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Snowflake’s Mandarin Log

  Tags: Mandarin
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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 161 of 740
10 September 2009 at 3:17am | IP Logged 
Found my copies of the Hesig and Tuttle books.... I've decided to tackle simplified characters using Heisig's book and his method. Eg learn the keyword, the story and be able to produce the character. I'm not going to immediately be concerned about learning the Mandarin pronunciation and tone. This is what I understand AJATT also does for learning characters. Some forum goers are probably cringing at the idea. Given what I've gone through so far, it can't be any worse. This time I am trying Anki...hope it does not misbehave like the other SRSs I've used in the past.

Edited by Snowflake on 10 September 2009 at 5:54am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 162 of 740
13 September 2009 at 6:35am | IP Logged 
酒窝, jiu3 wo1 = dimple...was told that there is a general idea/saying that people with dimples can drink without being affected by the alcohol.

房地产, fang2 di4 chan3 = real estate

经纪人, jing1 ji4 ren2 = dictionary has broker; middleman; agent; manager ....was told this is a broker or agent

吃的惯吗? chi1 de5 guan4 ma5? = accustomed to eating this kind of food?

I'm finding Anki annoying though it probably is the set up of the software and PC. Certain characters will not correctly display and are "converted" to something else. My other laptop behaves a little differently with the same characters...converts them though does that in different software programs.
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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 163 of 740
14 September 2009 at 5:45am | IP Logged 
Was playing a game where everyone was to talk about their 最喜欢的水果/ 最喜歡的水果 (zui4 xi3 huan5 de shui3 guo3, most liked fruit). One person answered 糖果 (tang2 guo3, candy) which had everyone roaring with laughter.

As native speakers explain words, I am starting to get a sense of why AJATT wants people to learn the characters first, apart from context. The idea is roughly formed right now...will probably post later when my thoughts are clearer.



Edited by Snowflake on 17 September 2009 at 5:26am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 164 of 740
17 September 2009 at 5:25am | IP Logged 
Was talking to my mother yesterday. Beforehand I thought about needed to to be conveyed, in Mandarin. But the last time I used Mandarin with her, she did not understand....unsure if the problem was the quality of my Mandarin, her Mandarin listening comprehension or both.   Anyhow, it took a bit to mentally switch to Toishanese....basically had to force myself.   And during the actual conversation, I slipped into Mandarin pronunication though with Toishanese tones. Sigh

Edited by Snowflake on 17 September 2009 at 5:28am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 165 of 740
20 September 2009 at 7:55pm | IP Logged 
From discussion in my Chinese school class
上网看新闻/上網看新聞 shang4wang3 kan4 xin1wen2 = read internet news

My Chinese school class instructor thinks I have the Southern difficulty with the pinyin zh, ch, sh and r sounds. I'm unsure if it's that or that my pinyin is weak. I do a lot better with Yale romanisation.

Edited by Snowflake on 10 October 2009 at 7:18am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 166 of 740
27 September 2009 at 2:53am | IP Logged 
I am mentally and physically fried from working so many hours. This week I did no character work and am also not getting enough sleep. I'm still listening and understand more of my audios. Hooray for that. My class instructor has loaned me the intermediate text book. She is encouraging me to go through it and ask questions as needed. Hooray for something else. I'm going to try to force myself to work through FSI. I tend to automatic respond in English and that needs to be "broken". FSI should be good for that.

Per my instructor, the Pinyin g sound is ALWAYS from the back of the mouth. When I do that, it's more from my throat.

Edited by Snowflake on 27 September 2009 at 2:58am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 167 of 740
05 October 2009 at 6:01am | IP Logged 
Another week of working tons of hours.   I got out the Pinyin CD that came with my class text and have been repeating the sounds. The CD also practices the different sounds using the 4 tones. Practicing while driving seems to work well. There are some sounds which I have problems distinguishing. Maybe my instructor is right about having some difficulties due to growing up with Toishanese. Anyhow, my throat hurts from working the g sound at the back of the mouth. I'm also trying to remember curling the tongue for u and making that sound in the front of the mouth (don't confuse with ü). This is in addition to trying to remember the curled tongue and slight drawn mouth on x. I tend to forget to try to roll my r's. I'm pretty consistent with correctly pronouncing ü. I am also consistently mispronuncing my surname, in Mandarin. I tend to use the Toishanese pronunciation with the Mandarin tone or else I say something quite different.

Also, happy mid-autumn festival everyone!


Edited by Snowflake on 05 October 2009 at 6:02am

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Snowflake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5957 days ago

1032 posts - 1233 votes 
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 168 of 740
07 October 2009 at 4:13am | IP Logged 
装电脑 zhuang1 dian4 nao3 = put together/install hardware

胖 pang4= fat; plump (neutral connotation)
肥 fei2= fat (negative connotation, as in fat like a pig)


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