Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6516 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German
| Message 17 of 22 15 January 2012 at 8:27pm | IP Logged |
Personally I prefer concentrating on only one method at a time. Others are at most supplementary. Usually I don't even look at other courses. When I find something gets boring, I drop it and if I'm still into the language, I try to find
another course.
If you're using ChinesePod, you might find some use for my ChinesePod method.
Edited by Ari on 15 January 2012 at 8:28pm
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mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5160 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese
| Message 18 of 22 15 January 2012 at 8:45pm | IP Logged |
The main problem with most methods/courses is that they overemphasize one aspect of language learning over the others. This is often a reaction to that aspect not being given sufficient focus (to the producer's taste) in other courses, which should best be addressed by adding that focus instead of replacing what works somewhere else. But I digress.
Unless your language needs are really biased (for example, in dire need to speak and no interest in reading) you want to keep a natural balance between aural/written, grammar/vocabulary, etc. Since the perfect method isn't here yet, that means using at least two courses/methods. This may seem distracting but it need not be if you can find materials with similar contents, as the different approaches will complement each other.
This should be helpful to learn any language and not just Mandarin. With such a complex writing system, though, it's probably a good idea to stay a bit heavy on the reading side. But again, balance according to your needs.
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Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5893 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin
| Message 19 of 22 15 January 2012 at 9:26pm | IP Logged |
JayR9 wrote:
I am looking for a site where I can find the words/phrases for what I learn on Pimsleur so I can add them on Anki. I am trying to find them with their characters and audio aswel so I have them all as I learn. |
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Check out http://www.nciku.com/. The Nciku site is oriented toward simplified and also takes traditional characters. Also take a look at http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/chinese-dictionary.php .
Good luck!
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JayR9 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4634 days ago 155 posts - 162 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 20 of 22 15 January 2012 at 10:14pm | IP Logged |
Thanks Ari, I looked at that earlier and Its helped me with Anki. Thank you.
mrwarper thanks for your post and yeah I am Interested In all aspects of the language so I am trying to find a suitable balance between them.
Thanks aswel Snowflake, I have bookmarked them both for future.
All the best to you all.
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atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4635 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese
| Message 21 of 22 17 January 2012 at 5:04pm | IP Logged |
Yes, I always put audio if possible, in both ANKI and BYKI. ANKI already has several pre-made decks containing Japanese dubbed audio (the Core sets for example contain links to packs of audio you can them import).
If you look at how to use Rikaisama (a special version of Rikaichan/kun made by a member of the forums over at kanji.koohii.com), you'll be able to find a function to download audio files for each individual word you hover your mouse over, on key press. That's awesome, too, because you can internalize the intonation along with pronunciation, kanji and the word itself.
P.S.: Don't bother with Pimsleur word lists. All they use is so common, you'll find it all over the place again. Pimsleur is designed to teach you those words anyways, if you patiently do the course as intended (1 lesson each day, at roughly the same time).
Edited by atama warui on 17 January 2012 at 5:06pm
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JayR9 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4634 days ago 155 posts - 162 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 22 of 22 17 January 2012 at 7:48pm | IP Logged |
Thank you atama warui I will check It out and hopefully start adding audio to my word list. Thakfully I have not got a huge word list yet as I am adding them In as I come across a new one so If I can work this then It should'nt take me too long.
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