2006-09-09 18:00:00 Daryl
Nice Newbie lesson. Perhaps as the Olympics draw nearer, you could do an Elementary or Lower Intermediate with additional vocabulary that one might hear when watching the games--e.g., diving, swimming, close race, parallel bars, etc.]]> Daryl
Nice Newbie lesson. Perhaps as the Olympics draw nearer, you could do an Elementary or Lower Intermediate with additional vocabulary that one might hear when watching the games--e.g., diving, swimming, close race, parallel bars, etc.]]> ChinesePod
Daryl, Over the next two years we will try to cover a broad range of Olympics related themes. We also plan to provide useful lesson for people who will visit at that time - travel, hotels, taxis, etc. Of course we'll give yo uthe key sports vocabulary - as you pointed out. Ken Carroll]]> ChinesePod
Daryl, Over the next two years we will try to cover a broad range of Olympics related themes. We also plan to provide useful lesson for people who will visit at that time - travel, hotels, taxis, etc. Of course we'll give yo uthe key sports vocabulary - as you pointed out. Ken Carroll]]> David C
Great Newbie. Looking forward to the supplementary vocab - particularly around discussing form at the woman's beach volleyball competition. Unbelievable that there are literally rules that mandate that the women were an outfit not exceeding a certain size.I watch it purely for the sporting skills of course. A lesson on anabolic steroids would be good too. That way I have a shot at arranging free accomodation in the Olympic Village. David C.]]> David C
Great Newbie. Looking forward to the supplementary vocab - particularly around discussing form at the woman's beach volleyball competition. Unbelievable that there are literally rules that mandate that the women were an outfit not exceeding a certain size.I watch it purely for the sporting skills of course. A lesson on anabolic steroids would be good too. That way I have a shot at arranging free accomodation in the Olympic Village. David C.]]> Learn Chinese - 114 The Olympics | Cool Shanghai Guide
[...] We don t know if you heard, but Word on the Street (shameless co-promo there) is that Beijing s got the Olympics here in 2008. So we thought we d make sure you can hold your own in a conversation with a Beijingerrrr (those r s will make sense when you come) or anyone, for that matter about the Big Games. In […] More … [...]]]> Learn Chinese - 114 The Olympics | Cool Shanghai Guide
[...] We don t know if you heard, but Word on the Street (shameless co-promo there) is that Beijing s got the Olympics here in 2008. So we thought we d make sure you can hold your own in a conversation with a Beijingerrrr (those r s will make sense when you come) or anyone, for that matter about the Big Games. In […] More … [...]]]> Kaixin
Loved that lesson! Of course it was really all too easy for me (I just started my 3rd year at the university learning Chinese...) but I actually learned some new words :) I have to admit that I'm not a paying member (oh the shame... lol) and I actually just use the lessons for listening practice. At the moment that is enough for me, because I have three 90 min. lessons in Chinese every week. At the moment we are studying Chinese texts and we have lectures in Chinese conversation. I am thinking of subscribing to all the additional materials maybe next year, because after I have finished the courses that I'm on now I can't get any further teaching at the university. :( I'm coming to China in a few years and I'm afraid I'll forget everything if I don't practice. I have noticed that many of the members here are strongly oriented towards using electronic and technical stuff for learning. That is absolutely fine, but I like to do things in a more old-fashioned way. I have a paper dictionary, and most of my writing I have been doing just with a pen and paper. I started using my computer for writnig Chinese just this week... lol And I actually think that writing characters in the "traditional way" (meaning with pen and paper) helps me remember them more easily. And in our first year we had a "hanzi ben" meaning a character book where we practiced writing. Our teacher was quite strickt about getting all the strokes correct and it really helped make my writing look better. That is one thing that is hard to learn here. I also have some topic suggestions... First would be "A good business gift". What would be an appropriate gift for your future business partner/s? I have heard that giving knifes is not a good idea. Or giving four items. And what would be a good gift for new friends? This will be an issue for me when I come there. It would be great to get some advice on that. I love to hear all the cultural stuff, that is always great. 谢谢! 开心]]> Kaixin
Loved that lesson! Of course it was really all too easy for me (I just started my 3rd year at the university learning Chinese...) but I actually learned some new words :) I have to admit that I'm not a paying member (oh the shame... lol) and I actually just use the lessons for listening practice. At the moment that is enough for me, because I have three 90 min. lessons in Chinese every week. At the moment we are studying Chinese texts and we have lectures in Chinese conversation. I am thinking of subscribing to all the additional materials maybe next year, because after I have finished the courses that I'm on now I can't get any further teaching at the university. :( I'm coming to China in a few years and I'm afraid I'll forget everything if I don't practice. I have noticed that many of the members here are strongly oriented towards using electronic and technical stuff for learning. That is absolutely fine, but I like to do things in a more old-fashioned way. I have a paper dictionary, and most of my writing I have been doing just with a pen and paper. I started using my computer for writnig Chinese just this week... lol And I actually think that writing characters in the "traditional way" (meaning with pen and paper) helps me remember them more easily. And in our first year we had a "hanzi ben" meaning a character book where we practiced writing. Our teacher was quite strickt about getting all the strokes correct and it really helped make my writing look better. That is one thing that is hard to learn here. I also have some topic suggestions... First would be "A good business gift". What would be an appropriate gift for your future business partner/s? I have heard that giving knifes is not a good idea. Or giving four items. And what would be a good gift for new friends? This will be an issue for me when I come there. It would be great to get some advice on that. I love to hear all the cultural stuff, that is always great. 谢谢! 开心]]> Bazza 吴白锐
I think they should add Powerising to the Olympics. :)]]> Bazza 吴白锐
I think they should add Powerising to the Olympics. :)]]> David C
bazza, powerising, wazzat? Just looked back at my contribution earlier this morning. Clearly was too early in the morning in London, because judging by my spelling I need English lessons, not Chinese ones.]]> David C
bazza, powerising, wazzat? Just looked back at my contribution earlier this morning. Clearly was too early in the morning in London, because judging by my spelling I need English lessons, not Chinese ones.]]> Eddie
Hi, Great lesson and very topical given we all need to get in training for the Olympics, at least from a vocab point of view. I am wondering though what I should take away from this lesson as a Newbie, and indeed all Newbie lessons. Should a student at this level be trying to "own" the new vocab, -bronze medal get the tones right as well - silver medal be able to recognise and reproduce the characters - gold medal! I am wondering what others who have gone through this phase would recommend and how they dealt with the 'long jump' involved in getting characters to stick in your brain, should it be a case of brute rote learning or just trying to recognise recurring radicals but not beating yourself up trying to remember them. Finally, are there any performance enhancing drugs for learning chinese - gingko biloba for memory and ginseng for stamina perhaps? Eddie]]> Eddie
Hi, Great lesson and very topical given we all need to get in training for the Olympics, at least from a vocab point of view. I am wondering though what I should take away from this lesson as a Newbie, and indeed all Newbie lessons. Should a student at this level be trying to "own" the new vocab, -bronze medal get the tones right as well - silver medal be able to recognise and reproduce the characters - gold medal! I am wondering what others who have gone through this phase would recommend and how they dealt with the 'long jump' involved in getting characters to stick in your brain, should it be a case of brute rote learning or just trying to recognise recurring radicals but not beating yourself up trying to remember them. Finally, are there any performance enhancing drugs for learning chinese - gingko biloba for memory and ginseng for stamina perhaps? Eddie]]> ChinesePod
Eddie, I beleive the newbie should focus on comprehension: listening to and understanding as many of the sounds as you can. You shoudl try to engage with as much input as you can - by going through all of the newbie lessons, for example. Certain phrases will stick in your head naturally from the beginning, but I wouldn't worry too much about memorizing stuff at this point. Exposure to the highest frequency items will do the trick. Listen, listen, listen. If you get the chance to speak a bit, then that's great. Practicing the tones is ok too, but it is unlikely that you wil lbe abe to spontaneously generate proper tones for some time in a communicative situation. The tones are just like any other part of learning the language - you acquire them gradually, through practice. Over the long term continued exposure to comprehensible input as well as as much practice as you can get will get you to where you want to be. I don't know of any performance enhancing drugs. Btw, you win the gold for the the most mixed metaphors in a single comment. Ken carroll]]> ChinesePod
Eddie, I beleive the newbie should focus on comprehension: listening to and understanding as many of the sounds as you can. You shoudl try to engage with as much input as you can - by going through all of the newbie lessons, for example. Certain phrases will stick in your head naturally from the beginning, but I wouldn't worry too much about memorizing stuff at this point. Exposure to the highest frequency items will do the trick. Listen, listen, listen. If you get the chance to speak a bit, then that's great. Practicing the tones is ok too, but it is unlikely that you wil lbe abe to spontaneously generate proper tones for some time in a communicative situation. The tones are just like any other part of learning the language - you acquire them gradually, through practice. Over the long term continued exposure to comprehensible input as well as as much practice as you can get will get you to where you want to be. I don't know of any performance enhancing drugs. Btw, you win the gold for the the most mixed metaphors in a single comment. Ken carroll]]> ChinesePod
Supplementary vocab for this lesson: 运动会 (yùndònghuì) game, sports meet 2008 年北京奥运会 (2008nián Běijīng Àoyùnhuì) 2008 Beijing Olympics 志愿者 (zhìyuàn zhě) volunteer 看奥运会 /看奥运 (kàn Àoyùnhuì) watch the Olympics 去看奥运会 (qù kàn Àoyùnhuì) go to watch the Olympics 我要去看奥运会。 (Wǒ yào qù kàn Àoyùnhuì.) I'll go to watch the Olympics. 你想去看奥运会吗？ (Nǐ xiǎng qù kàn Àoyùnhuì ma?) Do you want to go to watch the Olympics? 最喜欢 (zuì xǐhuān) like best 我最喜欢……。 (Wǒ zuì xǐhuān) I like……best. 北京欢迎你！ (Běijīng huānyíng nǐ!) Beijing welcomes you! ~Connie]]> ChinesePod
Supplementary vocab for this lesson: 运动会 (yùndònghuì) game, sports meet 2008 年北京奥运会 (2008nián Běijīng Àoyùnhuì) 2008 Beijing Olympics 志愿者 (zhìyuàn zhě) volunteer 看奥运会 /看奥运 (kàn Àoyùnhuì) watch the Olympics 去看奥运会 (qù kàn Àoyùnhuì) go to watch the Olympics 我要去看奥运会。 (Wǒ yào qù kàn Àoyùnhuì.) I'll go to watch the Olympics. 你想去看奥运会吗？ (Nǐ xiǎng qù kàn Àoyùnhuì ma?) Do you want to go to watch the Olympics? 最喜欢 (zuì xǐhuān) like best 我最喜欢……。 (Wǒ zuì xǐhuān) I like……best. 北京欢迎你！ (Běijīng huānyíng nǐ!) Beijing welcomes you! ~Connie]]>