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What to study after Assimil Chinese? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| dmarman Bilingual Triglot Newbie Spain Joined 4334 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan*, English Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 1 of 5 19 September 2012 at 7:26pm | IP Logged |
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Hello everybody!
I've been looking for this answer in the forum, but I couldn't find it! I'll finish Assimil Mandarin within 2 weeks and I don't know what to study after. In other words, I'm just searching for a good intermediate course. I've been glancing through "similar" resources but I don't know which one to choose nor which one is the optimal one. I like TYS and Colloquial series and I've seen that Colloquial has part 2 for Mandarin. Should I do Colloquial part 1 & 2 or jump straight to part 2? or to take TYS, Colloquial 1 & 2? Any suggestion is welcome! Thanks ! Edited by dmarman on 19 September 2012 at 7:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6457 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 2 of 5 19 September 2012 at 7:52pm | IP Logged |
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Well, they do have a course for learning to write the characters (L'ecriture chinois or something..). On the other
hand, the Colloquial series are popular and they are the material that is used in two major Swedish Universities as an introduction to Mandarin Chinese (for some reason – there are Swedish books for Mandarin Chinese) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| dmarman Bilingual Triglot Newbie Spain Joined 4334 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan*, English Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 3 of 5 20 September 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged |
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I also have the course for learning how to write the characters, but there is no new
content inside. I found also a book called Intermediate Chinese by Yong Ho that looks ok. Somebody has used this book? I've looking deeper at TYS and Colloquial courses and I think Colloquial 1 is covered by the Assimil course but Colloquial 2 isn't. About TYS I think the last chapters hat higher levels than Assimil. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4964 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 4 of 5 20 September 2012 at 6:48pm | IP Logged |
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If you can read French, try Méthode 90 if you feel comfortable about going to a pre-intermediate level or Langues Pour Tous 0- Parler chinois en 40 leçons if you want to review. I don't know of similar resources in English, but I'd try to avoid TY or Colloquial at this stage. You could try Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. I can't explain but I learn Chinese way better from French than from English sources.
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| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 4881 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 5 21 September 2012 at 3:26am | IP Logged |
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Now you're probably ready to start using readers. This will help you to revise what you already know, and to grow your vocabulary (the key to fluent Mandarin).
In my opinion, the most important points at this stage of learning are: Regular Contact: Come face to face with Mandarin every day, even if only for a 10-15 minutes (but more is better, and spread out through the day is best of all). Revision: Make a habit of going back to Assimil from time to time and listening to the dialogues. And as you progress, keep going back as well as forward. Repetitio mater memoriae (and of understanding, too, I'd add.) SRS: If you don't already use an SRS, I recomend it. Especially now that you're finishing Assimil and will be diversifying your L2 sources. Your SRS will act like a hub. Check out other posts here at HTLAL, and elsewhere online for more information on which SRS to use, and the different ways you can use it. Enjoyment: Don't let learning be just another chore. Pick things you want to read/watch/listen to. If something becomes boring, move onto something else. Your aim is to learn Mandarin -- everything else is negotiable. Comprehension: Some people like to dive into real-life texts and struggle through till they understand it all. Not me. I think it's better to find materials just above your comprehension level. If I can't understand most of a story (say, 85-90%), then I find something easier. (however, I will still listen to recordings, audiobooks, films, and so on, even when I can't understand most of it, to get used to it, and to remind myself of what I'm aiming for. It's just I don't 'study' these yet.) As for materials, there are now many good resources for learning Mandarin. Here are a few that I think might suit you at your level. Chinese Breeze Series: A series of readers organised by different language levels. Start with the lowest level (which should be mostly comprehensible, if you have finished Assimil) and go from there. The lower levels are really good for re-enforcing what you already know. But you'll still learn new words. The books come with recordings. (Example) Graded Chinese Readers: There are three readers in this series. Book III is first in reading order (apparently it was an afterthought when publishing.) Each book contains short stories from well-known Chinese writers, altered for learners. Each book comes with recordings. (Book I)(Book II)(Book III) Streetwise Mandarin Chinese: This book focuses on colloquial language, like you would hear between two native speakers (not like the more formal language of a textbook, which still needs to be learnt, but must be balanced with the spoken language.) Each lesson has dialogues, notes, and vocabulary. This book comes with recordings. (Here) Happy China Series: I have only two of these so far, but I like them. They were originally aired on CCTV in China, who formed a partnership with the Beijing Language and Culture University Press to publish them in book form. Each episode is under 10 minutes longs, with about 15 episodes per book. Each book focuses on a particular spot in China. The presenters are fun, and introduce the viewer to interesting facts and places. The books give scripts of the episodes, as well as notes and exercises. Each books comes with the relevant episodes on DVD. (Not on Amazon. I bought my first book in China. But the second I bought on Ebay. So you can shop around and find it if you want to.) There are other really good resources, but I fear I've said too much already. Check these out, and see how you go. Good luck! [Edited for punctuation] Edited by pfn123 on 21 September 2012 at 3:33am 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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