Upper Intermediate
Purrfecdizzo
October 18, 2011, 01:26 PM posted in General DiscussionI am thinking of making the jump to Upper Intermediate, and I want to know if there are any lessons that may be a bit easier to maybe get my feet wet. I am intimidated because those lessons are taught almost entirely in Chinese, but Intermediate level lessons are becoming too easy. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your consideration.
George
pretzellogic
I should have said, "all the UPPER intermediates".
Purrfecdizzo
I guess shorter would have fewer vocabulary words, and less to understand in terms of the Chinese...
kimiik
October 18, 2011, 04:23 PMIn the list of recent Upper intermediate lessons, I would consider the following as pretty accessible :
Purrfecdizzo
thanks
bababardwan
October 21, 2011, 04:40 AMGeorge,
Firstly, congratulations on venturing to take the next step.Because you have said:
"Intermediate level lessons are becoming too easy"
...I was thinking that it won't matter too much which UI you go for you'll be fine. I'd just pick a topic your interested in. I guess you could also look for a topic that is more likely to have vocab you're already familiar with based on what you've previously studied. I was also noticing that in the latest UI [Litanzhang final mission part 4] the first part is said quite slowly, a few words at a time which makes that bit very easy. But it is followed by a small amout of dialogue that uses an altered voice so that bit's probably a bit harder. But I would be happy to help you with that lesson in any bits that you need help with. Just let me know. But do you find the dialogues difficult or the discussion? Anyhow, good luck mate :)
Purrfecdizzo
bababardwan,
Sorry I didn't notice this reply sooner, and thanks for the offer for help. I actually am doing better with the upper-intermediate than I thought that I was going to. Sure there are more words to learn, but what I find is that many are related to words that I learned in earlier difficulty levels, so it isn't quite that bad.
There is, however, one thing that I struggle with. I have a hard time memorizing the expansion sentences. This is especially true at the upper-intermediate level. Does anyone have any suggestions or strategies that may help me in this regard? Is memorizing the expansion sentences really worth the effort, or might my efforts be more beneficially spent in a different aspect of Chinese study?
Thanks in advance.
bababardwan
Good stuff George. I knew you'd be fine.
"I have a hard time memorizing the expansion sentences"
..heck, now you're putting me to shame. The expansion sentences are great but I'm doing really well if I ever get around to going through them, let alone memorising them. I must say, I think some phrases are probably worth learning as a chunk, but I've never really considered memorising them. Now that you've asked, my feeling is that the utility of such an exercise would be related to level. That is, that newbie and ellie sentences were likely to be quite useful, and the higher the level, the less likely you're ever going to use that specific sentence. I can't think it overly likely you'll ever use the same specific sentence that's used in an UI expansion. I'm sure there is some utility in such an exercise but I would think it probably has decreasing return for your time. I think it this level it's more important to understand what is being said [that's what I use them for when I get around to it] and to practice being versatile with the language..work out how to use new vocab and how to construct your own sentences and just take the expansions as examples of usage. But hey, that's just my opinion. Better to ask someone like John and see what he says.
Purrfecdizzo
bababardwan,
Thanks again, you have been most encouraging. Thanks for the insight, and a few moments of your time.
George
bababardwan
不用谢朋友。 加油！
pretzellogic
October 18, 2011, 03:38 PMFor me, easier meant shorter. I didn't listen to all the intermediates, but some of these were on the shorter side. Sorry I didn't paste the links:
- Opening a Meeting
- Closing a Meeting
- The Customer comes First
- Second Hand Bicycle
- Outdoor Survivors (part 1 & 2)
- Sex Education Class