Learn Mandarin Chinese

I took an assessment test on an online Chinese language learning website called ChineseTime. While I’m not sure if I’ll actually use the services offered on this site as they’re not free, I was hoping that the assessment test would give me a general idea of my progress. One of the disadvantages of self study is that I’m not subjected to regular exams or quizzes, so I don’t have convenient benchmarks to compare my progress against. Anyway, I scored 10 out of 12 on the listening section, 3 out of 10 on the grammar section, 2 out of 3 on the reading comprehension section, and 3 out of 6 on the character recognition section. According to this test, I am an “intermediate” level learner.

This test did help to point out a big weakness in my preparation so far. I think it makes sense that I would do well, at least for my level, on the listening and reading because that’s what I’ve mainly been practicing. I haven’t really been actively speaking or writing complex passages, which is probably why my grammar skills are lacking. I’m concerned too that I’m able to understand but not speak well or think of how to write something in a fluent manner. I just need more practice. It was recommended that I spend 6 hours a week studying, which is probably about as much as I can spare for the next month or so (although I think I really need more). I will try to use this time to learn more grammar and practice writing and speaking more. Also, my friend has been sending my e-mails in Chinese on a weekly basis, and I do my best to answer back in Chinese. This helps a lot.

i’m in my second semester of mandarin now, and it’s getting a lot harder. but i’ve made a friend at work who speaks mandarin and i try to talk to him as much as i can. it’s great practice to actually talk to someone, because dang, those tones are HARD! practice practice practice those tones!

above is one of my best chinese buddies.

OH! and CHINESEPOD.com is the BEST thing ever! definitely check it out!

They are offering Chinese 101 at PCC this summer, and I am soooooooooooo taking it! I am really excited for this, because it’s really inexpensive to take the class, and I may be able to continue after this summer (Not so sure about that one), and even if I don’t, I will at least have some basics under my belt, right?

I currently go to university, so taking a class for this wouldn’t be difficult. I just need to arrange my schedule for the next two semesters to that I can fit a Chinese class in there somewhere. I am finishing up two degrees next year, and I don’t know if I will have time to do this, but I want to get started before I go to graduate school. I won’t have anytime then to do this.

Progress: fair

I still pick away at language Cd’s in my car at times, but not consistently, and my flash card/worksheet needs are all but ignored. I did watch two Chinese movies recently, and payed close attention to the words, but that’s hardly sufficient.

I did get a new Chinese Book of Mormon last month. Now I just need to regularly compare it with the pinyin translation I found online and study it.

Next: more CDs in car, do some paperwork, email Chinese LDS guy I found online for ideas.

”..i’m actually enjoying learning this language.. i was able to download a free software from the web.. so whenever i have free time, i learn a few words.. i am also able to read and write quite fairly well now.. whenever i can i try to watch chinese movies, though i end up just reading most of the characters to get the gist of what the characters are saying.. and more often than not, i have no idea what they are talking about.. but i’m enjoying anyway, so i’m sticking to this one until i’m confident enough to converse in it.. practice and discipline, i say!”

I’m a beginner who recently spent some time studying and traveling around China. I made some progress at first while in group and one-on-one classes at a university and at a private language school. However, I went home for several months and then went travelling, so my progress has stalled. I would like to get back into a more formal, consistent study routine. For now, I plan on using Rosetta Stone for at least one hour every day, for 5 days per week. I also want to learn more of the radicals in my writing book. This is my first entry on “43things” so I still need to work out a lot of the details. I also just joined a Chinese language meetup group in my city. It just barely formed last month, so this will only be it’s second meeting, but I hope I’ll eventually be able to meet some good people who also are interested in chinese culture. They plan to get together once a month for a game/movie night. I’ve only played mah jong once, but it could be fun to learn. There aren’t as many chinese speakers here as there are in places like CA or NY, so hopefully this will be a good chance to meet more people. In the future, I might also take a Chinese class at a local community college.

I’ve just completed my 3rd semester of Chinese language at University, all three were completed with a grade of “A”. That’s real progress! I have acquired well over one thousand Chinese characters and words, and can even command enough vocabulary and grammar to communicate in a fundamental way with anyone in Chinese. It is like I am fluent in “traveler’s” Chinese. Most travellers never do become fluent in “traveler’s” Chinese, so that is a strong sign for my progress here. I have one more semester to go then I will have met my language requirement for the degree, and that next semester will be like cementing all this together!

I’m taking a semester off from chinese, however. That will let the ground lay fallow there for about 8 months. That is good for cultivation of progress, however, especially after an intensive period of development. I’ll compensate that by reviewing in a relaxed way all that I have learned, and glimpsing ahead into the next semester’s materials also. I’ll also work on some other goals regarding Chinese language.

I’m going to start classes this coming spring.

I really want to learn Chinese because it is an interesting sounding language, I really want to visit the country, and I think I want to do a short teaching English thing in a primary school.