BOLIO's Mandarin Log

[BOLIO]

Hello all,

Well, I always thought my second L2 would be Russian but I have fallen in love with the idea and the goal of speaking Mandarin. I dabbled in Russian but never could commit to the time needed because my level in Spanish had not reached the point where I was satisfied. I am still not satisfied but I don't actively study Spanish I just watch movies, read books and talk with Spanish speaking friends. I am finally to the point where I feel it would be acceptable to spend the time required to take on a new language.

Why Chinese? I have so many opportunities to speak with native Mandarin speakers in my area and I am fascinated with the historical part of the culture. There is so much and it is just cool...to me anyway.

Study plan:

1) L-R one hour a day. I do not think I will pick up one single word of vocabulary but this is not the purpose. I swore for my next language that I would listen from the beginning. I intend to do that very thing. I just want to use Iversen's Bloodhound listening, trying to parse the words and syllables. I also want to mouth or mimic the sounds periodically while listening. I just want to try to get my mouth working a little.

2) Learn the top 500 (frequency) words and their symbols (as well as the pinyin). I also want to manufacture very VERY basic sentences...I want book. The red dog barks...etc

3) Edit: (I meant Assimil Chinese)I want to work it like others work Assimil. I will Shadow / Chorus the course and use the course's vocabulary to manufacture other sentences. I will not rush. Also I want to do a Luca L2-L1-L2 with all the dialogue. I will maximize every chapter of the course to promote listening and speaking. I did not do that years ago with Spanish Assimil.

4) Graded readers with audio if they exist. If not, then I will just use graded readers.

5) FSI Chinese...The whole thing? I don't know. Spanish taught me that "saying" you will do FSI and completing the entire course is two different things.

6) Native Materials

Who knows? I am excited and have given this a lot of thought and it was tough to pick this over Russian but here I am.

All the best,

BOLIO

[iguanamon]

Welcome back Bolio! I will be following your progress! I've thought about learning Mandarin in the future. I came across this little resource from Taiwan. It's a free and legal pdf (with embedded clickable audio) Hable chino en 500 palabras. It may be of interest to you.

[BOLIO]

Welcome back Bolio! I will be following your progress! I've thought about learning Mandarin in the future. I came across this little resource from Taiwan. It's a free and legal pdf (with embedded clickable audio) Hable chino en 500 palabras. It may be of interest to you.

Perfect! I am actually searching for resources for learning Mandarin with Spanish as the base. I have missed the board and the wisdom found here. I listed some resources in my first post but it will be nothing short of your Multitrack Approach. I have said it before but the assistance you and others gave me (starting on the old board) has really changed my life for the better.

I just returned from three weeks in Spain and while there I thought of many of the struggles I had in the first couple of years of Spanish learning. I realized while in Spain that the level of enjoyment on my trip could not be the same if I did not speak the language. Thank you.

BOLIO

[BOLIO]

Good day to you all;

A couple of things I am doing while waiting on my courses to arrive (Assimil and Teach Yourself).

A) LISTENING. LISTENING and more LISTENING.
Podcasts, YouTube, Bible, news, Movies in Mandarin via Netflix and Prime Video...It does not matter. I listen and try to mouth / mimic as much as I can. I really want to fight the same urges I had when I started Spanish, meaning I feel the written word is so peaceful and comforting. Why? Because it is at whatever pace I WANT and not the pace of the native speaker. I really want to get use to the sounds. I could not care less about the understanding right now. Years ago I read a magnificent post by Iversen called "Bloodhound listening". I was in so much of a rush for understanding of the written definition of a word, much more than being able to understand the spoken word. It caused me so much stress later on that I swore I would not do it again.

B) I am waiting for my Dan Brown novel in Mandarin to arrive in order to start the L_R part of the program. Again, I have no faith that I will be able to understand a word of Mandarin after the book is completed...but it will help with the sounds and I will try to mimic as much as I can.

C) I started the Chineasy cards via the app. It is fun and a time filler. I don't think it will hurt anything and I like it.

Also, I downloaded the LingoDeer app. I really like it. Again, it is fun and a time filler. This morning while in line at Starbucks, I was learning how to say, "I am an American, She is French, He is Korean...etc."

D) I found an old list of Gabriel Wyner's first 625 words. Here is the plan: By using the PLECO app (Which is amazing), I will type the English word and it will generate the Traditional, Simplified and Pinyin in Mandarin. I will write both the Simplified and Pinyin several times in this notebook I bought. The pages are configured with little squares and they work perfectly for what I am trying to accomplish. I don't know what it will grow into. Maybe a Goldlist / Iversen word list???? I really don't know. I have a couple of ANKI decks but there is something about physically writing the words that make me feel better than just clicking a button. Weird, I know but I like it.

I also have been playing around with the link Iguanamon left a few post up. I love the Spanish to Mandarin.

My courses should arrive in the next couple of days. The thing I will do MUCH differently this time is the coursework's primary focus will be Shadowing / Chorusing. I am using the dialogue as a tool to help me speak and understand first and foremost. Vocabulary can be found via many different avenues (all mentioned above). Outside of the courses, I will mine any short dialogue I can find with native speaker audio and I do not care about the content...well mostly don't care.

I am very excited. I have realized that the native speakers of Spanish I work with as well as my wife have helped me beyond measure. I won't have this here. But it will be relatively easy to find native speakers in my area. I am appreciative of this. We have lived in rural areas in the past where this would have been impossible to do in a face to face setting.

Anyway, I am still in the euphoric stage and the ether is fine!

All the best,

BOLIO

[BOLIO]

Nothing too exciting and hardly worthy of an update but here it goes.

Listening , listening and more listening everyday. I have found audiobooks, Netflix Amazon prime and YouTube. There is a mountain of free info out there, which is nice. I am not getting caught up in the fact that I understand nothing. I am however trying to parrot words and phrases I want my mouth and ears to get used to the sounds. There seem to be a lot of “shee” and “shuuu” sounds. Nothing sounds intimidating.

I continue to slowly work on vocab words. I am just working through the frequency list. Nothing exciting.

Lingodeer is fun. It is enjoyable and a time filler. I am still in the “If it is fun, I am interested “ camp.

Anyway, that is it. Nothing is earth shattering.

On a side note, I had a 45 minute work meeting in Spanish and the prospective client speaks Zero English. He also had his business partner on speaker phone which was even more challenging. It went very well. I struggled a couple of times for financial terms and had to do a couple of work aroundS but it was not too painful for any of the three of us involved. Which was nice.

All the Best,

BOLIO

[BOLIO]

Due to work (job change), family issues and family health issues my Mandarin “wheels” completely fell off. It really was one issue after another for over a year and a half. That is the past. Now is the present. Tomorrow is the future.


Ok, restarting from ZERO.

A) Listening (Iversen’s bloodhound) for 100 hours. Just to take in the beautiful melodies of the language while parroting various sentences, words and phrases.

B) Learning and parroting pinyin. I want to really know it. Like in my sleep know it.

C) Assimil. I want to squeeze every drop out of it. I do not care how long it takes.
- Listen to L2 many times without text
- Listen while reading English
- Listen while reading / following Mandarin
- L2>L1>L2 Translation
- Shadow until I know dialogue completely and am happy that my sounds reflect the native speaker.

D) No Idea. I have a long way to go.

Glad to be back.

PS. My Spanish is twice as strong as it was a year and half ago because I am able to use it every day and learn by watching TV, films, reading and conversing. Other than parts of my work life, the rest of my life is spent in Spanish and I finally feel my level is strong enough and my schedule is free enough so I can carve out the time every day to study a new language like it deserves.

[Dr Mack Rettosy]

Welcome back to Mandarin! Take it slow and the language will definitely catch hold of you. There are millennium's worth of history and culture to explore.