newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 25 of 141 10 July 2010 at 4:15am | IP Logged |
I've reviewed lessons 15 - 21 of Chinese with Ease and lessons 3 - 4 of Pimsleur. I don't seem to have as many difficulties with tones this time around. I'm trying to be uber careful about remembering and pronouncing tones after reading many people's regrets about not paying attention to them seriously until much later and suffering for it.
Edited by newyorkeric on 11 July 2010 at 3:27pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 26 of 141 12 July 2010 at 5:41pm | IP Logged |
I've worked through lesson 7 of Pimsleur. Pimsleur has been easier than I expected up to this point. I've caught mandarin sore throat though and will have to cut out Pimsleur for a couple of days and stick with Assimil until I feel better.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 27 of 141 16 July 2010 at 6:32am | IP Logged |
I've finished lessons 8 and 9 in Pimsleur and reviewed lesson 22 and 23 in Assimil. So far I'm quite happy using Assimil passively and Pimsleur actively. There's even been some overlap in the vocabulary. E.g., gēn shéi yìqǐ has shown up in both courses in the last couple of lessons.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Hobbema Senior Member United States Joined 5685 days ago 541 posts - 575 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Portuguese, French, Dutch
| Message 28 of 141 16 July 2010 at 2:09pm | IP Logged |
newyorkeric wrote:
I've finished lessons 8 and 9 in Pimsleur and reviewed lesson 22 and 23 in Assimil. So far I'm quite happy using Assimil passively and Pimsleur actively. There's even been some overlap in the vocabulary. E.g., gēn shéi yìqǐ has shown up in both courses in the last couple of lessons. |
|
|
Just a quick question on the Pimsleur because I'm curious. In using Pimsleur with western languages, I find I have to repeat a lesson 2-3 times to get familiar with the material. A couple of years ago, I checked out the Mandarin course out of curiosity, and after a couple of repetitions on lesson 1 I was still completely lost. So I'm wondering about your study method with Pimsleur, if you do several repetitions, or if you can combine with written materials, or maybe if you just find the method straightforward enough as it is.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 29 of 141 17 July 2010 at 7:30am | IP Logged |
I haven't had to repeat any lessons, yet. But I do make use of a transcript to learn any new words before doing a lesson. I also practice the new words during the day to get the pronunciation and tones right. This seems to help a lot.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 30 of 141 25 July 2010 at 3:51pm | IP Logged |
I just finished lesson 28 of Assimil. The last couple of lessons have gotten a lot harder. There is a lot more vocabulary and the speed has picked up. It's still nothing close to real conversational speed, though. Here is when you know you have a million miles to go. I was watching a cartoon this morning in Mandarin with Mandarin subtitles, and I still can't always hear even the easiest words like I, you, go, etc. It's going to be a long road.
Edited by newyorkeric on 25 July 2010 at 3:52pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6323 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 31 of 141 07 August 2010 at 8:13am | IP Logged |
It's been a long time since my last update. I've been plugging away though and have completed lessons 29 - 35 of Assimil and lessons 10 - 15 of Pimsleur.
I've definitely experiencing some Mandarin fatigue where I need a break every once in a while (usually I'll pick up one of the Harry Potters in Italian when I feel this way). But I feel like I'm progressing and I've hit a mini-milestone. I've always said to myself that I wouldn't buy the second volume of Chinese with Ease until I have finished lesson 35 of volume 1. Now I've done it and it feels pretty good knowing volume 2 is on the way!
1 person has voted this message useful
|
jasoninchina Senior Member China Joined 5175 days ago 221 posts - 306 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Italian
| Message 32 of 141 19 August 2010 at 5:03pm | IP Logged |
I just wanted to give you a few words of encouragement. Studying Mandarin has been a long road for me as well, but it's a great feeling to reach those milestones. Keep up the good work and don't let another 3 years pass by between posts.
1 person has voted this message useful
|