Quick rundown of the *new* process.

Okay the new process that I'm using with ChinesePod is as follows.

1. Listen to the dialogue *3
While doing this the first time I focus on the words I know and try and extrapolate the meanings of the words I don't.
2. Listen to the dialogue *3 again.
This time I try and transcribe the entire podcast into Pinyin.
3. I then change the words I know from the dialogue into Chinese characters. I write a list guessing the meaning of the words I didn't know I also list the words I have no idea what the meaning is.
4. I move on to the translations of each sentence while looking at my two lists, making corrections and filling in those damn blanks as I go. I also of course give myself a nice tick for the things I'd got right.
5. Now on to the word by word breakdown for a final correction of the words.
6. At this point I'm able to write out the whole dialogue in characters (sometimes I have to look up from the English meaning if I got the pinyin wrong). I also write out a final list with character pin yin and meaning. I put the words I couldn't work out at the top of this list then those which I had guessed incorrectly then those which I'd been able to figure out correctly (my thinking is that these are the one I knew subconsciously either that or they were really obvious). I'll review this list a few times during the day.
7. Now that I have the dialogue in characters I'll listen to it again maybe 2-3 times while reading the transcript (each time being a set of three dialogues so 6-9 times in total). If I'm feeling particularly comfortable with it I'll try and read it out loud at the same pace or faster than the speaker.
8. Fast forward to the next day first I'll try and read the dialogue from my transcript to see how many of the characters I've remembered (or forgotten to be slightly more accurate). ANything I'm unsure on I'll look at my word list for.
9. Last step is I'll write the lesson number on a calender for one week in the future to review and see how good my retention is.

Well that's it in a nutshell. It's not quite a twelve step program but I'm a functional Chineseaholic so I don't really need that. I haven't had a lesson to do the week after review for but I'm thinking that if there are particular words I've forgotten that I'll flashcard them to aid with my retention and I'll revisit the lesson in a weeks time.

I'm also thinking that a month after the first review I'll listen to the dialogues before I go to sleep. I'm thinking that I should be able to do a lesson a day this way I don't think I'll go for a full 7 days a week though... maybe 6 and a rest day.

The differences between this and my old method are
1. There is a lot more repetition of the dialogue.
2. I've replaced flashcards with word lists which I find much more useful. Something I'm going to experiment with is writing the character on one side then the pinyin and definition on the other side. I find that this is a much more time efficient way as the word lists are more portable. I've also played with the idea that I might include a sentence (maybe even the one from the dialogue) using the word as I did with my flashcards.
3. The process is much more regimented where as my previous efforts were fairly haphazard I'll see if this works out better for me or if I'll loosen up how I do things. One of the reasons I'm not listening to the whole podcast from the start is something Ken mentioned in his blog about uncertainty. I also find that if I listen to the podcast the whole way through first off my mind gets lazy... knowing that the answer is just around the corner.

新年快乐 Happy new year!

Bit late but as it's New year here I won't be posting again until Friday. Sorry about the delay. I am however not being too lazy so don't go calling me 懒猪 lǎnzhū （LazyPig） or anything nasty like that! One thing I'm doing straight after I wrote three posts about how I study is I'm going to spend some time completely changing all of that (How completely depends on how well the new ideas work out). I'll be documenting this and the first thing to change will be how I listen to ChinesePod PodCasts. I'll be documenting how well I think this new system works an explanation will come on Friday after I've got the new process completely sorted out. One thing this means is that I will be producing an extra type of review lesson for Newbie and Elementary levels. I will be releasing a review lesson that only contains the dialogue as well as the current review lesson format.

Other things on the horizon:
1. Complete transcripts of ChinesePod Lessons so you can count how many times Ken calls Jenny Johnny. These are a byproduct of another project which I'm not going to elaberatoe on until the idea has progressed from (Note: These will be free I always intend for everything I do to be add supported though I might start up a donations link as well 要饭要饭... If that doesn't work then this might just end up as a blog all about me).
2. Flash card sets for all the books I own. (This is for all those studying Chinese who need to learn those 30 or so words per lesson per day.)
3. This is a big one.... PodCasts!!!! In the coming months I will begin to produce Chinese Learning PodCasts (expect a pilot version about end of April). They aren't going to be the greatest PodCasts in the world, but I'm hoping that they'll be useful. A few things that have been set-up for this is that they will be Chinese Language only, they will have native speakers, they will come with a transcript, they will be short... maybe only 5-10 minutes long. Something that is still up in the air is that they maybe based off ChinesePod topics. So they may be useful as either supplement or a stand alone thing. If I go ahead with the ChinesePod idea they will be a bit harder than the ChinesePod version but using mostly the same vocab. The idea behind this is to further reinforce and expand on what you learnt in a ChinesePod lesson. Anyway nothing like that is anywhere near set in stone and I'd welcome feedback from people on this one. What do you want in a PodCast?

My How and Why of language Learning PART 3 (final)

This will be the last post of my how and why.

One thing I mentioned as something I use for language learning is Bittorrent powerful little tool. This is a controversial yet extremely useful tool. I will admit that what I'm about to suggest may not be entirely legal where you are yet i don't think of it as entirely unethical. What do I use Bittorrent to download (apart from chinesePod archives) is Chinese Movies in mandarin often they can't be bought on DVA where you live or maybe they are still in the movies and definitely aren't going to come to a screen near you. You should be able to find them on any torrent search site. IMDB is a great way to find the names of these movies. A hint about these movies is to find ones that have a external subtitle file for English (if they have English subtitles at all) that way you can chose if you want to watch with or without subtitles. I would suggest to watch the movie a couple of times with subtitles then watch them without as many times as you can stand it. Another thing that you can get of course is TV shows... I would suggest you get ones that come from Taiwan though as they seem to be the best. Cantonese dubbed into mandarin is no fun to watch.

Now that I'm actually in China I don't need to use bittorrent for this (Which is why no links as they are mostly out of date). Not that here is anymore legal. I'm still trying to find a genuine store for things like collectors edition DVD's. (the best DVD I bought in china had an English review obviously taken from the Internet the reason it's the best is the review says the film isn't worth watching.

Just a few Tips: As you can tell I don't mind flash cards. Even if you really don't like them they can be useful if you have a few words that just will not stick in your brain. In this case just bite the bullet and flashcard them! It's a lot less painless than you think unless your trying to learn your 30 words a day from your Chinese textbook.
My Learning method is mostly about input and there are heaps of places you can get this. I also like a fair bit of reading input. Reading Chinese characters isn't that hard if you try and read a lot. Start with just reading simple dialogs and as your vocab increases find more and more difficult sources. If your reading material is digital use ZDT's annotator function so that if you forget a word a quick hover with the mouse will bring you back up to speed. You can move the separating bar down to hide the pinyin so you don't cheat as well.
I'll mention my Review lessons on more time as something I use a surprising amount of the time now that I'm creating them at a better quality level than I was before I'm going to start doing a 20-25 minute review session every night before I go to sleep. I'll listen to the reviews of the last 10 or so lessons I listened to I think it will help me.

My learning process is constantly changing and soon I'm going to be trying a more regiment aproch i'll document how this goes.

Chinesepod Review Lessons

I've been cramming newbie ChinesePod lessons this morning to see if i can pick up the odd new word here and there. I did find out that I've been saying waiter incorrectly for a while now I shall have to find out if my pronunciation is now Kunming hua or not. I was creating review lessons as I went and they just went online. There will be a more detailed post about these things most likely tomorrow in the meantime you can go here for the main page, here for a page about the review lessons or go directly to the level you work from either Newbie 菜鸟, Elementary 初级 or Intermediate 中级. Upper intermediate levels may get the review work over if people want them but I struggle with Intermediate at the moment :-D.

My How and Why of language Learning PART 2

I'll be breaking my methods up into two categories "Traditional" and "Modern". To make things less confusing I'll start off with my definitions for those two categories

Traditional: Any methods that use equipment and thinking that has been in regular use for at least the last 20-30 years. This tends to also be how most High-Schools and Universities teach. With a more ridged approach to delivery I.e. that you must start at the beginning and work from there.

Modern: These methods are usually based on the traditional but making use of new mediums and/or formats. I tend to think of this approach as much less rigid and is my preferred way of learning.

Before we get into methods I'll just list my "equipment". The things that I use for every session of Chinese learning.

Traditional: Exercise book, Text Book, Flash Cards (I have bought a few sets from book stores) and blank Flash Cards.

Not really anything surprising there as it's traditional. They way I make flash cards is quite different however and will be covered latter

Modern: A laptop, Mp3 player (with recording), ZDT flashcard/electronic dictionary application and Bittorrent.

You might be able to see why I use the term modern rather than anything else. Everything I use has been around in a different format at some point or another. My laptop gives me the ability to carry pretty much everything I could need for learning any language 10 years ago my traditional equipment would have included things like a dictionary, tapes (or Cd's) AND a player. The reason I count the MP3 as a modern is it's capacity versus size. I can carry hours of content in my pocket with no worries. It wasn't that long ago that all you had wereCd's which you can't fit in your pocket at all (I actually remember listening to German recording on a record as well). I know I carry my laptop with me but that's not even as heavy as a dictionary alone. I mostly Listen to chinesePod on my MP3 player I really enjoy ChinesePod but I see it mostly as a logical evolution rather than a revolution (To be discussed in a latter post).

That's enough of the What now onto the How:

As I work within my less ridged learning structure the first thing i have to ask my self is what do I want to learn today. Answering this question is the hardest thing about using a flexible structure, If I was just following a text book then it's easy I open up to where I was last (or the first page for a new book). The way I answer that question while I was at home in Australia was I thought of something I did during the day then I though could I have done that using Chinese? if the answer is no then I have a subject! Now that i'm in china It's a bit easier as I just need to think "Why is it so hard to talk about why the Bar is so empty tonight?". Sometimes I'll write down these things so I don't forget what I was trying to say that I couldn't say properly.

Now that I've got my topic I'll write down a handful of words in English that relate to that topic and look up what they are in Chinese. This gives me an idea of what I didn't know and if come across a Chinese word I know I think "Really I can use that word! damn that would have made everything so much easier!" Okey from Here I quickly go into traditional mode and start making a few flash cards. As I said my flashcards are a bit different to others instead of just having the word on the front I have at least three phrases with the word that the flash card is for underlined. On the back I have the traditional word definition along with the translations of the phrases. I like to see if there is an idiom using any of the words. I go to http://www.chinese-idiom.com then if I find an idiom I do a google search for it and the word "meaning" to get a definition. I like to make these cards as they give me a bit of practise in writing the words even if I never actually review the card.

Once I've got some vocab going I'll go search ChinesePod to see if I can find a podcast related to the topic, if so I'll give it a listen, If not I'll probably just try and write out my own dialogue for the scenario.

That's my basic learning process I then wait till my girlfriend gets home and practise some stuff on her. Next post will be what I use bittorent for and some of the other learning tricks I use to spice up my routine.

My How and Why of language learning.

My experience is that a paid teacher in a class has failed to really teach me any foreign language. One-on-One works well for me but I just can't seem to pay attention in a class. Also I find that I don't do the homework because I know that I'm not going to be the only one who hasn't done it. Its just a matter of safety in numbers. With One-on-One I know I'm going to bear the brunt of my teachers displeasure and disappointment so I do the work. One of the other problems I find with a class is that it is rare that the information is targeted to me it is either something I already know or something beyond my understanding, therefore I find I get bored waiting for things that are relevant to me. This has made me come to the conclusion that teachers rarely teach you anything. In class if the topic is either to easy or to hard i tune out and start reading other parts of the text book. So it seems to me that I pay for the privilege of going to class and working by myself. I really don't know if I'm the only one who has this problem or not. If I cast my mind back over the years of learning from school to university it is the same with every subject. In maths my teacher would show us how to work through a question then assign homework. I would either have already known how to solve the problem or I wouldn't really understand it until I worked it out for myself. So even then essentially I was learning on my own.

To sum up the reason I don't do so well in class

1. I find little motivation in a group class.

2. I find that a class' content is rarely suited to my level

3. I find that even in a class I'm teaching myself.

With all this in mind I've come up with strategies for teaching myself and just using my teachers as people to answer my questions. That's my first real learn by your self thing ask questions! If your even slightly unsure ask someone Otherwise you can make incorrect assumptions.

That's the back story to my learning style the next post will start to outline my strategies for self learning including the way I use ChinesePod. I'd like to here comments about others learning style and if they have similar experiences in the education system.

First order of business

This blog existed in a previous incarnation without too much in the way of either content or dedication. Hopefully I can tear it away from that legacy. I will be re-launching with a multi-part dialogue on my ideas about learning a language specifically Chinese. The first one will be posted in 2 days then continue every 2 days. There will also be a few articles that will appear as well, mostly reviews and such. Just to close out here are a few projects that I’m working on that are within the scope of this blog.

ChinesePod review lessons: This is actually what this blog first started with unfortunately due to time constraints the quality with which I could produce these fell to a level where I deemed them not worth releasing. I’ll be starting these again soon hopefully they will find some sort of an audience. They are basically abridged versions of the shows and I find them to have the following uses.

1. To review a lesson you previously studied to make sure you can understand it.

2. To check to see if a podcast contains only materials that you already know.

3. They have all the English removed so you can use them with even if your not sure you fully understand a podcast… walking without a crutch so to say.

Chinese Learning flash games: Non-interactive versions of these will appear as they are produced so I can get some feedback on the functionality wanted. Those found worth should find there way onto the internets. They will mostly be an attempt to dissociate parts of language hopefully grating learning games that work for left brain type people.

KunmingTaste a blog about food in Kunming an idea I had been playing with and have recently been inspired to attempt after finding the www.likealocal.cn blog. My format will focus more on restaurants and less on snack foods though.

Fingers crossed!