newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 105 of 141 15 December 2012 at 6:23am | IP Logged |
Heading to Taipei tomorrow. We decided at the ~very~ last minute, yesterday, to get away for a few days. I haven't been anywhere Chinese-only since last year, also Taipei, and I am excited to see how I manage! Plus, the Taiwanese are really friendly and love children so it should be fun time.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 106 of 141 24 December 2012 at 4:25pm | IP Logged |
So I'm back in Singapore. Taipei was a nice break, particularly since the weather was cool. Our first full day there we spent at the zoo, something we could never do in Singapore because of the heat. Taipei is also a lot less crowded and simple things like finding seating with the kids is easy whereas in Singapore it is a constant headache. Anyways, language wise I got in a little practice, mostly saying some sentences here and there and learning some new words. It's good enough for me for now. I still don't feel any pressure to talk. I guess I am really doing an extended version of leosmith's listening phase, 5 years plus. My son was a different story. He started speaking much more Mandarin by the end of the trip than he usually does in Singapore.
I am just about done with chapter 16 of TYS Beginner's Chinese. I think the book is generally well written and organized. My number one problem with it is that there are many dialogs that aren't recorded, particularly in the second half of the book when the dialogs are longer. To me, that is a game stopper since my primary goal is to become better at understanding conversations. I just don't see the point of reading these dialogs in pinyin so I skip them.
Anyways, will hopefully finish soon and then will move on to something else.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 107 of 141 14 January 2013 at 5:54am | IP Logged |
Finished with TYS Beginners Chinese. I have mixed thoughts about whether I should have started it in the first place. At least now I can tick it off the mental list of the unused books sitting on my shelf.
Not sure what book I will use next. I have a few to choose from.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 108 of 141 16 January 2013 at 2:42am | IP Logged |
I decided to continue with Pimsleur. Now on lesson 6 of Vol II.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 109 of 141 23 January 2013 at 6:33am | IP Logged |
I've finished lesson 10. I am finding the time to respond to the prompts really really short, in a absolute sense and also compared to Volume I. I often pause the recording so I don't have to rush the pronunciation.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 110 of 141 30 January 2013 at 8:26am | IP Logged |
Finished lesson 15 today.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 111 of 141 09 February 2013 at 4:12pm | IP Logged |
Finished lesson 20 today. I have also been listening to the audio for a course called Chinese for Beginners. It is suprisingly good and extremely cheap. I will say more about it when I work through it more seriously. For now, I listen to the audio when I have a few extra minutes but haven't read the book at all yet.
Edited by newyorkeric on 09 February 2013 at 4:13pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6379 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 112 of 141 16 February 2013 at 5:16pm | IP Logged |
Finished lesson 25 today.
1 person has voted this message useful
|