喝醉了, 睡觉, 喜欢, 不喜欢, 生日, etc. Memorizing all these words in a theme makes it easier.

Then try to make a sentence with each word in your list. The last step would be use your sentences in your conversations with your teacher or friends.

april
www.mslmaster.com

If you want to walk well, maybe you should start to run!

Many things are required a step further, like walking. It seems simple enough. But I observed that who can walk well, also runs. The strong legs which give a light, easy walking steps are actually built through running.

The same thing goes to language learning, probably especially true with Chinese characters.

If you want to read well, you should practice writing. I have met so many people who only want to recognize the characters, and think they can develop a reading ability. This is really as far fetched as you can get. If you don't write, you can't read.

Make a habit of writing for one or two hours every day!

april
www.mslmaster.com

What lies behinde a language

Why do people learn a new language when they can speak one perfectly well? The answer may carry some very practical causes, such as doing business, or pleasing your spouse. But fundamentally I think learning a new language is to unlock a closed mind.

We can be so used to one language. We listen to, we read and we communicate everything in one language. And that language creates something we feel familiar with, like food, certain type of TV programs, etc. And we don't even realize that people who speak other languages can be very different and can represent a whole set of new ideas.

So when we are learning a new language, we become receptive towards a different kind of food, different kind of music, different kind of books and customs. And therefore help us to open up and take a took at the world at large. That's probably the most beneficial thing one can get by learning a new language.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Quick Fix

"I want it, and I want it now!"
I always get this impression from all aspects of life. And the media always gives re-enforcement through all kinds of channels.

For example, I see things like these every day:

- Loose 10 pounds in two weeks!
- Improve your memory in 2 hours!
- With these pills, you can get stronger bones and joints in 1 week!
And of course,
- Speak fluent Chinese in 15 minutes a day!

I have come to realization that, most of the time, quick fixes are seriously flawed, short lived, and most seriously, often carry some terrible consequences. The real result and satisfaction often come from slowness and persistence.

april
www.mslmaster.com

The Meaning of "International"

I was told by a friend who recently went to China and had a nightmare. One of them was a language problem.

She went to Kun Ming and at the service counter of Kun Ming's international airport, she couldn't find anyone spoke English. And thus the conclusion is: how can this be international airport???

I guess if a Chinese person goes to a major city in US or UK or Australia, he wouldn't demand anybody at the service counter there, however cosmopolitan or international that city can be, to speak Chinese.

The real meaning of "international" is English.

april
www.mslmaster.com

Setbacks

Last Sunday I was told a classical story on why a person can fail in learning a language.

This gentle man tried to learn Cantonese for about two to three months. And one day he went to a shop and tried to use his Cantonese to get things he wanted. But it appeared that the shop assistant didn't understand him at all. Similar things happened a couple of more times and he was totally discouraged. And he stopped learning. Now he only remembers a couple of words and never take the initiative again.

I don't think anybody can avoid this kind of situation, especially at the early stage. The sad thing is that this situation can put people to a stop.

The best thing to do is: be aware of this type of setback and be prepared, and know that if you continue you will pass this stage very soon.

april
www.mslmaster.com