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Beginner Mandarin Chinese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5696 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 1 of 17 21 August 2011 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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What software/website do you use for your Chinese course?
I come into contact with many speakers of Asian languages in my work, and I think it would be helpful to learn some Mandarin. I currently have access to Mango languages through my library. It is solely text based and audio based - listening, reading and repeating. There are presently no printable materials to study offline. It is however a very good way to get started in a language. Do you use a software package or an online learning platform? Which do you prefer? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6357 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 17 21 August 2011 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I really liked Speak Mandarin Chinese Michel Thomas Beginners (8-CD)
It's not without its faults, but it's a very good start to learning Mandarin tones and some basic grammar structures. You can move on to other courses from there. Read all of the Amazon reviews. (Speaking only, no reading/writing. And...you...will..be...speak...ing...like...this, but I still like it a lot as a first course) People like Assimil Chinese Vols. 1 & 2, which I did a few lessons from and liked it. (Be sure to get the book PLUS CDs versions, watch out for book-only.) Also, people seem to like Living Language Ultimate Chinese, which I hear requires a lot of work. I have this "orange" version, and plan to start it soon. Ultimate Mandarin Chinese Finally, you could get started right now, and legally absolutely free, by doing the online FSI course: FSI Mandarin Modular Course 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5696 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 3 of 17 21 August 2011 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | ||
I have used a bit of Michel Thomas in German, and I actually really enjoyed it. I have never used Assimil before, so I have no experience with that program but I am interested in checking it out. Living Language I love - I have that in Spanish, Arabic and Italian and I like the structure of the book. Their format clicks with my learning style. The FSI courses, are they text based only? I have never tried that course either. What I am struggling with right now is basic pronunciation. I wonder if Pimsleur might be good for beginner Mandarin? I do like a course that has materials that you can use offline (such as Living Language), i.e. flashcards, vocabulary lists, etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6850 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 4 of 17 23 August 2011 at 11:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I would absolutely recommend using FSI at first to learn pronunciation. I haven't seen a better way to learn pronunciation. Spend a few days to a week on it, or more if you need, and your pronunciation will be standard enough for you not to have to worry about it for a while. The same certainly can't be said about Pimsleur or any other method I know. After that, Assimil is certainly a good option for the spoken language. I'm not sure about their book for writing because I didn't buy it (I could already read everything in that books 1 and 2 before I bought them).
You'll certainly need more, though. New Practical Chinese Reader is good, as are many of the other popular university textbooks. The series written by Chih-ping Chou et al and published by Princeton are quite good for intermediate and advanced students. Use Anki or another flash card program, but don't rely too heavily on it. You need to get out and use the language. There's a whole world of difference between getting flash cards correct and interacting in the real world (and I'm just coming to really appreciate this since moving to Taiwan recently). 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| xiongshi7 Newbie United States Joined 4941 days ago 21 posts - 25 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 17 23 August 2011 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have the fluenz program and it's ok. One of the things that I didn't like about it
though was the fact it didn't introduce any hanzi, which IMHO is essential to understanding Mandarin. However, it is, as I stated, ok for beginners. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nakul2891 Bilingual Pentaglot Newbie India Joined 5612 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Hindi*, Kannada*, Marathi, English, Sanskrit | Message 6 of 17 26 August 2011 at 12:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I read in a newspaper, they said ChinesePOD is good.
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 7 of 17 26 August 2011 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I second the Michel Thomas course. It worked perfectly for me at a time that other Mandarin courses were
frustrating me. It's not perfect by any means but it got me over the hump. Edited by newyorkeric on 26 August 2011 at 1:15pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| learnvietnamese Diglot Groupie Singapore yourvietnamese.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4949 days ago 98 posts - 132 votes Speaks: Vietnamese*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 8 of 17 26 August 2011 at 4:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm using FSI for learning Mandarin as well. I've finished most of the lessons and looking back I fully recommend it.
(A caution, though, that it teaches through pinyin, not Chinese characters. So with it, you'll be able to speak and listen but not to write.) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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