TL;DR: I have a laundry list of resources and a plan on how to use them to start learning Mandarin. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Hello /r/ChineseLanguage,
After doing quite a bit of research, I have constructed the beginnings of a learning plan and would love some feedback. I am, almost certainly, overthinking it to some degree. I have an unhealthy interest in good pedagogy, which can sometimes lead to me spending more time optimizing my learning rather than just diving in. So apologies for the wall of text!
Background
- Time: I intend to spend about 5-10 hours a week to devote to learning the language.
- Current long term goal: B2 proficiency level. The time frame for this goal is rather flexible, but I am under no illusions that this will happen faster than 3-5 years
- Motivation: I have a strong interest in learning more about the culture of the region. I also would like a new challenge: I am an engineer/physicist by education, but have never really in earnest attempted to pick up a language. I think it would be a rewarding experience, and getting to a B1-B2 proficiency opens up certain professional development opportunities for me.
- Note: I intend to begin with traditional characters based on feedback I have received on this subreddit as well as my own research.
Method
-
Where I am starting: I am starting with pronunciation and Pinyin. I picked up one of Gabriel Wyner's (Fluent Forever author) pronunciation trainers and am about half way through. So far, its pretty helpful, though I have a long way to go. I want to start pronunciation properly, lest I get into bad habits now and become unintelligible. I also plan to subscribe to Chinesefor.us and will start out with their Pinyin Pronunciation and Tone Drill courses. In addition, I intend to find a tutor on iTalki to help make sure that my pronunciation is acceptable. Again, I really want to gain a solid foundation on how to speak properly before I dive too deep into the language proper.
-
Next Step: I intend to learn the 92 most common radicals using this Anki deck from Gabriel Wyner. I will also utilize the Chinesefor.us Charecter Writing course to really internalize how to write them properly and get a better understanding of the basic strokes, stroke order, etc. This step will be started soon, and will probably run in parallel with my pronunciation work. I know that this is often done more concurrently with character learning, but I like the idea of getting some of the more common ones out of the way first.
-
Textbooks: I plan to utilize the the Integrated Chinese 4th Edition as a primary framework. The electronic text and extra workbooks aren't expensive ($65 for 6 months of access) , and they seem pretty comprehensive and well reviewed. I intend to work through all four semesters worth of material. I know that textbooks are not the "be all end all" of language learning, but I think I will appreciate the structure. I also intend to pickup a copy of the Princeton First Step and Chinese Primer, which correspond to the first year Mandarin language program at Princeton. They teach both simplified and traditional characters, and are well reviewed. I will probably get the other Princeton Series texts as a get to Level 2 of the Integrated Chinese series.
-
Online Coursework: I intend to run through the Day 1 Beginner, HSK1, and HSK2 video courses. While they primarily utilize simplified characters, I think I can get lots of vocab, grammar, pronunciation training, and listening practice through them. I also have HelloChinese on my phone, and figure it may be useful to help with vocab and phrases.
-
Audio: I intend to try out ChinesePod and see if it is helpful. It is well reviewed and has a free trial, so I will give it a shot.
-
Anki/Skritter: I will be adding vocabulary, grammar, and phrases learned from the texts, ChinesePod, and the Chinesefor.us coursework to an Anki deck. I plan on using Gabriel Wyner's Model Decks. Flashcards will include audio, images, and stroke order gifs. The Anki deck will be the sum of all of the other materials. I want to consistently learn between 3-5 characters a day (seems to be a fairly sustainable goal). I may also get a Skritter subscription to aid in character writing practice (and it has an SRS to boot, so that is nice).
-
iTalki Tutoring: As mentioned before, I plan to get a tutor on iTalki to initially help with pronunciation. After that, I will shoot for a session or two per week, checking my pronunciation of words and phrases, as well as putting together new phrases. I will record these sessions and put appropriate audio in my Anki deck. As I develop more, I want to get conversation practice in as well. I think that eventually, the bulk of my time spent studying will be practicing with a tutor and learning/reviewing in Anki/Skritter.
-
Additional Resources: I already have Pleco on my phone, and will look into purchasing some of their packages later. Once I get some sort of base level reading and language comprehension, I intend to look into The Chairman's Bao, Glossika, and some other more advanced learning resources. The addition of these will be organic, and will largely depend on how I feel as I progress past the fundamentals. I may also have a look at the FSI/DLI coursework, but I probably won't base my studies around them. I am sure I missed some valuable resources, so I will probably continue to discover useful things that I incorporate.
Conclusion I am hoping that I have a pretty solid plan to at least get to A1-A2 proficiency. I figure once I burn through all of the Integrated Chinese coursework, I will have a good foundation to start working towards an intermediate level. I will, no doubt, be double learning some things because I am using so many different texts and online courses, but hopefully it will further reinforce things through different teaching methods.
Any feedback on my plan would be appreciated. Am I attempting too much? Am I missing major components? Is there a better approach out there?
Thanks!
[link] [comments]
from r/ChineseLanguage: a community for people who are studying, teaching, or interested in Chinese! https://ift.tt/2rYfucR --------
More tips about learning Chinese
http://hellolearnchinese.com
没有评论:
发表评论