How to learn Chinese
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:27 am
How to learn Chinese is a frequently asked question. Occasionally, people would like to find a tutor to help them learn Chinese. Actually, in modern times with fast development of internet, online mandarin Chinese seems more efficient. In some cases, taking part in a face-to-face class could be inconvenient due to scheduling, traffics, safety, etc, especially for those kids who intend to learn Chinese for Children. Online mandarin Chinese avoids all these problems. Through internet, Native Chinese teachers can offer professional Chinese for Children and propose useful advice on how to learn Chinese. What’s more, online learning also offers convenience and flexibility.
We are now the only Chinese language service provider, the largest and best-known Chinese training school in the world. http://www.Sino-Center.org.)
We focus on teaching you what you need to know when you need to know it. We give you the structure and context words so that you can quickly build vocabulary that makes sense. In this way, learners have a contextual queue from the structure which allows them to look up specific meanings more easily. Chinese uses many such structures.
It's a very effective method: learn Chinese language starting from the most frequently used Chinese words and characters. Chinese language learning has been made easy focusing on the 1,000 most common Chinese characters that make 89% of all Chinese language usage.
Traditional Chinese teaching method try best to let Chinese learners master every word, Pinyin and grammars. These tasks torture every learner. These friends, with great interest to Chinese culture learning, will lose passion and patience under this kind of learning method and atmosphere. They can not communicate with others though they stick to learn until the end as it is deaf and dumb Chinese.
Actually, as driving a car, language is a communication tool for humans and it is a repeated process to master and learn it. Will it be effective to drive a car well only through talking by method and skills? People with common sense know that driving a car needs practice. Through iterative practice, application, revision and practice again, it will realize the fun of driving with agilities. So, driving is not leant but by practiced. So do the language learning, it is practiced. The language is like a communication tool, which needs to be used iteratively and mastered flexibly, but not to be combined with formulas and tools for communication like math or physics tools. The word is not the element in the formula either that can be combined randomly for results.
Buy a CD, a book, or software, or join an online Chinese class, and teach yourself. One of the more economical ways of learning. You can control the pace of yourself and don't need to worry your awkward pronunciations. However, the challenge for the method is to keep you motivated after the initial honeymoon stage. Like diet plans, many people bought piles of different CD, software, or books, and try to get a fresh start every time. Without exception, the busy life push the learning again and again. They ended up as perpetual beginner. Also, without someone correcting the pronunciation, the awkward accents will just stay there.
Go to China and take an immerse class. It's the most effective way of learning Chinese. Almost all fluent Chinese speakers mastered the language in China up to now. For example, Australia Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, started his Mandarin journey in Australia National University, majoring Chinese Language. However, he only mastered the language after he spent years living in Taipei and Beijing. If you have time and funding, the best way of learning Chinese is to go to China. You can take an immersion class, like the one offered by Sino-Center.org in collaboration with Communication University of China. By learning Chinese in class, living with Chinese neighbors, and interacting daily with regular Chinese. Then you will master the language in no time. By the way, another great advantage is that you might build a network there with local Chinese and fellow Chinese learners.
Hire a tutor and teach you face to face. Set up a schedule, and then you can meet with your tutor regularly and start to explore Chinese. It is more manageable than going to China and you can still learn authentic Chinese if can find and afford a good tutor. The tutor might also open the door of the local Chinese community for you. One drawback is that it is hard to find a native Chinese speaker who is willing and able to teach Chinese outside certain areas. Also, you or your tutor needs to beat traffic to meet at the class time. In metropolitans like New York City or Los Angels, it often means commuting on the road for hours. It is even worse in inclement weathers. Another drawback is that the available time slot might be limited. You don't enjoy driving or taking bus at midnight, do you?
Online one-on-one tutor. A brand new method thanks the proliferation of Internet and multimedia. One of the pioneers is Sino-Center.org. Like the previous method, it provide face to face tutoring or teaching, but through Internet using video conferencing software, such as Skype, MSN Messenger, etc. It provides several unbeatable advantages that make it the method of choice in the coming future. First, like personal tutor, it is one on one, so you will get personal attention from your teacher. Second, since the teaching is conducted over Internet, it can be held anytime and anywhere as long as there is broadband Internet access. No rush to subway or highway, and no worry about snow or storm. Third, the schedule can be very flexible to accommodate your work and family schedule. Late night or early morning is never a problem, and indeed preferred due to the time difference between China and US. Last but not least, it is affordable. Given the relatively low living cost in China, the tuition is often half or a quarter to the price asked by a tutor in America. Plus, by eliminating the commute, you can save some gas, which is getting more expensive every day, and help to protect our environment.
Practice reading and writing characters at every opportunity.
Make some character cards with a single large character on the front and the character's pronunciation and meaning together with words and/or phrases featuring the character on the back. Carry these cards around with you and refer to them whenever you have a moment.
To learn new vocabulary, using several short sessions (a few minutes at a time) is more effective than using one long session. You can use the time while riding the bus, eating breakfast, waiting for class to begin, waiting in line at the grocery store, and even walking across campus, to review new words.
The only way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them. Writing will enable you to use motor memory for recall; otherwise characters can be quickly forgotten. Rather than writing one word many times before doing the next one, write each word once or twice then go through the whole list again until you've done the required number of repetitions. This will put the new words more firmly in your memory.
Make vocabulary flashcards. The physical act of writing reinforces words in your memory, while also giving you an easy way to prepare for tests. Code cards for word class (verb, noun, etc.) and carry them with you for review during spare minutes. Play on-line games to reinforce character recognition.
To prepare for vocabulary quizzes, make a 3-column vocabulary sheet with characters, pinyin, and English definitions. Fold the paper so only one or two columns are showing and take practice written quizzes.
We are now the only Chinese language service provider, the largest and best-known Chinese training school in the world. http://www.Sino-Center.org.)
We focus on teaching you what you need to know when you need to know it. We give you the structure and context words so that you can quickly build vocabulary that makes sense. In this way, learners have a contextual queue from the structure which allows them to look up specific meanings more easily. Chinese uses many such structures.
It's a very effective method: learn Chinese language starting from the most frequently used Chinese words and characters. Chinese language learning has been made easy focusing on the 1,000 most common Chinese characters that make 89% of all Chinese language usage.
Traditional Chinese teaching method try best to let Chinese learners master every word, Pinyin and grammars. These tasks torture every learner. These friends, with great interest to Chinese culture learning, will lose passion and patience under this kind of learning method and atmosphere. They can not communicate with others though they stick to learn until the end as it is deaf and dumb Chinese.
Actually, as driving a car, language is a communication tool for humans and it is a repeated process to master and learn it. Will it be effective to drive a car well only through talking by method and skills? People with common sense know that driving a car needs practice. Through iterative practice, application, revision and practice again, it will realize the fun of driving with agilities. So, driving is not leant but by practiced. So do the language learning, it is practiced. The language is like a communication tool, which needs to be used iteratively and mastered flexibly, but not to be combined with formulas and tools for communication like math or physics tools. The word is not the element in the formula either that can be combined randomly for results.
Buy a CD, a book, or software, or join an online Chinese class, and teach yourself. One of the more economical ways of learning. You can control the pace of yourself and don't need to worry your awkward pronunciations. However, the challenge for the method is to keep you motivated after the initial honeymoon stage. Like diet plans, many people bought piles of different CD, software, or books, and try to get a fresh start every time. Without exception, the busy life push the learning again and again. They ended up as perpetual beginner. Also, without someone correcting the pronunciation, the awkward accents will just stay there.
Go to China and take an immerse class. It's the most effective way of learning Chinese. Almost all fluent Chinese speakers mastered the language in China up to now. For example, Australia Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, started his Mandarin journey in Australia National University, majoring Chinese Language. However, he only mastered the language after he spent years living in Taipei and Beijing. If you have time and funding, the best way of learning Chinese is to go to China. You can take an immersion class, like the one offered by Sino-Center.org in collaboration with Communication University of China. By learning Chinese in class, living with Chinese neighbors, and interacting daily with regular Chinese. Then you will master the language in no time. By the way, another great advantage is that you might build a network there with local Chinese and fellow Chinese learners.
Hire a tutor and teach you face to face. Set up a schedule, and then you can meet with your tutor regularly and start to explore Chinese. It is more manageable than going to China and you can still learn authentic Chinese if can find and afford a good tutor. The tutor might also open the door of the local Chinese community for you. One drawback is that it is hard to find a native Chinese speaker who is willing and able to teach Chinese outside certain areas. Also, you or your tutor needs to beat traffic to meet at the class time. In metropolitans like New York City or Los Angels, it often means commuting on the road for hours. It is even worse in inclement weathers. Another drawback is that the available time slot might be limited. You don't enjoy driving or taking bus at midnight, do you?
Online one-on-one tutor. A brand new method thanks the proliferation of Internet and multimedia. One of the pioneers is Sino-Center.org. Like the previous method, it provide face to face tutoring or teaching, but through Internet using video conferencing software, such as Skype, MSN Messenger, etc. It provides several unbeatable advantages that make it the method of choice in the coming future. First, like personal tutor, it is one on one, so you will get personal attention from your teacher. Second, since the teaching is conducted over Internet, it can be held anytime and anywhere as long as there is broadband Internet access. No rush to subway or highway, and no worry about snow or storm. Third, the schedule can be very flexible to accommodate your work and family schedule. Late night or early morning is never a problem, and indeed preferred due to the time difference between China and US. Last but not least, it is affordable. Given the relatively low living cost in China, the tuition is often half or a quarter to the price asked by a tutor in America. Plus, by eliminating the commute, you can save some gas, which is getting more expensive every day, and help to protect our environment.
Practice reading and writing characters at every opportunity.
Make some character cards with a single large character on the front and the character's pronunciation and meaning together with words and/or phrases featuring the character on the back. Carry these cards around with you and refer to them whenever you have a moment.
To learn new vocabulary, using several short sessions (a few minutes at a time) is more effective than using one long session. You can use the time while riding the bus, eating breakfast, waiting for class to begin, waiting in line at the grocery store, and even walking across campus, to review new words.
The only way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them. Writing will enable you to use motor memory for recall; otherwise characters can be quickly forgotten. Rather than writing one word many times before doing the next one, write each word once or twice then go through the whole list again until you've done the required number of repetitions. This will put the new words more firmly in your memory.
Make vocabulary flashcards. The physical act of writing reinforces words in your memory, while also giving you an easy way to prepare for tests. Code cards for word class (verb, noun, etc.) and carry them with you for review during spare minutes. Play on-line games to reinforce character recognition.
To prepare for vocabulary quizzes, make a 3-column vocabulary sheet with characters, pinyin, and English definitions. Fold the paper so only one or two columns are showing and take practice written quizzes.
