Starting on Week 5, only 3 more left. I am more impressed now than I was to begin with. Vera is terrific. I was concerned the lessons and teaching would be rigid. I thought that regardless of progress (or regress) that she would maintain the same teaching style, going over each lesson the same way. This has not been the case. I haven't had any problem reading the dialogs so we spend less time on that than we used to and more time on translating and conversation.
She also incorporates more and more Chinese, again, based on what I am able to do. I don't mean that she keeps it so simple that I can easily answer or respond. No, the words and phrases are always just above what I am able to do. It's like working out. She's adding the weight to our lessons week by week. Very impressed.
I am very fortunate that I am able to test my abilities and weaknesses on a couple who are visiting from Beijing and staying with my former instructor. Last Friday Jenn and I had lunch (delicious noodles!) and conversed a little here and a little there in Chinese. I was able to recognize more than last time and they were surprised that my tones were so good. So was I!
I'm already thinking ahead. I can't afford to keep doing it month after month. I am hoping to go for a month, take a month off, etc, etc. Probably not the best option but when money is an object..., you know how it goes.
If only it had not taken a full month for me to get in the swing of things.
Monday, May 28
Wednesday, May 16
Week 3
All I can say is WHEW!
I've made it this far. And I still look forward to my calls each day. The combination of compressed work week and the call shortly after I get home is difficult. I think I've touched on this so I won't go on about it again.
I'm impressed once again that the lessons incorporate words from previous lessons providing a great system of review and expansion. For instance I had lessons separated by a week and a half that included the word 经常 (jing1chang2). I need as much of this as I can get.
It's also helping me realize I just can't learn it all at once. My goal before was to have a lesson memorized, to be able to pick it apart, and translate it without a transcript while listening. I have only been able to do this with Newbie lessons and was constantly disappointed that I could not do the same with Elementary lessons like this one. I could listen all day till I was sick and STILL not be able to translate all of it.
I still can't do it but I don't care either. I'm convinced I need repetitive and broad exposure to the language. It's too early in the game to determine how effective this will be in the long run but I have a good feeling about it and it keeps the experience fresh.
In the mean time I will direct you here to read about John Pasden's fascinating and humbling experience learning Chinese.
再见
I've made it this far. And I still look forward to my calls each day. The combination of compressed work week and the call shortly after I get home is difficult. I think I've touched on this so I won't go on about it again.
I'm impressed once again that the lessons incorporate words from previous lessons providing a great system of review and expansion. For instance I had lessons separated by a week and a half that included the word 经常 (jing1chang2). I need as much of this as I can get.
It's also helping me realize I just can't learn it all at once. My goal before was to have a lesson memorized, to be able to pick it apart, and translate it without a transcript while listening. I have only been able to do this with Newbie lessons and was constantly disappointed that I could not do the same with Elementary lessons like this one. I could listen all day till I was sick and STILL not be able to translate all of it.
I still can't do it but I don't care either. I'm convinced I need repetitive and broad exposure to the language. It's too early in the game to determine how effective this will be in the long run but I have a good feeling about it and it keeps the experience fresh.
In the mean time I will direct you here to read about John Pasden's fascinating and humbling experience learning Chinese.
再见
Monday, May 7
An Update
Still here.
My wife had surgery a couple of weeks ago and I was home taking care of her 24/7. With all that time you would think I would have really worked on my studies for ChinesePod right?
Wrong!
You underestimate how much I hate to study.
There were moments of discovery in that time, when sentence structures that Vera asked me to work on clicked in my mind. But then there were other things.
Today she asked me to translate "I never...". Well, I knew the rest of the words and the structure but forgot how to say "never" (my wife would concur) and just shut down at that point. Mental block.
It's true. I hate to study. My mother recently told me that I was gifted but easily bored. I asked if she meant gifted in the shortbus way or bright and she assured me she meant bright. I was in all the advanced classes in High School but did terrible because I hated the classes. Instead I went home and read Steinbeck and King (Stephen).
So Vera (and Kai), I give you my apologies, I am a terrible student.
Oh yes, an update on the 8 week course. Well, not much to report since China had a week long national holiday which meant no calls for a week. We started back today and I did terrible.
Speaking of starting back today I went back to work for the first time in 11 days (hey, when I said Jenn couldn't do anything I wasn't kidding!). The combined stress of being back at work and having studied very little for the lesson tonight almost gave me a coronary.
Well, there's always tomorrow.
My wife had surgery a couple of weeks ago and I was home taking care of her 24/7. With all that time you would think I would have really worked on my studies for ChinesePod right?
Wrong!
You underestimate how much I hate to study.
There were moments of discovery in that time, when sentence structures that Vera asked me to work on clicked in my mind. But then there were other things.
Today she asked me to translate "I never...". Well, I knew the rest of the words and the structure but forgot how to say "never" (my wife would concur) and just shut down at that point. Mental block.
It's true. I hate to study. My mother recently told me that I was gifted but easily bored. I asked if she meant gifted in the shortbus way or bright and she assured me she meant bright. I was in all the advanced classes in High School but did terrible because I hated the classes. Instead I went home and read Steinbeck and King (Stephen).
So Vera (and Kai), I give you my apologies, I am a terrible student.
Oh yes, an update on the 8 week course. Well, not much to report since China had a week long national holiday which meant no calls for a week. We started back today and I did terrible.
Speaking of starting back today I went back to work for the first time in 11 days (hey, when I said Jenn couldn't do anything I wasn't kidding!). The combined stress of being back at work and having studied very little for the lesson tonight almost gave me a coronary.
Well, there's always tomorrow.
Friday, April 27
Listening and Understanding
I wish I could remember the point in my life when I heard "don't touch that" and knew what it meant because I knew what the words "don't" "touch" and "that" meant. Of course we know based on the corrective tone and fierce look in our parents eyes. But when do we "get it"?
It reminds me of the classic Far Side comic:
Brendan over at Peeling Mandarin and Edwin at Tower of Confusion have both mentioned this. During one of my Practice phone calls I told Vera that I struggle to understand what I'm hearing in the Podcast dialogs. When I hear or read the words out of context I understand most of them.
It all points to something Steve Kaufmann has said was essential: tons of time spent listening to the target language. I admit that I neglect this, much to my chagrin. I believe part of it is laziness (just being honest!). The other part of it is lack of comprehension. My brain just hears it all like the dog in Gary Larson's comic. Sure there are words I understand from time to time but the rest is meaningless. But what really gets me is that if I stop and see a transcript from a lesson I know some of the words I was unable to distinguish when I was listening.
Now that I've stated my delima, I'm hoping that some fellow language enthusiasts will post about their experience in regards to comprehending their new language.
It reminds me of the classic Far Side comic:
Brendan over at Peeling Mandarin and Edwin at Tower of Confusion have both mentioned this. During one of my Practice phone calls I told Vera that I struggle to understand what I'm hearing in the Podcast dialogs. When I hear or read the words out of context I understand most of them.
It all points to something Steve Kaufmann has said was essential: tons of time spent listening to the target language. I admit that I neglect this, much to my chagrin. I believe part of it is laziness (just being honest!). The other part of it is lack of comprehension. My brain just hears it all like the dog in Gary Larson's comic. Sure there are words I understand from time to time but the rest is meaningless. But what really gets me is that if I stop and see a transcript from a lesson I know some of the words I was unable to distinguish when I was listening.
Now that I've stated my delima, I'm hoping that some fellow language enthusiasts will post about their experience in regards to comprehending their new language.
Week One - Recap
The first week of ChinesePod Practice is complete. Five elementary lessons in five days. Five phone calls from China. Five days of anxiety, excitement, and amazement. Anxious because I never felt prepared enough. Excited because I finally had a chance to practice Chinese. Amazement because I remembered more after each ten minute phone call than I had after listening and studying some elementary lessons for hours!
Overall I would say it's been a great week.
I have a few observations from the first week.
The most beneficial part of the phone call (for me) is translating from English to Chinese. Vera will give me a sentence in English which I must translate. Typically half the words are from the lessons, the other half they assume you know. Some I do and some I don't. If I don't I just tell her I don't know it and she tells me. I then proceed to translate. It's like working out for the first time. You use muscles you didn't know you had. You strain to do the minimum repetitions. When you're done you're exhausted . The next time you work out that muscle it's still difficult but not quite as difficult.
My translation muscles are nearly non-existent. I have to work very hard to squeeze out the simplest of sentences. Sure, I can translate "hello" but "I study Chinese everyday" and I'm almost in tears. I know the words individually but putting them together into a coherent sentence is hard work.
There were a few times Vera had to correct my tones which is a relief. People tell me my pronunciation is good but it's not perfect. If she never corrected me I would be concerned.
I want to come up with some sort of review for the end of the week. I'm somewhat surprised CPod doesn't have anything like this already. I plan on reviewing all the lessons tomorrow and working on some more English to Chinese translations.
Overall I would say it's been a great week.
I have a few observations from the first week.
The most beneficial part of the phone call (for me) is translating from English to Chinese. Vera will give me a sentence in English which I must translate. Typically half the words are from the lessons, the other half they assume you know. Some I do and some I don't. If I don't I just tell her I don't know it and she tells me. I then proceed to translate. It's like working out for the first time. You use muscles you didn't know you had. You strain to do the minimum repetitions. When you're done you're exhausted . The next time you work out that muscle it's still difficult but not quite as difficult.
My translation muscles are nearly non-existent. I have to work very hard to squeeze out the simplest of sentences. Sure, I can translate "hello" but "I study Chinese everyday" and I'm almost in tears. I know the words individually but putting them together into a coherent sentence is hard work.
There were a few times Vera had to correct my tones which is a relief. People tell me my pronunciation is good but it's not perfect. If she never corrected me I would be concerned.
I want to come up with some sort of review for the end of the week. I'm somewhat surprised CPod doesn't have anything like this already. I plan on reviewing all the lessons tomorrow and working on some more English to Chinese translations.
Wednesday, April 25
Oh No!
That's my new slogan for evenings Sunday through Thursday. I work a compressed work week (from 8-7, Monday - Thursday) and get my daily call from Vera at 8:10. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to spend with each lesson, to dig into it and internalize the language.
Stephen King said in "On Writing" that the late Kurt Vonnegut would work on one page until it was perfect. He didn't write a book and revise it. He wrote and revised all at once. He would apparently, if Mr. King is correct, throw entire pages away and start rewriting until the text was perfect.
My mind works this way too. It wants every pronunciation, ever possible shade of meaning, every tone just right before it moves on to the next word. Because there is a fear that if I let it go now it will never be right. Talk about maddening! One of the beauties for me working on the Practice plan is that I have no choice. I have a set of lessons in a set order and I have to go through them in that order. I don't have time to get every word and I don't have time to care if I get every word because once one lesson is done there's another. And another. And another. For 7 more weeks. The interesting thing (so far) is I believe my vocabulary is increasing. Not enough for my tastes but more than it did before.
I'll post a recap for the week on Friday or Saturday.
Stephen King said in "On Writing" that the late Kurt Vonnegut would work on one page until it was perfect. He didn't write a book and revise it. He wrote and revised all at once. He would apparently, if Mr. King is correct, throw entire pages away and start rewriting until the text was perfect.
My mind works this way too. It wants every pronunciation, ever possible shade of meaning, every tone just right before it moves on to the next word. Because there is a fear that if I let it go now it will never be right. Talk about maddening! One of the beauties for me working on the Practice plan is that I have no choice. I have a set of lessons in a set order and I have to go through them in that order. I don't have time to get every word and I don't have time to care if I get every word because once one lesson is done there's another. And another. And another. For 7 more weeks. The interesting thing (so far) is I believe my vocabulary is increasing. Not enough for my tastes but more than it did before.
I'll post a recap for the week on Friday or Saturday.
Monday, April 23
Lesson One
Last night I had my first Practice lesson with a ChinesePod counselor. How was it you ask?
In a word, excellent. For me, reviewing with someone who knows the language (or knows it far better than I) is critical.
After speaking with Aggie a couple of times I was concerned that whoever I got was not going to be as qualified. After all, Aggie was the great Frank Fredella’s counselor. Thankfully my fears were for nothing. My counselor, Vera, is terrific. Sympathetic, encouraging, and available for questions via email at any time!
To begin Vera had me read the dialog from the transcript for this lesson. She said my pronunciation was good. Next we reviewed critical vocab from the lesson. She would pick a word and ask me the meaning. Then the difficult part: translating English sentences into Chinese.
I seem to have great difficulty here. I know the words but putting them together to form sentences is a problem.
Here is an example from last night.
Translate “I want dinner first’.
In my mind I have 我 “wo3”, 先 “xian1”, and 想 “xiang3”.
Dinner is a bit tricky. I’m thinking 吃 “chi1” but not sure if this is correct and not sure what should follow it. Should it be 饭 “fan4” or should it be something completely different?
I’m lost.
Then there is the word order. Is it 我先想 or 先我想
So the combination of not knowing the order or the correct word was stressful.
After some struggling and help from Vera I got 我先想吃饭.
This continued for several minutes with different key words from the lesson. Then the call was over. I walked away from the call with my mind racing, thinking over everything I said and what she asked me to review for tomorrow.
Overall I was very impressed. My only concern would be over the tones. For instance one of the phrases Vera asked for was “wash hands”. I knew hand was? “shou”.
What I could not remember was the tone. I said it with the first tone but was doubtful. Later I checked and it should have been the third tone. Vera didn’t correct me I assume, because of the phone connection. There were a few moments when she started to cut out so maybe she didn’t catch it. Or maybe she’ll mention it today. I don’t know. But I want to be sure I get them right. I’ll keep my proverbial eye on it.
I don’t intend on posting about every single lesson, but I’ll be posting as much as I can over the next couple of months. Hopefully I’ll get some more chances to use the language too!
In a word, excellent. For me, reviewing with someone who knows the language (or knows it far better than I) is critical.
After speaking with Aggie a couple of times I was concerned that whoever I got was not going to be as qualified. After all, Aggie was the great Frank Fredella’s counselor. Thankfully my fears were for nothing. My counselor, Vera, is terrific. Sympathetic, encouraging, and available for questions via email at any time!
To begin Vera had me read the dialog from the transcript for this lesson. She said my pronunciation was good. Next we reviewed critical vocab from the lesson. She would pick a word and ask me the meaning. Then the difficult part: translating English sentences into Chinese.
I seem to have great difficulty here. I know the words but putting them together to form sentences is a problem.
Here is an example from last night.
Translate “I want dinner first’.
In my mind I have 我 “wo3”, 先 “xian1”, and 想 “xiang3”.
Dinner is a bit tricky. I’m thinking 吃 “chi1” but not sure if this is correct and not sure what should follow it. Should it be 饭 “fan4” or should it be something completely different?
I’m lost.
Then there is the word order. Is it 我先想 or 先我想
So the combination of not knowing the order or the correct word was stressful.
After some struggling and help from Vera I got 我先想吃饭.
This continued for several minutes with different key words from the lesson. Then the call was over. I walked away from the call with my mind racing, thinking over everything I said and what she asked me to review for tomorrow.
Overall I was very impressed. My only concern would be over the tones. For instance one of the phrases Vera asked for was “wash hands”. I knew hand was? “shou”.
What I could not remember was the tone. I said it with the first tone but was doubtful. Later I checked and it should have been the third tone. Vera didn’t correct me I assume, because of the phone connection. There were a few moments when she started to cut out so maybe she didn’t catch it. Or maybe she’ll mention it today. I don’t know. But I want to be sure I get them right. I’ll keep my proverbial eye on it.
I don’t intend on posting about every single lesson, but I’ll be posting as much as I can over the next couple of months. Hopefully I’ll get some more chances to use the language too!
Sunday, April 22
The Final Countdown
I couldn't help myself with the title, especially being a big fan of "Arrested Development".
Anyway, I got the assessment call from Aggie on Friday. And, and...
I'm at an Elementary level!
I was in shock, and somewhat horrified because she said they would assign 40 Elementary level lessons to me over the next 8 weeks. My comprehension of Chinese grammar is weak so I'm hoping this will help.
What I found interesting is a conversation I had with a friend this weekend about learning. He said that to become better at something required you to practice AND to push yourself beyond what you are able to do. So if you're listening to Newbie lessons and can breeze through them the push yourself and start working on Elementary. I'm preaching to myself here I know.
For some reason this seems more terrifying than when I originally signed up for Chinese classes in the first place. Maybe it's because I have some idea of what I'm in for now?
Aggie was terrific and very encouraging during our phone call. To assess my "level" she read a number of sentences and asked me to tell her the meaning in English. When we were done I got the results. She also said (as some others have) that my pronunciation was good. A little encouragement can do wonders to your enthusiasm and willingness to keep going.
Time to study. I get my first phone call in 3 hours.
再见，，
j
Anyway, I got the assessment call from Aggie on Friday. And, and...
I'm at an Elementary level!
I was in shock, and somewhat horrified because she said they would assign 40 Elementary level lessons to me over the next 8 weeks. My comprehension of Chinese grammar is weak so I'm hoping this will help.
What I found interesting is a conversation I had with a friend this weekend about learning. He said that to become better at something required you to practice AND to push yourself beyond what you are able to do. So if you're listening to Newbie lessons and can breeze through them the push yourself and start working on Elementary. I'm preaching to myself here I know.
For some reason this seems more terrifying than when I originally signed up for Chinese classes in the first place. Maybe it's because I have some idea of what I'm in for now?
Aggie was terrific and very encouraging during our phone call. To assess my "level" she read a number of sentences and asked me to tell her the meaning in English. When we were done I got the results. She also said (as some others have) that my pronunciation was good. A little encouragement can do wonders to your enthusiasm and willingness to keep going.
Time to study. I get my first phone call in 3 hours.
再见，，
j
Thursday, April 19
The Countdown
I received my first phone call from Aggie at ChinesePod last night. After a week or so of emailing back and forth and missing the first call due to a misunderstanding of the time/date difference we finally connected.
The introductory call was an explanation of what will happen during the next 8 weeks. For those who have not read about it on the CPod site participants in the 8 week program receive an introductory evaluation of their abilities. The counselor then picks 40 lessons to be covered over the 8 weeks. Each day (Sunday-Thursday, or Monday-Friday Shanghai time) I will receive a call from the counselor to review that days lesson.
I hope this reinforces each lesson and will write it to my long term memory. Getting it in the short term is "meiwenti". Retention and the ability to use it are difficult for me though.
I plan on posting updates on the blog more often than I have been. Really, I do.
The introductory call was an explanation of what will happen during the next 8 weeks. For those who have not read about it on the CPod site participants in the 8 week program receive an introductory evaluation of their abilities. The counselor then picks 40 lessons to be covered over the 8 weeks. Each day (Sunday-Thursday, or Monday-Friday Shanghai time) I will receive a call from the counselor to review that days lesson.
I hope this reinforces each lesson and will write it to my long term memory. Getting it in the short term is "meiwenti". Retention and the ability to use it are difficult for me though.
I plan on posting updates on the blog more often than I have been. Really, I do.
Sunday, April 15
Chinese Comics for Newbies
I spend a little bit of time reviewing characters at work. I thought it would be so much easier if there was some context for them, incorporating some visual aid. Comics are great at that and my dad is an artist/illustrator and that was it.
Here is the result. I hope there will be more but he's a busy guy so it depends on his availability.
The dialog was taken from this lesson.
Hope you enjoy!
Here is the result. I hope there will be more but he's a busy guy so it depends on his availability.
The dialog was taken from this lesson.
Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, April 10
The End of the Beginning
Saturday was my last class session. I'm really going to miss the group.
From Left to Right: Bridgitt, Kai (laoshi), me, Elizabeth, Eric, Fred, Johnny, and Michael.
I've been meeting with some incarnation of this group for the last 45 weeks! Bridgitt and I were there from the beginning. I think this group will continue to meet sans Elizabeth and myself. I hope to see them on Saturdays at a local Chinese restaurant (hint, hint!) or the Chinese mall in Atlanta.
For the next couple of months I'm going to try out the 8 week program offered by ChinesePod. I've mentioned in previous posts that I was interested in this but didn't think it was going to be possible. Recently I received an email from Eileen at CPod with an offer to try it out (yes, I still have to pay!)
I hope to be reporting on my progress in the near future.
Honestly I haven't been spending too much time with the language lately. I've been entirely too occupied with this. I thought about posting a screen shot of how much time I've spent on it but I would have to hang my head in shame. I'm almost done with it so that won't be an obstacle after next week. Hehe...
Enough for now. I just hope I haven't forgotten too much.
PS: For all of those who have posted comments I promise to respond at a later date. So sorry...
From Left to Right: Bridgitt, Kai (laoshi), me, Elizabeth, Eric, Fred, Johnny, and Michael.
I've been meeting with some incarnation of this group for the last 45 weeks! Bridgitt and I were there from the beginning. I think this group will continue to meet sans Elizabeth and myself. I hope to see them on Saturdays at a local Chinese restaurant (hint, hint!) or the Chinese mall in Atlanta.
For the next couple of months I'm going to try out the 8 week program offered by ChinesePod. I've mentioned in previous posts that I was interested in this but didn't think it was going to be possible. Recently I received an email from Eileen at CPod with an offer to try it out (yes, I still have to pay!)
I hope to be reporting on my progress in the near future.
Honestly I haven't been spending too much time with the language lately. I've been entirely too occupied with this. I thought about posting a screen shot of how much time I've spent on it but I would have to hang my head in shame. I'm almost done with it so that won't be an obstacle after next week. Hehe...
Enough for now. I just hope I haven't forgotten too much.
PS: For all of those who have posted comments I promise to respond at a later date. So sorry...
Tuesday, March 27
Long Overdue
Well, it's been some time since I've been back here. Not intentional mind you, just 很忙。 I've been promoted at work (yea!) after a month of semi-intense training. On top of that we've just been exceptionally busy (people leaving, people getting hired, lots of calls) which has left little time at work to study. Sounds crazy but I have been able to learn so much while there. In between calls and waiting on hold are great times for me. The last month or so they have been few and far between.
Thanks to the change in weather though I've been able to get out at lunch and walk the parking lot, listen to CPod and mumble to myself while sneaking glances to make sure no one heard me. Can you image what it must sound like to someone walking by to hear "you kong de shi hou" and "wo jue de"!
I'll have some news about class in a few weeks but nothing at the moment. We have had great classes the last two weeks though. The Saturday before last we had a visitor from China (who I hope to spend more time with soon) and this week a 美国人 who speaks exceptional (he took exception to the term fluent so I'll say exceptional) Chinese. He speaks a number of other languages too so I'm not too surprised, and he is currently learning Korean.
Enough for now. Past time for bed.
Later...
Thanks to the change in weather though I've been able to get out at lunch and walk the parking lot, listen to CPod and mumble to myself while sneaking glances to make sure no one heard me. Can you image what it must sound like to someone walking by to hear "you kong de shi hou" and "wo jue de"!
I'll have some news about class in a few weeks but nothing at the moment. We have had great classes the last two weeks though. The Saturday before last we had a visitor from China (who I hope to spend more time with soon) and this week a 美国人 who speaks exceptional (he took exception to the term fluent so I'll say exceptional) Chinese. He speaks a number of other languages too so I'm not too surprised, and he is currently learning Korean.
Enough for now. Past time for bed.
Later...
Friday, March 2
What Helps 我
The first year of my 中文 quest is coming to a close. As a result of this, my previous post, and continued discussion on the CPod Blog, I've nailed down a few things that I find essential for my learning experience in no particular order.
1. Dynamic Input- This has taken two forms for me. Classroom experience and ChinesePod podcasts. I have six discs of audio to accompany two textbooks, a brief audio course I downloaded from Audible, and other miscellaneous resources. I will add Chinese films but these have not helped me learn any new words, rather they have enforced what I have already learned.
2. Speaking-I didn't know how much this helped until I stopped doing it for a couple of weeks. I need to repeat back what I've learned the way an actor rehearses lines. I don't know if this would be as important if I were learning a non-tonal language. Since the tones are important it helps me to practice them. Initially in isolation and now in sentences.
3. Reading-Initially this meant 拼音 and only 拼音。Now it means 汉字。In the grand scale of things I know this is for the best. But the reason I started paying attention to 汉字 is they are so damn interesting. Sure they may seem to be endless and impossible to distinguish, but now they are like little mysteries to be discovered.
4. Time-I can’t take it for granted. It takes time and lots of it to learn any language or accomplish any great task. I hope I’m not accused of claiming learning Chinese is a task I will ever complete because I don’t believe that. However I do believe there comes a time when I could become proficient enough to have a basic conversation with a child and if I continue a basic conversation with an adult, etc.
5. Determination- Will power, effort, whatever you want to call it. The things I love the most in life require a certain measure of effort. Learning Chinese will no doubt be in the top five of difficult tasks. And that’s OK.
I’ll be changing direction a bit in the coming months and look forward to seeing the outcome. For one I’m looking into the Octagon, a program that ChinesePod is promoting. Eight weeks of lessons with a ten minute call each day from a native speaker. Author Frank Fredella was the guinea pig for the program and saw definite results. I mentioned Chinese language boot camp and that it might be useful. This is as close to it as I can get and since there is a time frame (as opposed to an open ended God only knows when it’s going to end scenario) I’m interested. It’s not cheap though and it’s tax time. And I’m not getting a refund (insert tears).
So if it’s still going in a few months I’ll probably sign up.
Enough for now. Gotta get to bed soon. Class tomorrow morning.
1. Dynamic Input- This has taken two forms for me. Classroom experience and ChinesePod podcasts. I have six discs of audio to accompany two textbooks, a brief audio course I downloaded from Audible, and other miscellaneous resources. I will add Chinese films but these have not helped me learn any new words, rather they have enforced what I have already learned.
2. Speaking-I didn't know how much this helped until I stopped doing it for a couple of weeks. I need to repeat back what I've learned the way an actor rehearses lines. I don't know if this would be as important if I were learning a non-tonal language. Since the tones are important it helps me to practice them. Initially in isolation and now in sentences.
3. Reading-Initially this meant 拼音 and only 拼音。Now it means 汉字。In the grand scale of things I know this is for the best. But the reason I started paying attention to 汉字 is they are so damn interesting. Sure they may seem to be endless and impossible to distinguish, but now they are like little mysteries to be discovered.
4. Time-I can’t take it for granted. It takes time and lots of it to learn any language or accomplish any great task. I hope I’m not accused of claiming learning Chinese is a task I will ever complete because I don’t believe that. However I do believe there comes a time when I could become proficient enough to have a basic conversation with a child and if I continue a basic conversation with an adult, etc.
5. Determination- Will power, effort, whatever you want to call it. The things I love the most in life require a certain measure of effort. Learning Chinese will no doubt be in the top five of difficult tasks. And that’s OK.
I’ll be changing direction a bit in the coming months and look forward to seeing the outcome. For one I’m looking into the Octagon, a program that ChinesePod is promoting. Eight weeks of lessons with a ten minute call each day from a native speaker. Author Frank Fredella was the guinea pig for the program and saw definite results. I mentioned Chinese language boot camp and that it might be useful. This is as close to it as I can get and since there is a time frame (as opposed to an open ended God only knows when it’s going to end scenario) I’m interested. It’s not cheap though and it’s tax time. And I’m not getting a refund (insert tears).
So if it’s still going in a few months I’ll probably sign up.
Enough for now. Gotta get to bed soon. Class tomorrow morning.
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