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Midlife Mom’s Mandarin Log: TAC Team 唐 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
 Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5116 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 41 of 149 05 February 2011 at 12:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, Whitefish. I'm sure the more audio input, the better the tones . . . although I am definitely finding that a
critical native teacher is very helpful as well. I am amazed by how extremely she wants us to say our 4th tone . . . but I think it's good to over-emphasize it rather than sliding over it, at least as a beginner. By the way, my daughter and I are enjoying that cartoon you talked about . . . what's it called . . . wolf and lamb something? Thanks for the tip! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5116 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 42 of 149 05 February 2011 at 12:55am | IP Logged | ||
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Goals for this week--Friday, Feb. 4th through Friday, Feb. 11:
Review vocabulary from chapter 1-5 of Integrated Chinese, making sure I know the tones Read through dialogues and grammar explanations from chapters 1-5 of Integrated Chinese Do Pimsleur through Phase 2, Lesson 20--that's listening to each of four lessons twice, 1/2 hour per day Do SRS vocab 15-30 minutes per day Type out two Assimil dialogues (rest of lesson 33 and one more), read and listen repeatedly (8-10X per day) I got the idea of setting goals when reading through the Dutch Challenge Log on this forum. Sometimes I feel sort of vague about this whole self-study business. Deciding just what I want to accomplish for the week may help. On the other hand, sometimes setting goals can backfire on me--I feel like it's too much pressure and no fun. So we'll see how this turns out! The reviewing of five chapters in Integrated Chinese is because we have a test in my class. It's pretty useful to go back through and pick up the dialogues, vocabulary, and grammar explanations again. I do forget a lot, but it comes back quickly and should set me up well for doing the second half of the book this semester. So that's the plan! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6372 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 43 of 149 05 February 2011 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | ||
I definitely know how you feel. I am constantly asking myself if there is a better way because Mandarin is so difficult to get your head around and so slow-going. As for Assimil, very early on I gave up trying to do a lesson a day as it was clearly impossible for me. I have finally moved onto volume II but not before listening to volume I probably hundreds of time. I also tended to study it for a while and burn out and then return to it after a break. So far from the recommended usage. But I think one of the great things about Assimil is that it is easy to adapt to whatever your study lifestyle is as long as you don't get too caught up in sticking to a schedule. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5116 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 44 of 149 05 February 2011 at 5:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Eric, thanks for posting. Your post prompted me to read your log, and I see that we're in similar situations--busy
with work and family matters, yet trying to learn Mandarin in limited time. I am so glad to hear that someone else struggles with Assimil. I love the material; having the very colloquial dialogues, both characters and pinyin, and the exact English translation--as well as audio--is exactly what I need, and I find the grammar explanations helpful because they're on a "when you need it" basis. However, on the down side . . . just as you say, Mandarin is so difficult to get your head around. As I've gotten up into the upper 20th and the 30-something lessons, the Assimil dialogues are just bulging with vocabulary, new syntax, and complicated word orders. So just listening and studying one of these lessons for 20-30 minutes is not nearly enough for me. I've been studying lesson 33 for several days now, and it's only starting to sink in. Still not sure whether to go backward or forward after this . . . 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5116 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 45 of 149 06 February 2011 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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A sort-of success:
At a Chinese restaurant last night, our server mentioned she was from Shanghai, at which point I asked her (in Mandarin) if she spoke Mandarin. She responded by excitedly speaking rapid Chinese which I couldn't understand at all! When she realized I couldn't understand (the words to say that escaped me), she translated into English and then told me my Mandarin was very good. Now, she may have just been being polite, but the fact that she understood and spoke back rapidly was encouraging!. Later, I asked her for chopsticks in Mandarin and she understood that as well, and answered, and I understood her. You have to understand that I rarely meet Chinese people and even more rarely summon the courage to speak to them; I think this is only my third time of doing so in six months of study. But each time, it's hugely exciting to speak and be understood. And motivating: I now have to go remind myself of more sentences and vocabulary I could use in a similar conversation, in order to extend it. Another success: my Americanized and very picky daughter tried wonton soup and lo mein noodles, and ate a bunch of rice. This suggests she can survive China without starving. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6287 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin | Message 46 of 149 06 February 2011 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's excellent! Nothing like actually trying out the language live and in person to see if you've made any progress.
Setting weekly goals seems like a good plan; happy to see you are still working hard on Mandarin. You'll get such a kick out of being able to use what you've learned this summer. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jaynie Senior Member Denmark Joined 5903 days ago 51 posts - 62 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish, Latin | Message 47 of 149 06 February 2011 at 2:48pm | IP Logged | ||
Li Fei, This made me giggle. This summer, I will be moving my picky-eater child from the USA to Denmark, and I too am hoping that he will not starve there :) Edited by Jaynie on 28 December 2014 at 8:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5116 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 48 of 149 07 February 2011 at 3:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, Jimbo--my opportunities to practice my language must seem laughably small to you. How goes the
Cantonese? Are you practicing? Jaynie: good to know someone else has a picky kid. It should be interesting to see how your son adjusts to Danish food. I'm sure he won't starve! Maybe both of our children will become less picky--I hope so. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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