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Job related Mandarin 60 Day Project | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5715 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 48 29 October 2009 at 5:44am | IP Logged | ||
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A couple of weeks ago I got an idea to learn mandarin because on my job, we have tons of shoppers from all over the world, and so many speak mandarin, but none of our 16 or so employees speak mandarin and we're always wishing we had someone who did. Fast forward to my position being eliminated but my job kept me on in another position. However, none of us received a raise due to the economy and all of us still have the fear that we may be eliminated. Couple that with my schedule all the sudden getting very shitty and I decided that I would learn Mandarin and become more valued. :).
I was a little nervous because I understand Mandarin to be the hardest language to learn (well, next to Cantonese of course), and after years and years of struggling with Spanish without being able to fully get a grasp on it, but after learning a couple of words, now i feel like learning what I need to know will not be that hard. The understanding will be the most difficult part I think, but my plan is to work on it for 60 days and see where I get. 60 days sounds odd, i know, but it coincides with Christmas, which will be quite an unreal experience for us. lol. And another reason for a 60 day goal, is because I want to set a goal that is measurable and achievable, a time range that will encourage me to study mostly daily with an end in sight, as well as a nice benchmark to see how I am doing. So here goes. :). My goal is to be able to speak to mandarin speaking clients that have a hard time speaking and understanding English. My learning style: I'm not a hardcore language learner, like so many here, I plan to learn 2-3 words a day or I will forget them, and will use them to create helpful sentences. And I plan on learning the most necessary things first. So the journal won't be from someone who learns 25 words a day, that just doesn't work for me, and serves only to frustrate me. But in 60 days, and an avg. of 2.5 words a day gives me 150 words. Hmmm. Okay, I might have to push myself to do a few more, but 200+ words perfectly will be a very good and useful accomplishment for me. So here I will be checking in with what i'm learning, and how its coming along, and how well I am able to communicate with clients. Edited by paisley on 30 October 2009 at 5:54am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5715 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 2 of 48 29 October 2009 at 5:55am | IP Logged | ||
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So far (about 10 days in) with the 20-ish words I know, i can say:
"Can I help you" "do you have dry skin" "you have oily skin" "I recommend this one" "my name is" "nice to meet you" A few more words like: price, yes, no, buy, want...as well as numbers under 1,000 The products I know are: Cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, eye cream. (I work in cosmetics as you can see) And i know Pin yin, but still have to confirm the pronounciation after reading new words, I usually get it close to right. And I love speaking the mandarin words, it is so much. And it's even more fun to trip people out at work, mandarin speaking clients and co-workers find it hilarious, although co-workers are about to hit that point of a little irritated. lol. Edited by paisley on 31 October 2009 at 5:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5570 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 3 of 48 29 October 2009 at 6:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck with your studies! I think you will find that Mandarin is not as hard as people make it out to be. The grammar is quite simple and English-like. The tones can be difficult at the beginning, but you'll find that they're actually pretty distinct and with a little practice you'll be able to say them well enough to be understood. The characters are the trickiest part, but if you're just going to focus on speaking for now of course you don't have to worry about them. If you're serious about learning Mandarin well, though, you will have to learn them at some point.
I would highly recommend going to chinesepod.com and listening to their Newbie-level episodes (which are free). You listen to a short dialog three times, then they translate each sentence for you, then they break it down and explain all the words in the sentences, then you hear the dialog three more times. They're excellent for getting basic listening skills and learning the most commonly used words/phrases in conversational Mandarin. You don't even have to bother sitting down and memorizing things. Just listen to the dialogs and the explanations, and you will absorb a lot. Edited by Levi on 29 October 2009 at 6:43am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5989 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 4 of 48 29 October 2009 at 7:14am | IP Logged | ||
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Ya, if you're going to be doing lots of speaking right away, I agree with Levi that you should try and do as much listening as you can. I would even go as far as to make the (controversial) suggestion that if you have some time where you're busy doing something else, keep some headphones on with some sort of native mandarin audio, just as background noise (even if you understand none of it at first).
I've found that it accustoms me to the sound and rhythm of the language. You need to get used to people speaking at native speeds if you're going to understand what they're saying. It should also help your pronunciation drastically. For keeping all of the new phrases you learn, I recommend putting them into an SRS program like Anki because then it will remind you automatically so that you don't forget them. good luck! :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5715 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 5 of 48 29 October 2009 at 7:57am | IP Logged | ||
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Great, thanks guys. I just downloaded the anki program, looks useful, esp. since i can add audio. I've started adding cards.
Just registered at chinese pod, that will be good for the listening at first. Ooh, i'm already having so much fun there, thanks! And agree, the grammar is so much like English, way easier than the romance languages for me. :D. And i love the tones, a lot of fun. Excellent. Thanks. Edited by paisley on 29 October 2009 at 8:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5570 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 7 of 48 29 October 2009 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you are going to use Anki, definitely download the Pinyin Toolkit add-on. It has so many features for learning Chinese I don't even know where to begin.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5715 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 8 of 48 30 October 2009 at 4:15am | IP Logged | ||
Okay, installed, as well as the audio add-on. However, this program, however simple it appears, is difficult for me. Heck, i can't even add more cards to my existing deck! *sigh* let alone get it to make sounds. lol. i'll keep playing with it. I learned my 3 new words for the day: Like (and do not like), use and discount. :). Going to practice them ad nausuem tonight. I know for many here, that's nothing, but after struggling with Spanish for what seems like forever, i'm going to get every word down until i don't have to think for it, that it will just come out as needed. :). My Mandarin for clients struggling with English, can be very basic, clients will be happy to have someone who can communicate with them for their needs, even if only barely. :). Edited by paisley on 30 October 2009 at 5:43am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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