I'm definitely interested to learn more about learning mandarin, as someone who has always wanted to learn it, but ended up learning German instead due to life circumstances. Lemme check out your nerdy post ;)...
I am really intrigued by this! I am also fascinated with learning more about Hokkien, too. I would love to subscribe to this newsletter. Thank you for sharing and being willing to let us glimpse your own life here. šš¾
I can never learn a language consistently. Whether it be Korean or Chinese, I learn them in frenetic bursts of a few weeks, then forget about it, then after a few months when I stumble across a drama/text/song again you realise youāve gained a proficiency and understanding of that piece that you didnāt a few months ago. I like to think in those few inactive months Iāve been absorbing the language latently ;)
Definitely would need help in correcting my grammar if need be! I am instinctual when it comes to Chinese grammar, but since I'm from Malaysia and our Mandarin has "opposite" grammar at times, I definitely would get things wrong.
I'm learning Mandarin as well. My wife grew up partially in Singapore and had a similar experience. Grew up taking classes, but only recently gained a reasonable level of proficiency.
Me? Of course I'm a complete foreigner to the language.
I started learning back in 2018 to impress my wife's parents, only to find out they barely speak it. My father-in-law also speaks Hokkien. Mother-in-law speaks little to none.
But it wasn't a complete waste though. Wife and I have been watching Chinese dramas since then. I've seen probably 4 dozens in the last 6 years. (Currently watching my Heroic Husband on Amazon Prime.) Now I'm taking time to learn by writing and reading using AI. Very effective.
Your story made me chuckle a little. We Chinese can be confusing and frustrating hahah. If only we had ONE LANGUAGE. Oh yeah, it's called putonghua. STILL.
I love that you watch CDramas! I credit Chinese dramas for sustaining my Mandarin all these years. Interestingly, I seemed to have internalised Chinese grammar. Couldn't tell you what the rules were, but heck I seem to reproduce it somehow.
Iām following your journey with interest, having made the decision myself to revisit my Mandarin studies. But despite the many advances in study tech since then, I find myself going back to my old unfinished New Practical Chinese Reader ( ę°ä½æēØę±čÆčƾę¬), which has a nostalgia to it after all this time.
I'm definitely interested to learn more about learning mandarin, as someone who has always wanted to learn it, but ended up learning German instead due to life circumstances. Lemme check out your nerdy post ;)...
I am really intrigued by this! I am also fascinated with learning more about Hokkien, too. I would love to subscribe to this newsletter. Thank you for sharing and being willing to let us glimpse your own life here. šš¾
You're welcome! I hope that you'd learn more stuff about Mandarin and Hokkien here.
Glossika teaches Taiwanese Hokkien for free.
Where can I find these classes?
Use the Glossika app or browser version. Register. The Taiwanese course is free although mist if the other languages are not
How exciting! I wish you the best in your new journey š
Next - learn Thai. At least there are fewer tones!
How many tones that Thai has? Cos I've always thought it was more complex lol
Thai has five tones. I struggle with one! My daughter keeps correcting my efforts.
I can never learn a language consistently. Whether it be Korean or Chinese, I learn them in frenetic bursts of a few weeks, then forget about it, then after a few months when I stumble across a drama/text/song again you realise youāve gained a proficiency and understanding of that piece that you didnāt a few months ago. I like to think in those few inactive months Iāve been absorbing the language latently ;)
Yeah, there's something called "comprehensive input". Am pretty sure my years of Mandarin-drama-watching has kept my Mandarin knowledge alive.
haha yes educational drama watching ftw š
Excited for your Mandarin learning journey! å ę²¹å ę²¹ļ½
If I can help in any way let me know āØ
Definitely would need help in correcting my grammar if need be! I am instinctual when it comes to Chinese grammar, but since I'm from Malaysia and our Mandarin has "opposite" grammar at times, I definitely would get things wrong.
I'm learning Mandarin as well. My wife grew up partially in Singapore and had a similar experience. Grew up taking classes, but only recently gained a reasonable level of proficiency.
Me? Of course I'm a complete foreigner to the language.
I started learning back in 2018 to impress my wife's parents, only to find out they barely speak it. My father-in-law also speaks Hokkien. Mother-in-law speaks little to none.
But it wasn't a complete waste though. Wife and I have been watching Chinese dramas since then. I've seen probably 4 dozens in the last 6 years. (Currently watching my Heroic Husband on Amazon Prime.) Now I'm taking time to learn by writing and reading using AI. Very effective.
Good luck with your studies!
Your story made me chuckle a little. We Chinese can be confusing and frustrating hahah. If only we had ONE LANGUAGE. Oh yeah, it's called putonghua. STILL.
I love that you watch CDramas! I credit Chinese dramas for sustaining my Mandarin all these years. Interestingly, I seemed to have internalised Chinese grammar. Couldn't tell you what the rules were, but heck I seem to reproduce it somehow.
Same has happened with me. Now that I'm learning to read, it's much easier to understand what they're saying!
Iām following your journey with interest, having made the decision myself to revisit my Mandarin studies. But despite the many advances in study tech since then, I find myself going back to my old unfinished New Practical Chinese Reader ( ę°ä½æēØę±čÆčƾę¬), which has a nostalgia to it after all this time.
That reader is a legend! I hope to get a copy soon, actually
It might be out of print now so please reach out if you canāt find it.
The accompanying video series is also on YouTube and is goofy as hell (comments section full of suffering students).
Lol suffering students is so accurate no matter the textbook š„²
I am learning Chinese with Duolingo