Learn Mandarin Chinese

I just got another Chinese learner’s book for Christmas – Chinese for Dummies. Although it’s not amazing (and has no Chinese characters in it, imagine that!), it has alternate phrases, more words I did not know, and it’s geared towards speaking, so I’m working more and more on my vocalizations and vocalizing myself. I also got a Chinese Character-A-Day calendar, so I can practice characters and keep them in mind each day.

As for progress, I think I have a beginner’s understanding of Chinese. I can get around the country with relative ease, make myself understood, and even recognize simple queries of others (e.g. Dao nali? – Where are you going?). I hope to leave Chinese with at least an intermediate level of Chinese writing, speaking, and comprehension.

Slowly, slowly.

It’s tough to keep all these characters in mind, and their subtle changes that differentiate one from another. It’s also hard to remember tonal inflections for each character. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I don’t speak it that much and only practice a little bit every couple of days. I need to make this a daily activity so I keep what I’ve learned fresh in my head and can incorporate new words into what I already know.

On the plus side, I have been complimented by many Chinese people that I write and speak (what I know) pretty well. :)

In china, picking some up slowly, but it takes practice. I seem to be learning the characters a lot faster than I can identify the associated sounds. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

I’m learning slowly. Maybe have 50 characters memorized. It’s getting easier for me to identify them—at first I was having problems. I still have to keep in mind the pinyin, English translation, and pronunciation. I feel at this point I could much more easily memorize characters and their meaning than having to recite them. The different vocal inflections are still tripping me up, so I need more listening practice. A friend gave me some flash cards and those are becoming quite helpful. Let’s see how much I can learn in a month before I have to go to China.