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Getting started with Pimsleur Mandarin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| jraglin Newbie United States Joined 4259 days ago 17 posts - 17 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 1 of 7 08 September 2012 at 12:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hi all,
This is my first time on this forum,in fact it is my first time on any Language Forum. I apologize if there are already hundreds of these topics floating around, but I am new to browsing this forum and figured creating my own would be a good start. I am starting Pimsleur Mandarin this weekend and was wondering if anyone had some tips for supplemental exercises? I plan on beginning with speech and eventually beginning writing when I feel more comfortable. I also have a friend who will be studying concurrently and we are planning on writing out a plan of attack so we can track our goals. Right now I just wanted to know whether I should be doing anything else on top of my Pimsleur exercises? Also if anyone has links to any blogs from individuals who began using Pimsleur Mandarin and have become decently fluent that would be extremely helpful. Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5581 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 2 of 7 08 September 2012 at 1:29am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'd have a brief look at certain sounds that sound similar to English speakers (such as
"q" and "ch", or "x" and "sh" and learn to differentiate them here, in order to ensure that you can hear them when you start Pimsleur (which is all audio). 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 6942 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes Studies: Uzbek | Message 3 of 7 08 September 2012 at 1:38am | IP Logged | |||||
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I would do a search for "Chinese Companion l", which is a book-length guide to the first level of the Mandarin course, and includes transcripts, characters, etc., and can be downloaded at various places...
3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5757 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 7 08 September 2012 at 2:00am | IP Logged | |||||
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Referring to people who started with Pimsleur Mandarin, take a look at irrationale's log on this forum. The FSI material he mentions is at
http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Chinese . I highly recommend looking at the Pronunciation and Romanization pieces very soon. Good luck! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5060 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 5 of 7 08 September 2012 at 2:09am | IP Logged | |||||
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Welcome to the forum, @jraglin! I recommend a "multi-track" approach involving more than one resource. Pimsleur's primary focus is on audio. It's pluses are the "graduated interval recall system", where you are "forced" to come up with a response on previously covered material and the imitation of the native speakers. For a tonal language like Mandarin, I could see it as being useful in developing good speech habits. Downsides are: focus on business related vocabulary, use of English prompts, lack of a transcript and a limited number of words taught. If Pimsleur were your only resource this could be problematic.
You should find something that helps with reading, grammar and writing as well. A good combination is usually found with using something a little more in-depth like FSI Standard Chinese (Mandarin) Course or DLI Mandarin Basic Course. Both courses are free and legal to download- your US taxpayer's dollars at work! Either one would complement your studies with Pimsleur quite well. Several people here on the forum have done what you are doing. In my opinion, the best way to search the forum is to use the "G search" feature. Here is the link to the results I got by typing Pimsleur Mandarin. Opinion is divided. Some people love it. Some are bored with it. Some are neutral. It can also be useful to search the logs of other learners here from the beginning. What works for someone else may not work for you and what someone else finds "boring" and tedious may be the just the thing for you. At the end of the day, you have to find what works best for you and only you will know that. Best of luck! Edited by iguanamon on 08 September 2012 at 2:12am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5581 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 6 of 7 08 September 2012 at 4:32am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks for this. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jraglin Newbie United States Joined 4259 days ago 17 posts - 17 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 7 08 September 2012 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
Wow thank you so much for this, I will be printing this out and keeping it by me. I feel that writing out the Pinyin may become useful in remembering the pronunciation of each word.
Thanks for these, has anyone else here had experience with FSI while using the Pimsleur method? I have also read good things about Assimil. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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