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Mandarin Chinese Resources | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| nj24 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4668 days ago 56 posts - 106 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, French | Message 1 of 21 07 December 2013 at 10:24pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I have been studying Spanish for the past two years or so and have finally decided that it is time to start learning
a new language in 2014. I have already begun dabbling a little in Mandarin over the past two months, but I want to have a serious study plan for this coming year. I am interested in learning to both speak and read Mandarin and am looking for the best self-study resources. I used Pimsleur when first learning Spanish and have access through my local library to the Pimsleur Mandarin course. Any opinions on this course? I also love the FSI Spanish Basic Course (am just about to finish the last volume), and I have begun working through the FSI Mandarin course (so far just the pronunciation sections). If you've used FSI Mandarin, do you have recommendations for how to use this course? And what would be useful complementary programs? Recently I heard about the John DeFrancis Mandarin course and that sounded really promising, especially since all of the audio is available online. Has anyone used this course or the Chinese readers (they teach traditional Chinese characters)? My library has a copy of the Beginning Chinese textbook with pinyin. Is this a useful textbook to work through or is it better to do FSI and just use the readers? I also came across the Growing up with Chinese course from CCTV, and it looks like it may be similar to the Destinos course I had used during my early days of learning Spanish. If anyone has recommendations for other video courses like this, that would be great. What I am looking for are in-depth, comprehensive courses and other supplemental resources like podcasts, video courses, etc. Thanks for your help! Edited by nj24 on 09 December 2013 at 11:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| tlanguell Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4044 days ago 24 posts - 54 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Vietnamese | Message 2 of 21 08 December 2013 at 4:54am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I used MT, FSI and ChinesePod to learn Mandarin. FSI has some outdated scripts like
ordering movie tickets from a Party office and sending telegraphs but helped me with its Resource Modules like classroom expressions and food and travel vocab. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4694 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian | Message 3 of 21 08 December 2013 at 7:33am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I am really enjoying MT (Michel Thomas) as well and find it to be a great introduction to the language. I am also using Pimsleur, Teach Yourself, and Practice Makes Perfect's "Interactive Beginning Chinese".
Additionally, I have found Chinesepod101 podcasts to be fun to listen to and very helpful. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Ninibo Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 4021 days ago 88 posts - 116 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 21 08 December 2013 at 9:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I really liked the New Pracical Chinese Reader, I think it gives you quite a good base to go on to readers.
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| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6090 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 5 of 21 08 December 2013 at 10:41am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I'm really enjoying Assimil "Chinese With Ease". There are two books: the first has lessons 1-49 and the second 50-106. You will learn 800 characters and there's a supplementary book for learning and writing them but I don't have it. I can write out the characters using stroke order guide-websites like Arch Chinese. The downside to Assimil is that the whole program + the book for writing is very expensive but it's also the most comprehensive program for self-study that I can think of. With Assimil, you can avoid buying 4-5 different books with different vocabularies and different methods. As for how far it takes you, Assimil boasts to take you all the way to B1 but I'm not sure about that. It's very hard to apply CEFR levels to Mandarin. I would estimate it will take you as far as A2, which is somewhere between HSK 3 and HSK 4, or the old HSK 3. I think that would be the equivalent of 2 years of classroom study. Not bad.
In addition to ChinesePod, there's PopUp Chinese I've read that ChinesePod is good for slang and everyday expressions, whereas PopUp focusses mostly on preparing for the individual HSK exams. I read that at Chinese-Forums.com, another excellent ressource for recommendations and advice. There are a lot more learners than here. Once you master some vocabulary, you can try the Chinese Breeze series. Unlike some beginning readers like Susan You Mafan, the Chinese Breeze readers come with MP3 CDs and there are individual levels based on how many words you know. Level 1 is 300 characters, for example. I have one of the level-1 readers in my bookshelf, but the vocabulary doesn't correspond to what I'm learning with Assmil (I'm only on lesson 27) so I have to be patient and wait. ;) Edit: I'm not a tablet-learner, but if you like using a tablet then I've read that Skritter is the best online website and app for practicing the characters. That's all I can think of for the moment! Edited by Sunja on 08 December 2013 at 10:56am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| nj24 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4668 days ago 56 posts - 106 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, French | Message 6 of 21 09 December 2013 at 6:26pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Thanks for all of the recommendations!
I definitely know what you mean about outdated scripts. That came up a bit with the FSI Spanish course, but I was using so many other resources that it didn't bother me too much. How have you used the FSI course? Do you try to memorize the dialogues word for word? I have not really looked past the pronunciation modules yet.
My library has a copy of the Michel Thomas tapes. I will take a look at them. I've always hesitated with using MT because I've heard that it doesn't feature native speakers? Is that true? Have you found this a drawback with the Mandarin tapes? Feel free to add your opinion too, tlanguell. Do you recommend buying a subscription to Chinesepod101?
Thanks, Ninibo! I'll see if my library has a copy I can take a look at.
Wow, this Assimil course sounds very good and might be just what I'm looking for. I might wait and see how I do with the free courses first, though. As you said, it is a bit of money to spend, and I don't really like to spend money on a language until I've gotten to a more advanced beginner/intermediate level. What level would you say the first book takes you to? Do you think someone could jump in with the second book without a problem if they'd been working with other courses?
Thanks for these. I'll take a look at PopUp Chinese. I have been looking for a solid podcast, though it doesn't seem there are as many quality free ones as those I have been able to use with Spanish. Yes, I've stumbled across Chinese Forums when searching for Chinese resources on the internet. I've been thinking about joining. Again, thanks for all your help! Edited by nj24 on 09 December 2013 at 6:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4694 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian | Message 7 of 21 09 December 2013 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Actually, since MT Mandarin was created after Michel Thomas' death, in addition to the 2 students and the narrator, there IS a native speaker who follows up every sentence with the correct native pronunciation. It is quite nice. As for Chinesepod101, try out a few podcasts and see for yourself if you like the format. If so, then I definitely recommend a subscription. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6090 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 8 of 21 09 December 2013 at 7:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
That's a good question because I've been wondering if I would pass the HSK 3 (total 621 characters) after the first book, but I don't think my vocabulary would be enough to pass the reading part. I'm positive that HSK 1 and 2 are covered with the first book but I doubt that -all- the characters of the HSK 3 are covered.
Assimil covers the basics like every other language program but I'd be worried, because not every language program blends in seamlessly with the next. If you jump in from using another program there might be vocabulary and grammar gaps. If you can find the 2nd Assimil book cheaper on e-bay then yes, but if you're paying the full price I'd say it's not worth the risk. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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