I can understand a few words and i am trying to learn more… so i was on confucious online site and trying to learn new sentences… the problem is that the english translation is not exact so i am getting more and more confused see example below. I usually learn words and then putting sentences together… i just dont know how to do it when learning chinese online as the words ill be using wont mean the meaning according to the translation… does this makes sense or is it just me?!
zhè shì wǒ men de yì diǎn er xīn yì . my understanding is . This is our (the) one small gift
这 是 我 们 的 一 点 儿 心 意 。
It’s just a small gift.
Sorry guys… it seems im just frustrated…
(i just havent found the method that is suitable for me yet)
The last two words would rather mean a show of appreciation.
There is no way that you are going to learn Chinese by translating words and putting sentences together. It just doesn’t work because due to collocations the way words go together are just not the same.
If you are going to learn Chinese online, contact Ironlady and do it through Skype. She will get you going in no-time.
The thing is, if you only understand a little Mandarin, learning random sentences isn’t going to do the trick, and random sentences are more or less what you’re going to find on most of the one-size-fits-all we-have-online-Chinese sites.
You need to get the structure (aka “grammar”) of Chinese internalized in your head as quickly as possible, and acquire some vocabulary to use with it. While the sentence you are talking about is a nice one, and could be useful in the right situation, it’s not as frequently used as something like “What do you want to eat?”, for instance – and that’s where you want to be starting out.
The free Internet site shrapnel method of learning Chinese works about as well as the Taiwanese students learning English by buying one of those “9000 Useful English Sentences” books. (Except that there are probably fewer errors on the Chinese teaching sites than in the English in those books. )
As part of my masters, we did a semester on the influence of online learning platforms and we looked at livemocha.com. Now a bad site but the problem is that you have no idea who is checking your work and who you’re talking to and the structure isn’t as effective as they claim it is.
As part of my masters, we did a semester on the influence of online learning platforms and we looked at livemocha.com. Now a bad site but the problem is that you have no idea who is checking your work and who you’re talking to and the structure isn’t as effective as they claim it is.[/quote]
Interesting… I never seized on those features. I don’t actually like the Rosetta Stone platform.
Then, of course, there’s the YellowBridge, which has one quite interesting Hanzi memorization program based on some determination of characters to be learned by age level: yellowbridge.com/chinese/fc- … hp?deck=tw . That’s not a standalone program, but it gives some insight into the Taiwanese elementary workload.
As part of my masters, we did a semester on the influence of online learning platforms and we looked at livemocha.com. Now a bad site but the problem is that you have no idea who is checking your work and who you’re talking to and the structure isn’t as effective as they claim it is.[/quote]
Interesting… I never seized on those features. I don’t actually like the Rosetta Stone platform.
Then, of course, there’s the YellowBridge, which has one quite interesting Hanzi memorization program based on some determination of characters to be learned by age level: yellowbridge.com/chinese/fc- … hp?deck=tw . That’s not a standalone program, but it gives some insight into the Taiwanese elementary workload.[/quote]
I seriously doubt if anyone would pick up much Mandarin from that. The lack of interaction is what I find problematic. I can use that to review reading at a Intermediate level, which is where I am at, butI much rather read Doraemon.
[quote=“finley”][quote=“zender”]
For listening and speaking…
I think Mike Cambell’s stuff would be beneficial to many at lower and intermediate levels.
[/quote]
I found that very watchable … but for all the wrong reasons …[/quote]
As part of my masters, we did a semester on the influence of online learning platforms and we looked at livemocha.com. Now a bad site but the problem is that you have no idea who is checking your work and who you’re talking to and the structure isn’t as effective as they claim it is.[/quote]
Interesting… I never seized on those features. I don’t actually like the Rosetta Stone platform.
Then, of course, there’s the YellowBridge, which has one quite interesting Hanzi memorization program based on some determination of characters to be learned by age level: yellowbridge.com/chinese/fc- … hp?deck=tw . That’s not a standalone program, but it gives some insight into the Taiwanese elementary workload.[/quote]
I seriously doubt if anyone would pick up much Mandarin from that. The lack of interaction is what I find problematic. I can use that to review reading at a Intermediate level, which is where I am at, butI much rather read Doraemon.[/quote]
It’s nice that you’ve found something that you like reading. I’m partial to Bleach, movie transcripts, and philosophy titles myself.
I still think that the best site for public interaction is http://www.lang-8.com/ or Forumosa Friends, but you really need to start with a friend to really get into the swing of those sites (someone who will regularly chat with you). That’s where Facebook comes in!
I pick up substantial amounts of Mandarin from flash cards and subsequent encounters with the cards’ words and sentences in reading. Those sites probably reflect that.
newclo.com is a beta site that has a bunch of good exercises included like sentence builders, etc. Combine that with Pleco for flashcards. Hit that like it’s Gym Tan Laundry. Every. Single. Day. A lesson a day. Listen a few times, do the audio exercises. Review the flashcards. Just hit it like it’s GTL. GTL, CLO, Pleco. GTL, CLO, Pleco.
Then practice by interacting with native speakers on Facebook (for your reading & typing) or in person in Chinese (for your speech). One trick for seeing colloquialisms is to read FB posts and use the Bing translator that’s now built into Facebook to get a rough idea. If you don’t have it turned on yet, just point your browser to beta.facebook.com. Then try to comment and interact in Chinese. You will mess up a lot but your friends will value the effort and will often help you. Good luck!
Grammar-based progressive lessons. That’s one way to go. Of course, most “canned” content is going to be grammar-based, because that’s the easiest content to can.
It always amazes me, however, given the low success rate (overall, how many people who start out wanting to learn Chinese get fluent?) in live classes, how anyone expects to achieve fluency on their own using precisely the same methods but without the advantage of interaction.
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