I am pretty up-to-date on the new technology, websites, and other tools to help learn Mandarin. That was until I found Re-Learn Chinese (no longer being updated). In this blog, the author proposes a new way of learning Mandarin Chinese, and I think it is worth reading about. The author is quite good at Mandarin (according to test scores and YouTube videos I have seen), and it is interesting to hear his take on how he got there.
This is the basic idea, taken from his site:
First, my methods of study are strictly independent. More specifically, this means:
- absolutely no communicating in Mandarin Chinese with fellow language learners.
- no reliance on native speakers who mean to “teach” you the language.
Second, I have completely expunged all non-target language content from my target language learning environment. In other words, everything I intake and use – language content and study tools alike – is solely and completely in Chinese. Perhaps even more importantly, everything I intake and use is FNBN(For Native speakers, By Native speakers) – that is, both produced by andintended for native speakers. For specific examples of what, exactly, FNBN content and tools might look like, check out the videos and links on the main page.
I have actually found that this is an enjoyable way to study the language, but I should note again – it is for people with a solid foundation.
You can check out the site, which has videos and transcripts here. I found the site after watching this video on YouTube, which is pretty damn impressive!
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My Microsoft Excel at the office is in Chinese. I guess I’m learning?
Well, according to a second language acqusition expert (Stephen Krashen), language learners acquire a new language by being exposed to lots of comprehensibe input. Thus, as long as you can somewhat figure out the meaning of the input you receive, it is crucial for learners to expose themselves to the target language as much as possible. And also, the comprehensible input needs to be of high quality, which means it should be authentic, meaningful and structured. So, I see the theory mirror the reality now! Oh yehh!
This link, “videos and transcripts here”, could be a dangerours web page because it has several pop up screens on my computer, so I didn’t proceed to download its text at all.
Please note some web site may contain virus which may even come from the Chinese National Securiy Depart.
Regarding: “I found the site after watching this video on YouTube(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TppW12-MbJI), which is pretty damn impressive!”
It didn’t tell you how he learned that from and how much time involved.
Could he write them down? Did he understand what he read?