Comments on: Learning Chinese http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/ An American expatriate shares his thoughts on life, language, food, and culture in Taiwan. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:59:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Tyler http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/comment-page-1/#comment-79 Tyler Tue, 12 May 2009 09:31:37 +0000 http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/#comment-79 Just learn the characters, Learn how to write, make a list with them on it, then memorize them. It's as simple as that. Or if you are inclined make flashcards. But just make sure you study, review, and read, alot. It works. Just learn the characters,
Learn how to write, make a list with them on it, then memorize them.
It’s as simple as that.
Or if you are inclined make flashcards.
But just make sure you study, review, and read, alot.
It works.

]]> By: The Expatriate http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/comment-page-1/#comment-68 The Expatriate Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:16:40 +0000 http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/#comment-68 Ah yes, thanks for pointing that out. Been a while since I've written this and I was indeed wrong. I've heard of<em> Remembering the Kanji</em> and it's newest release in the form of <em>Remembering the Hanzi</em>. However, from what I've read, <em>RtH</em> isn't that useful. It only has stories/mnemonics for the first few characters and then leaves you to think of stories on their own. I'll pass. I recently picked up <em>Learning Chinese Characters</em> by Alison Matthews, which shows 800 basic characters, a quick etymology, and a mnemonic story for each of them. It's aimed at simplified characters, but it shows traditional forms as well. Very nice, although I don't really use the mnemonics to remember characters. Perhaps I should start. Ah yes, thanks for pointing that out. Been a while since I’ve written this and I was indeed wrong. I’ve heard of Remembering the Kanji and it’s newest release in the form of Remembering the Hanzi. However, from what I’ve read, RtH isn’t that useful. It only has stories/mnemonics for the first few characters and then leaves you to think of stories on their own. I’ll pass.

I recently picked up Learning Chinese Characters by Alison Matthews, which shows 800 basic characters, a quick etymology, and a mnemonic story for each of them. It’s aimed at simplified characters, but it shows traditional forms as well. Very nice, although I don’t really use the mnemonics to remember characters. Perhaps I should start.

]]> By: Mark http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/comment-page-1/#comment-67 Mark Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:59:23 +0000 http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/#comment-67 Oh, yeah. And for character learning, there's a mnemonic system pioneered by a student (now philosophy teacher) of Japanese. It's unconventional and somewhat controversial, but it's done wonders for my writing abilities. It probably depends on what kind of learning suits you, but it <i>might</i> be worth a shot. I wrote about it here: http://toshuo.com/2009/remembering-the-kanji-at-last/ Oh, yeah. And for character learning, there’s a mnemonic system pioneered by a student (now philosophy teacher) of Japanese. It’s unconventional and somewhat controversial, but it’s done wonders for my writing abilities. It probably depends on what kind of learning suits you, but it might be worth a shot.

I wrote about it here:
http://toshuo.com/2009/remembering-the-kanji-at-last/

]]> By: Mark http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Mark Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:52:11 +0000 http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2008/07/13/learning-chinese/#comment-66 <blockquote>Pīnyīn is used only in some dictionaries and to help foreigners (typically, those that speak English) pronounce or write out Chinese words. It isn’t very useful in Taiwan or, I Imagine, China and Hong Kong.</blockquote> Actually, every school child in China learns pinyin as an intermediate step while in the process of acquiring character literacy. It's used much in the same way as zhuyin is in Taiwan. In fact, I had a Taiwanese children's book with me on a train ride from Beijing to Shanghai in the summer of 2006 and the Chinese people who saw it didn't know what the zhuyin was! A couple of them told me they thought it looked like Japanese. Due to the sheer size of China, pinyin use far far outstrips that of zhuyin. You might find some of these pictures interesting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpasden/297327175/in/photostream/ http://images.amazon.cn/b/ban_lwk_081030_waed8105391.jpg http://images.amazon.cn/b/ban_lwk_080425_waed8038061.jpg

Pīnyīn is used only in some dictionaries and to help foreigners (typically, those that speak English) pronounce or write out Chinese words. It isn’t very useful in Taiwan or, I Imagine, China and Hong Kong.

Actually, every school child in China learns pinyin as an intermediate step while in the process of acquiring character literacy. It’s used much in the same way as zhuyin is in Taiwan. In fact, I had a Taiwanese children’s book with me on a train ride from Beijing to Shanghai in the summer of 2006 and the Chinese people who saw it didn’t know what the zhuyin was! A couple of them told me they thought it looked like Japanese. Due to the sheer size of China, pinyin use far far outstrips that of zhuyin.

You might find some of these pictures interesting:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpasden/297327175/in/photostream/
http://images.amazon.cn/b/ban_lwk_081030_waed8105391.jpg
http://images.amazon.cn/b/ban_lwk_080425_waed8038061.jpg

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