Chinese-forums.com is a Good Place to Interact with Other Chinese Students

Learning Tools No Responses »
Jun 232011

As a Chinese student, you probably have a number of questions about study methods or language specifics. For example, what are the best Chinese textbooks, where are the best schools for Chinese immersion, or how do you translate certain words or concepts into Chinese?

One good site for interacting with other Chinese students (and that includes socializing or getting opinions or advice) is Chinese-forums.com.

In addition to the message boards the site also has, at last count, 46 blogs.

The site is quite active too. I see there have been 36 entries made in the last 24 hours.

Posted by Kai at 5:41 pm Tagged with:

8 Reasons to Use Rocket Chinese to Learn Mandarin

Learning Tools, Lessons, News No Responses »
Jun 152011

I recently received an email from Lin Ping over at Rocket Languages that outlined reasons why students should choose Rocket Chinese over other Chinese study courses. Since I’ve been using Rocket Chinese for over a year now, and I agree with her points, I thought I would include them here at Chinese Study Lounge.

Reason 1.
You can learn Chinese anywhere, anytime, by learning online,
downloading the course to your computer and/or transferring the
audio lessons to your MP3 player.

Reason 2.
Learn to speak Chinese confidently by taking part in the modern,
everyday conversations that make up the popular Interactive Audio
lessons.

Reason 3.
You’ll learn to speak Chinese naturally, by understanding the
culture and how the language works, with our Language & Culture
Lessons (which include loads of embedded audio clips, quizzes, and
extra vocabulary.)

These lessons will give you insights into a wide variety of
situations you’re likely to encounter in China!

Reason 4.
You’ll get 24/7 online access to the Rocket Chinese Forum, where I
will answer your questions, together with other Rocket Chinese
teachers, native speakers and Rocket Chinese learners.

Reason 5.
You can follow the easy-to-use recommended learning path or choose
the lessons in the order that is most important to your life and
work – and you won’t forget which lesson you’re up to or where
you’re headed next because we’ve included a progress tracking
feature in the Rocket Chinese Learning Lounge.

Reason 6.
You’ll know much your Chinese has improved by using the Rocket
Chinese Premium Plus interactive quizzes and self-tests, and when
you’re ready, you can get certified with the Rocket Chinese
Certificate Tests!

Reason 7.
You WON’T BELIEVE how easy it is to learn Chinese with all this at
your fingertips – learn at your own pace, when it suits you, and
most importantly, ENJOY yourself.

Reason 8.
This is the cheapest way to get serious about speaking Chinese.

Go to Rocket Chinese website

Posted by Kai at 9:37 pm

iPhone App: 5000 Chinese Audio Flashcards

Apps, Characters, Learning Tools No Responses »
Jun 142011

Although I haven’t spent much time learning Chinese characters (I’m still relying on pinyin) I decided to install 5000 Chinese Audio Flashcards (also known as Flashcard Fu) on my iPhone 4. There are a couple of things I like about this little app.

First, it uses optimized learning. That just means that characters you have the most difficulty remembering are tested most often.

Second, Flashcard Fu has 5000 of the most frequently used characters. But the characters are divided into “decks” which means you can study the most important characters first, in bite-sized study intervals.

The 5000 Chinese Audio Flashcards app costs $2.99.

If you are looking for a Chinese flashcard app, check it out. You might find it helpful.

Posted by Kai at 6:49 pm

"Revolutionary New Way" to Learn Chinese Characters

Books, Characters, Learning Tools No Responses »
May 082011

Although I’ve been devoting my Chinese studies over the past year to learning conversational Mandarin, I would also like to learn to read and write Chinese. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I find remembering Chinese characters challenging, to say the least. I thought I good book that uses memory cues to help me remember might be a good investment. That’s why I bought Learning Chinese Characters, published by Tuttle.

This book describes itself as “a revolutionary new way to learn and remember the 800 most basic Chinese characters.”

The trick is that Learning Chinese Characters uses pictures and stories to speed the learning process and make it easier and more enjoyable.

However, after working through the first four or five chapters, this book’s method was not working for me and I gave it up. Overall I found it a slow path to learning Chinese characters. And the pictures and stories only yielded partial success.

I’ve studied memory techniques before and I have used picture stories to remember things. But in the past I always created my own stories. Using the pre-made stories in the book didn’t register with me.

But I’m not saying that you won’t find this book helpful. In fact, I think it might work well for some people. And I learned a few things too. For example, I will never forgot the image of the person’s arms spread wide to symbolize “da” (big) or the octopus associated with “ba” (eight).

Maybe I’ll take another look at this book in future. For now, I’m back to focusing on conversation.

Posted by Kai at 8:20 pm Tagged with:

China Panorama Approaching Chinese is a Good Book for Beginners

Books, Learning Tools 1 Response »
Sep 092010

When I decided to study Chinese earlier this year, the first thing I did was look for a good textbook. My tutor suggested using China Panorama: Approaching Chinese and I’m glad she did.

China Panorama is a series of three Chinese textbooks prepared by a group of TCFL experts working for The Development Centre for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language under the Ministry of Education in China.

I’m almost finished the first book in the series and will be starting book 2 in a few weeks.

Book 1 is designed for complete beginners and moves at a comfortable, easy pace (but not too easy!).

After completing all 3 books in the series, the publishers say you will know about 1,000 words and 200 sentence patterns.

I study this book with the assistance of my tutor. However, audio and video companions are available for self-learners.

Originally I planned on using the popular Integrated Chinese textbook and workbook, which I purchased from Amazon. But I prefer China Panorama. To me, it seems friendlier. Plus I have found it to be effective. I’m sticking with it.

Posted by Kai at 7:27 pm Tagged with: ,

Learn Basic Shanghainese Phrases with Shanghainese Soundboard

Audio, Best Resources, Learning Tools, Pronunciation, Shanghai No Responses »
Sep 052010

As you may already know, the dialect spoken in Shanghai is somewhat different from standard Mandarin. If you are planning a trip to Shanghai it would be useful (and fun) to learn a few Shanghainese words and phrases.

One of the best and easiest online tools for learning basic Shanghainese is the Shanghainese Soundboard.

This simple little tool lets you hear both Mandarin and Shanghainese for simple, common phrases like “thanks” or “I love you.”

The Shanghainese Soundboard is provided by the wonderful Sinosplice website.

Posted by Kai at 4:06 pm Tagged with: ,

Chinese-English Dictionary with Audio

Audio, Best Resources, Learning Tools, Pronunciation No Responses »
Sep 032010

If you’re studying Chinese, of course you need a Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary. The one I use is at Chinese-Tools.com.

I like the fact it is quick and comprehensive. Plus I can click on the speaker icon to play the audio and hear the correct pronunciation.

Do you know of a better free, two-way Chinese-English dictionary online? If so, let me know.

Posted by Kai at 5:08 pm Tagged with: ,

Learn Shanghainese with these Videos

Culture, Learning Tools, Lessons, Shanghai, Videos No Responses »
Aug 292010

As if learning Chinese wasn’t challenging enough, the poor, struggling student has to contend with countless unique dialects spoken across the vast nation of China. One of those dialects is Shanghainese.

Shanghainese, as you might guess, is the dialect spoken in and around Shanghai.

To help you learn a few words or Shanghainese, China Daily, the largest English-language newspaper in China, has produced a series of video lessons.

Although I haven’t learned much from these videos, I do find them highly entertaining — and slightly absurd. In fact, sometimes I wonder if the producer is playing a joke on us, or on whomever funded the project.

As of this writing, twenty video lessons are available for you to view. Themes range from “Who’s going to pick up the check” to “How to ask a girl out for coffee.”

Posted by Kai at 8:25 pm Tagged with: ,
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