Study Tips

Study Tips

It’s never too late – or too early for that matter – to learn a new language. Like any new skill, mastering a foreign language takes time and practice. Don’t let a busy life deter you. Try a few of these fun study tips to help keep you motivated while you learn to speak Mandarin Chinese.

 

Save the Date

Learning a foreign language is a commitment. Decide when you’ll schedule study times, just like you did when you were in school. You did study, right? If not, this is an excellent time to develop good study habits. Schedule study sessions on a calendar, your laptop, or a cell phone. Writing them down makes it more likely that you’ll honor the commitment.

Set an Alarm

Start your day with language learning. You don’t even have to get out of bed. If you have a smartphone that lets you use custom alarm ringtones, this is the perfect way to wake-up. Create some voice memos with the new Mandarin words you’re learning. Use the memos as your alarm ringtones. Can you think of anything better than waking up to Mandarin Chinese? Be careful – you might find yourself hitting “snooze” several times.

Be a Night Owl

Are you an insomniac? Take advantage of those sleepless hours to practice your language skills. A 2016 study found that practicing foreign-language vocabulary at night, just before dozing off may help you better retain what you’ve learned. The key to this is to make it a regular bedtime activity. Repeated practice and sleep has a positive effect on long-term retention. Combine your night owl tendencies with early morning vocabulary practice and you’ll be talking like a native in no time.

Make Flash Cards

Flash cards are an economical yet practical study tool. Toss your flashcards in your backpack or laptop bag. Wow, friends and co-workers with your new skills. Ask people to test you – just like you used to do in grade school when you were studying for a spelling test. Put a few flashcards in places where you’re sure to see them. The bathroom mirror. Your pillow. The steering wheel. A sneaky way to study, indeed.

Take a Break

Bet you didn’t know that 75% of smartphone owners admit to using them in the bathroom. Now that puts a whole new twist on those 15-minute breaks your employer is required to give you. Fifteen minutes is plenty of time to study a few Mandarin grammar structures. When you think about it, instead of boring your co-workers with the usual one-sided conversations heard in break rooms and employee bathrooms, download a Mandarin app and practice vocabulary. Can you think of a better way to maximize break time?

While learning Mandarin, or any other language isn’t easy, using lack of time as an excuse not to start just doesn’t work. Try a few of these tips and see if you don’t find time in your day to study. Good luck! 祝你成功

Learn Mandarin Chinese: 5 Reasons Why

Learn Mandarin Chinese: 5 Reasons Why

New languages — learning them is always a good idea. We live in a world where everything is constantly changing, so we must adapt.

Here at ChinesePod we believe tackling a new language is always a great first step for people of all ages. The most important thing to know is which language you should learn. Here are 5 reasons Mandarin should be your choice.

1. Chinese language is spoken by more people than any other language in the world

Chinese is a language that is spoken across the globe. There are more than one billion people who speak Chinese in Asia alone. And almost 900 million of those people speak Mandarin! You will find even more speakers around the rest of the globe, many of which are not necessarily Chinese people.

Learning Mandarin at www.chinesepod.com will help you in many ways in your life. ChinesePod allows you to study at you own pace, whenever and wherever you are. Additionally, it’s truly a gift to be part of a group with so many speakers.

2. Learn about Chinese history and culture

China has a lot to offer when it comes to history. China is one of the oldest continuing civilizations in the world with one of the richest cultures. Filled with talented artists, incredible temples and artifacts, you will always find something fascinating to learn about Chinese culture.

 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Being able to speak Mandarin, you will actually be able to read all sorts of books and watch many movies in Chinese. It is always better to be able to experience everything created in its native language. Learn more in this video on the benefits of reading in Mandarin, featuring Mandarin Companions.

3. Learning Chinese isn’t all that difficult

While many people believe learning Mandarin is difficult, you shouldn’t let this idea stop you from learning the language. Chinese characters might seem scary, but written Chinese doesn’t have particular tenses or conjugations for verbs, so it becomes a lot easier to manage. Plus, Chinese has Pinyin — Pinyin(拼音) which literally means “spelled sounds”. Per Wikipedia, it was “introduced to primary schools as a way to teach Standard Chinese pronunciation and used to improve the literacy rate among adults.”

When you study Chinese you will soon come to find that speaking Chinese is even easier than writing it. You can easily practice and learn to speak Mandarin by listening to songs or watching movies and shows without subtitles. This way, you will be learning Mandarin Chinese in no time!

4. Boost your career

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Knowing Mandarin Chinese is bound to be an eye-catching skill on your CV. China’s economy is one of the world’s biggest and it is one of the fastest growing countries in the world.

By learning how to speak Mandarin, your employer will know that you will be able to work with companies and clients from outside your country. If you are looking to be involved in international business, this could be a great opportunity for you! Simon, with www.dawnoftruth.com, participated in the speak Mandarin Chinese in 90 days challenge.

5. Understanding Mandarin will help you to communicate while traveling

Did you know that Mandarin is not only spoken in China? Countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore along with many others have large Chinese populations. Knowing Mandarin, you will be able to make your travels a lot easier.

Speaking more than one language will allow you to travel to many different countries and be able to communicate with the locals on a better level. It will also help you to better experience the country. While most people want to just travel to Hong Kong so that they can use English to communicate, you will be able to see so many more places!

Forming Questions with 吗 ma [ATWTI 21] · Chinese Lesson

Learning a language can broaden your horizons

Whether you wish to travel more, expand your future career opportunities or even learn the history of China, Mandarin is definitely the language you should pick to learn.

If you’re looking for the fastest way to learn Mandarin, you should definitely use ChinesePod. Not only do they help you learn easily and on the go, they also do not require you to have any previous knowledge of the language. Give it a try and you will definitely not be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

How To Learn Chinese – Where to start

How To Learn Chinese – Where to start

Want to speak Chinese without getting lost in translation – both literally and figuratively? After a quick Google search of ‘Learn Chinese’, you find there’s simply so much information to cipher through.  Whether it’s Google Ads or cleaver YouTube titles, you’ll find yourself not knowing who to trust for the best curated, cognitive and well-crafted lessons.  Let’s do a comparison between Good, Cheap and Fast content.

See, in our world, you cannot have your cake and eat it too….

You MUST choose 2 of 3 options: Good, Fast or Cheap – as described by Jennifer Kes Remington’s Blog: Good, Fast, Cheap: You Can Only Pick Two!

Image Source: Venn Diagram showing the correlation of Good, Fast, and Cheap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In her blog she explains 3 different but similar concepts:

 

  1. Cheap+Fast=NOT Good
  2. Good+Cheap=NOT Fast
  3. Good+Fast=NOT Cheap

As most would agree, these 3 concepts are an unsaid law which plays a major role in our day-to-day lives.

You’ve probably already searched the term “Learn Chinese” and you’ve probably seen the ads which implicitly state ‘Learn Chinese Fast.”  Maybe you saw something like this:

“Learn Chinese in 30 Days – Scientifically Proven Method” – $8.25/month

“Learn Chinese in 2 Days – Chinese Flashcards” –$9.00/month

Both are relatively cheap. If you are in need to Learn Chinese quickly, great! These are exactly what you need. On the other hand, for those who are searching for quality, in-depth online courses, you’d need to dive a tad-bit deeper.

Here at ChinesePod.com, we do not pride ourselves on being in the FAST lane. We pride ourselves on QUALITY content shown by over 4,000 online lessons, with a good PRICE tag. Here Furio Fu, the author of saporedicina.com, writes:

Source: https://www.saporedicina.com/english/chinese-courses/

One way to measure QUALITY is online reviews from both websites and students. With over 13 years of content, we are flooded with positive reviews on our very popular YouTube Channel and several 3rd party websites as shown below.

Youtube video: Describing Personalities in Mandarin Chinese: Part One (Intermediate Level)

 

Source: https://www.alllanguageresources.com/chinesepod-review/

Further, to insure you will not jump into the deep end, we’ve placed several safeguards. Here you will find our structured lessons and levels:

  • Newbie – The newbie lessons focus on pronunciation and basic words/phrases which are mostly in English. Perfect for the beginner
  • Elementary – The elementary lessons focus on building a vocabulary base and introduces simple grammar structures
  • Pre-Intermediate – Weighted portion in English, focus on simple exchange of information regarding routine matters
  • Intermediate – A mix between Chinese and English, this level focuses on complex grammar structures
  • Upper-Intermediate – Primarily Chinese with some English, this level focuses on advanced grammar patterns
  • Advance – Entirely Chinese, with a focus on formal vocabulary

This is a great time to see what level you are with the $.99 one month Premium Subscription! 

Of course, the hands down best, aka GOOD,  way to learn Chinese is to live abroad in China. Surely you can expect the associated expenses such as Cost of Living, but considering just the cost of learning the language – you learn pretty much free of charge. And what’s better than a 6-12 month long hands on experience?

ChinesePod is filled with TONS of well-crafted lessons and curated material from Newbie to Advanced. So, don’t worry about not fitting in. Let ChinesePod be your gateway to learn Mandarin. Start with Pinyin Here!

Use Of “ba” – An Elementary Lesson

Use Of “ba” – An Elementary Lesson

Learning Chinese is a magical journey made accessible and satisfying by recognizing new patterns. Here are four common Chinese characters based on 巴, all delightfully discussed and explained. 巴, 把, 爸, and 吧, are often used and very useful characters to master. They all use ‘ba’ as a phonetic sound but differ quite dramatically in tone and how we use them.

Learning how to properly use the different ‘ba’ sound commonly heard in Mandarin will make learning Chinese just that little bit easier. Here’s a quick look to contextualize what you can take from this article:

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