01 year 10 weeks into study
Purrfecdizzo
January 23, 2009, 04:10 AM posted in General DiscussionHello everyone,
Like I stated last week, the study efforts have been scaled back. This is mostly because of the fact I have less time on account of the fact that my classes have resumed in college. The progress of this week was either average, or a little bit under average. Here are the specifics;
Currently, I have flashcards for 579 terms (more or less). I am studying about 80 or so of the 579, so that means that I have proficiency of about 500 terms. I am again adding 60 terms this week, and I am not converting any handwritten terms this week.
Each week, I plan on setting aside one day to do review of flashcards that I already know. If I identify words that I have trouble with, I put them in with the stack that I am currently learning. This week, I took a trip to Washington DC to watch the Presidential Inauguration, and that disrupted my rhythm a little bit. I missed Tuesday's flashcard session, and on Wednesday I made a decision to skip my weekly review session and do flashcards instead so that I would remain at the pace that I want to maintain.
For the speaking and listening, it was a mixed week. It started out strong, and ended up non-existent. I didnt do any podcasts at all since Saturday because of frustration. I was working at a podcast, and I seemed unable to learn any of the words. I grew frustrated and started listening to music instead. Tonight, I plan on starting the podcasts again. I am just dreading doing so.
Well, that is all I want to say right now.
mark
January 23, 2009, 06:32 AM慢慢走吧！ I could say that I am year 6 and 28 weeks into studying Chinese, but who's counting. However, I am still enjoying the journey.
miantiao
January 23, 2009, 07:28 AMmark，
帮你一下， 应该说 ‘慢慢来吧’
‘慢慢走’ 或 ‘慢走’ 的意思是 ‘欢迎再来’ 或 ‘保重’, 不过 ‘保重’ 不常用。 我们英文里说 take it easy, take care.
RJ
January 23, 2009, 12:50 PMMiantiao- I believe Mark is trying to say "go slow." Are you saying the expression 慢慢走吧 is not correct? A little different than 慢走.
I always have had a problem with Chinese greetings. What do you say. Ni hao is too common and Zao only works in the morning. In English there are so many. Im trying out a new one - 干吗 or 干吗呢. What do you think? For good bye 慢走 will work although I find this 保重 interesting. Can one use this? You say it is not common.
miantiao
January 23, 2009, 03:31 PMrjberki
i think mark is refering to the length of time it takes to aquire language skills, its a slow process but buy saying 没问题，慢慢来l infers the speaker understands this and that persistence will pay off. i can't recall 慢慢走 ever being used in this context.
慢走 infers take care, to take it easy. it's used in most social interactions as a gesture of goddwill when saying goodbye.when leaving a shop most shopowners and or employees wil say 慢走, in this context it generally means thank you and please come again. 慢走is only directed at the person leaving.
干嘛 and 你干嘛 can infer a number of meanings dependant on the speakers tone of voice, the situation, and closeness of relationship.
保重 was used a bit in taiwan when i was there 10 years ago. i haven't heard it used here except for long term separations.
你好is fine,so is 早啊，早上好，下午好，晚上好，its also good manners to call people by name, generally name first then the 你好， then you may ask if they are busy or have eaten yet depending on the time of day.吃饭了吗？ 吃饭了没？，吃了，谢谢，你呢。 if you accidentally pop into someone you know on the street you could ask them how is it that they're there too。 冰冰，你好啊，你怎么来这儿吗？来，你不忙的话我请你喝咖啡,好吗？
Purrfecdizzo
January 23, 2009, 07:49 PMHi pearltowerpete,
I enjoy listening to the lessons with the songs, they are my favorites. For example, the colors song, or the friends song. I appreciate that great care has gone into the production of the songs. I like listening to them because they are so different than what I listen to normally. If I had it my way, I would make more song lessons for Chinesepod.
I think that is also why I enjoyed the poem podcast so much is because it is so different. I am not going to say that I understand the meaning of the poem in detail after just one listen, but I didnt find it too unaccessible.
thanks,
RJ
January 23, 2009, 09:24 PMthanks Miantiao.
mark
January 23, 2009, 11:01 PMMiantiao, 谢谢你的纠正。 你猜得对我的意思。
pearltowerpete
January 23, 2009, 05:52 AMHi amesburygeorge
Some frustration is totally normal when you are stretching your brain by studying such a difficult language. You've set ambitious goals for yourself. That's great.
Don't get discouraged. To get your enthusiasm back, you may want to listen to some of your favorite Chinese songs.
The worst thing you could do is to make studying Chinese a chore. Mastering this language requires love.