HELP!! Learning Chinese as ABC
jinjin
April 23, 2008, 03:12 PM posted in General DiscussionI was wondering what advice you all have regarding learning Chinese as an ABC. I speak Chinese at a moderately advance level but I barely read/write (elementary level at best).
I assume this is a problem for many people so I was wondering what strategies you have developed when using Chinese pod.
Right now, I am listening to the more advance pods for spoken vocab but just looking at the vocab lists for the beginning lessons but I was just wondering if anyone has a better method.
Thanks in advance!
man2toe
May 15, 2008, 09:06 PMBy using ABC do you mean American Born Chinese? If so, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and/or Singapore family background? Why do I ask this? Well, just a thought here... asking a relative that is still in Asia to buy you a set of elementary primers starting from preschool to 六年級. With your speaking ability, on your own, tackle a lesson a day with the preschool and first grade primer. Then, asking someone to hold you accountable (maybe weekly written tests)tackle a lesson a week using the second through sixth grade primers. Couple this with hanging out on Cpod, you will be golden in about two years. Just an idea worth considering. Peace,
frances
May 15, 2008, 09:37 PMMy feeling is that the most productive way to pick up characters is extensive use of flashcards and writing the characters over and over and over. I don't think there is any really easy way to absorb characters except extensive exposure, which you won't find by accident while you're living in the US. A lot of computer flashcard systems will automatically adjust card frequency - show you specific characters less frequently as you demonstrate increasing mastery. There are some free web based flashcard programs, and some stand-alone computer programs. I haven't tried many of them because I've been a happy user of PlecoDict, a program for PalmOS or WindowsMobile (aka Pocket PC) based PDAs.
jinjin
May 15, 2008, 05:55 PMbump