Wednesday 17 April 2013

Learning Chinese - The Easy Way

The prospects of learning a new language can be both exciting and overwhelming. Starting a new and fresh subject always has its kicks; however, the excitement can wear off if it becomes difficult to make progress. Just like learning any foreign language, learning Chinese requires a fair amount of commitment and effort on part of the learner. However, for English speakers learning Chinese as a foreign language, the task can seem daunting. The use of symbols (Chinese characters) that represent words and sometimes whole concepts is very different to the English language where words consist of multiple letters.

Another challenge in learning Chinese is the number of Chinese characters. There are more than 80,000 known Chinese characters. Although many of these are now obsolete due to the changes in the Chinese culture and language over the years, you must still recognize and write about 3,000 to 4,000 unique Chinese characters to be classified as functionally literate in the language.
This is not a small task, especially when you are learning it as a second language. Clearly, you must be ready to roll up your sleeves and embrace the idea of hard work. However, the advent of the Internet and other technological enhancements in the field of IT, offers possibilities for reducing the workload and making learning Chinese a manageable and feasible possibility for more Westerners.

Now anyone who has access to the Internet can find materials (textbooks, podcasts, interactive games and more) to help them learn Chinese in the comfort of their own home. Many good websites today offer different language courses designed for the individual needs of beginners, intermediate and advanced students. These courses are many and varied. However, one thing that is consistent no matter which course you choose is the need for practice – as we often say, practice makes perfect. It is still the case that Chinese flash cards are one of the most effective ways to practice speaking, reading and writing Chinese.

But, today’s Chinese flash cards software have gone digital – you get sound files for pronunciation, stroke order animations for writing and dictionary look-up functions to help you understand the meaning of different Chinese characters. Many of the more advanced Chinese flash cards use spaced repetition algorithms to personalize your practice sessions and ensure you spend the most time practicing the Chinese characters you find most difficult. This allows your Chinese character learning to be more effective and more efficient. And as we all know, when we make good progress in our learning this is when it really starts to become fun.

Another important area of Chinese character learning is Chinese idioms. Chinese idioms are an integral part of the language, so it is important to become familiar with them. Access to a Chinese idioms dictionary can be very useful in this regard. The Chinese idioms dictionary lets you learn, understand, and use the Chinese idioms properly aided by example sentences and sound files demonstrating their Mandarin pronunciation. The Chinese idioms dictionary is considered a must use tool when it comes to learning Chinese language. You possibly cannot master any language without the proper understanding and usage of idioms, and the same holds true for the Chinese language.


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Download Chinese Flash Cards for HSK Exam
 

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