A bit of chinese and a novel draft in english

[AndyMeg]

Quick update:


1) Learn some written chinese:

I've been reading the "Chinese Grammar Wiki" a lot. I also bought the Elementary (A1-A2) ebook. In the website you can hide the pinyin, which is great for my current objective.

This is my progress so far:

: 37 / 40 Chinese Grammar Wiki - A1 level :

2) Writing the draft of a novel in english:

I started this as a project for NaNoWriMo, but then, as I could write only a bit during November, I wanted to keep trying during December. But I've finally decided that I want to take it slowly and I actually feel a bit pressured by logging about it so, for the time being, I won't post more updates on this front.

[AndyMeg]

I recommend doing Clozemaster HSK 1 while reading though A2 grammar.

Thanks! I'll take a look at it

[AndyMeg]

I finished reading the A1 level of the "Chinese Grammar Wiki":

: 40 / 40 Chinese Grammar Wiki - A1 level :

and I started to read the A2 level entries:

: 3 / 95 Chinese Grammar Wiki - A2 level :

I also dabbled a bit in Clozemaster (in the HSK-1 level), but I don't know how I feel about it. I partially liked it and I partially didn't. I worked with it the same way I go through the examples in the "Chinese Grammar Wiki":

1) See the whole sentence and try to guess its meaning.
2) See the english translation and compare it to my initial guess.
3) This third step is only for Clozemaster: look at the answer options and choose one.

A lot of sentences (especially the longer ones) had a lot of unknown vocabulary. I could somehow recognize grammatical patterns here and there but it wasn't enough. I also ended up using my bits of knowledge from japanese to try to guess the meaning of the words both in the sentences and in the answers.

Shorter sentences were easier and I could usually get a good (even if incomplete) general idea of their meaning before reading the english translation. And it was also easier to match their english translation with their chinese counterpart.

I did rounds of 10 words. Some rounds were rather well and I unexpectedly got most of the answers right on the first try. Some rounds were rather bad and I would get most of the answers wrong on the first try. Most of the rounds were kind of a mixed bag, but I could usually get the words right during the second try. I realized that I tended to get more answers right on the first try when I decided with my gut feeling instead of over-analizing it (maybe paying attention to the chinese subs even if I don't understand them is helping me to subconsciously absorb some patterns?).

I definitely need more vocabulary. But as my current interest is not on the official HSK but on understanding subtitles from chinese dramas, I decided that for now it would be better to focus on these Memrise courses (both of them seem to be derived from the frequency list based on subtitles from TV and film):

- Chinese words by spoken frequency 0-1000: This course is the one without pinyin and with audio.
- Polymono's 5000+ most common Chinese words [HSK]: this course doesn't have audio. What I like about it is that the "explanations" of each word seem more comprehensive and nuanced than the ones from the first course. Because of the long explanations, I think I will only use the "learn mode" and the "classic review mode" for this course. I won't use the "quick review mode". For this course I'll also focus on just the first 1000 words for now.

I also found courses based on the "Chinese Grammar Wiki". So I will be using this one for the time being:

- Chinese Grammar Wiki A1

Talking about the "Chinese Grammar Wiki", 95 new entries for the A2 level is more than double the entries for the A1 level and it makes it feel a bit overwhelming. So I decided to take a small break and only focus on the vocabulary for now while I keep reviewing the A1 points with the Memrise course.

I also plan to pause the "radicals" study on the "Japanese Kanji Study" app and replace it with the study of chinese charactes from the "1000 most frequent words in TV and film" on the same app.

I continue watching Ever Night (将夜), usually first with only chinese subs, trying to pay attention to them even if I don't understand, and later with english subs. And I'm learning some words here and there.

[AndyMeg]

Oops I forgot to mention to use a pop up dictionary while doing Clozemaster lol

Thanks for the tip! That would certainly make it easier!

I'll give it another try later, when I go back to read the A2 grammar points from the "Chinese Grammar Wiki".

[AndyMeg]

Activities I'm doing:

- In Memrise:

Polymono's 5000+ most common Chinese words [HSK]

Chinese Grammar Wiki A1

I stopped the other course because it didn't seem to fit my current aim that well and it usually took me a lot of time to go through it. I move a lot faster within the two courses listed above.

- Reading and understanding the "Chinese Grammar Wiki" entries.

I stopped reading the website version, but I found myself reading the ebook whenever I could. The ebook feels less daunting that the web version because I can seamlessly move from one entry to the next without looking at how much I have left to read or how far I'm in. This is my progress so far:

: 12 / 95 Chinese Grammar Wiki - A2 level :

I wish there were a "_______ Grammar Wiki" like this one for every language. It makes grammar so fun, interesting and "easy" to understand.

They recently released the B1 book/ebook. I'm thinking of buying it as well, but I want to wait a bit until I finish reading the "Elementary" book.

- Studying the hanzi used in the most frequent 1000 words from the "TV and films" list. I use the "Japanese Kanji Study" Android app.

- I continue watching chinese dramas:

The main one is Ever Night (将夜). And after reading this:

Understand Your Favourite TV Series in 30 Days
Sprachprofi

I decided to try a new approach:

I've gone back to the first episode and I'm watching it without subs while looking for lines that seem easy enough for me to tackle. I try to guess their meaning first (with a bit of help) and then I compare my guesses with the english subs. There are three kind of lines that meet this criteria:

*Very short lines that seem simple enough for me to understand after a quick search (on a dictionary or the "Chinese Grammar Wiki") even when I don' know any word (or just some) on them. For example:

小心 --> Be careful!
有埋伏 --> It's an ambush!

*Short lines that feel somehow familiar to me in its components but which meaning is not so clear and I need to search a bit. For example:

在很久很久以前 --> Long, long ago

I kind of knew the meaning/usage of most of the hanzi in there except for: 久 and 以

* Not so long lines that I partially understand and that seem relatively easy to decipher after two or three quick searches. For example:

有很多不可知之地--> there were many unknown lands

I broke it like this:
有 --> there be
很多 --> many/ a lot
不 --> not
可知 --> known
地 --> land/lands

I'm still not sure how 之 is used here, but with the other components I can get a good general idea of what it says. I'm also not sure how you can know this sentence is in the "past tense" (Is it from the context of the drama? Or is there a marker here?).

And there are, of course, a few sentences that I can already understand without the need of additional help. I haven't taken note of them, so I can't show you an example.

I also tried to test myself a bit by watching random bits of episodes of other dramas without english subs. Here are a few examples of sentences that I seem to have mostly understood without additional help:

你知道她是谁吗? --> Do you know her?/Do you know who she is?

I broke it down like this:
你 --> you
知道 --> know
她 --> she/her
是 --> to be
谁 --> who
吗 --> question marker

现在他不在了 --> Now he is gone.

I broke it down like this:
现在 --> now
他 --> he
不 --> not
在 --> live
了 --> past marker

我没死 --> I'm not dead.

I broke it down like this:
我 --> I
没 --> not/negation
死--> dead

他不是人 --> He isn't human.

I broke it down like this:
他 --> he/him
不 --> not
是 --> to be
人 --> human/person

[AndyMeg]

Activities I'm doing:

- In Memrise:

Polymono's 5000+ most common Chinese words [HSK]

- Reading and understanding the "Chinese Grammar Wiki" entries.

This is my progress so far:

: 32 / 95 Chinese Grammar Wiki - A2 level :


- Studying the hanzi used in the most frequent 1000 words from the "TV and films" list. I use the "Japanese Kanji Study" Android app.

This is my progress so far:

: 13 / 45 Hanzi/Kanji Radicals (groups of 5 each):

- I continue watching chinese dramas:

I'm watching three main ones, each in a slightly different way:

Ever Night (将夜)

I first skim-through the raw episodes, then, when the english subs are ready, I go back and fully watch the episodes with the english subs on. And I ocassionally pause the video to compare the english subs with the chinese subs.

Fights Break Sphere (斗破苍穹)

I had already seen half of this drama before I decided to re-start it. I'm currently on the beginning of episode one and I'm watching it with dual subs (english-chinese), pausing at each line, reading the chinese subs first, trying to guess the meaning and then comparing it to the english line before moving on. I'm not using any other tool (dictionaries, etc) for this, just the parallel bilingual subs (and I pay a lot of attention and try to connect the chinese words/grammar with their equivalents in english).

A Step into the Past -2018- (寻秦记)

This one doesn't have english subs, so I'm watching it with chinese subs only.

While I watch I pay attention to the subs and when I feel that I have enough familiarity with something I pause the video and pay a lot of attention to the line and try to guess its meaning. Sometimes I can understand full (usually short) lines, sometimes I understand fragments here and there and sometimes I only understand a few keywords. I'm not using external tools (like dictionaries) because it would interrupt the rhythm of the story and my enjoyment of it. The only special case in which I look for a word (or, more rarely, a grammar point) is when not knowing what it means starts to bug me and throws off my concentration/engagement with the story. But most of the time I'm fine with not understanding everything or anyting in a line. And the context from the drama (their non verbal language, the story's logic, etc) helps me to keep engaged and get the gist of what's going on most of the time.

Sometimes (or, actually, a lot of times) it happens to me that I know I've seen the word or hanzi in another place (maybe in the Memrise course, or in the Chinese Grammar Wiki, or in another drama) but I can't remember its meaning. What I usually do then is to tell my brain to pay more attention to this word/hanzi in the future so that I have more possibilities of remembering its meaning when I find them again "in the wild".

As the way I'm working with this drama is the most demanding activity from the ones I'm doing with dramas, I usually do it for about 20 minutes at most before needing a pause. I'm currently on episode 4 and highly enjoying the story so far.

[Querneus]

有很多不可知之地--> there were many unknown lands

I broke it like this:
有 --> there be
很多 --> many/ a lot
不 --> not
可知 --> known
地 --> land/lands

I'm still not sure how 之 is used here, but with the other components I can get a good general idea of what it says. I'm also not sure how you can know this sentence is in the "past tense" (Is it from the context of the drama? Or is there a marker here?).

之 is like 的 here.

可知 --> knowable (可 is sometimes equivalent to -able)

Mandarin verbs in general are not marked for time ("tense" in the temporal definition). You know what time they refer to by context or by a temporal adverb nearby ("tomorrow", "a long, long time ago", etc.).

现在他不在了 --> Now he is gone.

I broke it down like this:
现在 --> now
他 --> he
不 --> not
在 --> live
了 --> past marker

在 --> be present, be here/there
了 --> (change of state: he was present in this world before, but now he's not)

You'll read quite a bit about the different types and uses of 了 in the A2 articles of the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

[AndyMeg]

之 is like 的 here.

可知 --> knowable (可 is sometimes equivalent to -able)

Mandarin verbs in general are not marked for time ("tense" in the temporal definition). You know what time they refer to by context or by a temporal adverb nearby ("tomorrow", "a long, long time ago", etc.).


在 --> be present, be here/there
了 --> (change of state: he was present in this world before, but now he's not)

You'll read quite a bit about the different types and uses of 了 in the A2 articles of the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

Thanks a lot!!!!

[AndyMeg]

¡Merry Christmas, everyone!

I think it would be a good idea to take some snapshots of my current "level" of understanding so that I can come back to them later and use them as reference points to track my progress.

So here I come with the first series of "snapshots":

I've just finished watching episode 4 of "A Step into the Past -2018-" (寻秦记). The following will be some "snapshots" from episode 4:

A line for which I don't know each and every word, but for which I've made a guess that I hope is right (or at least close):

娘 您就放心吧 --> I understood this as: "Mother, you worry too much"

Break down:
娘 --> From "Fights Break Sphere" (斗破苍穹) I think I remember it as another way to say "mother"
您 --> If I remember right this is a more formal way to say "you"
就 --> I always have troble trying to remember what this means but I have a vague sense that it is related to putting emphasis to something. (I may be wrong, though)
放心 --> I think this is a word. I know the hanzi 心 means/is-related-to "(the) heart". I remember the expression 小心 which means "Be careful" and the mom of the character just say it to him, and his answer was the line I'm currently breaking down. So I think this word probably means "worry" in this context, but I'm not sure.
吧 --> I this context I interpret this as some sort of exclamation but, again, I'm not sure.

A line that I seem to completely understand (or so I think):

这是什么东西啊 --> I understood this as: "What is this (thing)?"

Break down:
这 --> "this"
是 --> "to be"
什么 --> "what"
东西 --> "thing"
啊 --> "(exclamation)"

A line that I don't understand at all even if I feel familiar with some hanzi/words:

孩儿看他言辞内容极为古怪 --> I have no idea what this means

Break down:
孩儿 --> "¿child?"
看 --> "¿to look at"?
他 --> "he/him"
言 --> "¿to say?"
为 --> I think I've seen this related to the meaning of "because", but I'm not sure
古 --> "¿old?"

A line for which I understand bits here and there but not the complete meaning:

没见过吧 这个就是太阳 --> At the end I think this says something like "this one is the sun" but I'm completely lost with the first part.

Break down:
没 --> "¿negation?"
见 --> "¿to see?"
过 --> This one is another that gives me trouble. I know I've seen it before many times, but I usually don't remember what it means or what it is used for.
吧 --> ¿? (not sure how this is used here)
这个 --> "this (one)"
就 --> ¿? (not sure how this is used here)
是 --> "to be"
太阳 --> this one looks similar to the japanese word for "sun": 太陽. And it's pronounced in a similar way too. And the character (the person) practically had a holographic version of a sun in her hand, so I'm assuming this means "sun".

This is a dialogue sequence that I seem to have gotten the gist of:

Female character 1:
项大哥
你连 马都不会骑啊

Male character 1:
龙少你不认识字也就算了
怎么连马也不会骑

Male character 2:
我们不日即将前往邯郸
不会骑马可不成啊

Male character 3 (项少龙):
我不是不会骑马 我会骑马
主要是你们这儿马没有马鞍
骑不了

Male character 2:
马鞍是何物 又有何用

Female character 2:
我看他 就是不会骑马


I'm far from understanding every bit of this dialogue sequence and I guessed some words from context. But here is the gist that I think I understood:

Female character 1 starts by saying to 项少龙 (Male character 3) that he doesn't know (can't) ride a horse. Then Male character 1 says something along the lines that 项少龙 doesn't know the chinese characters (in a previous scene 项少龙 was comparing and trying to match the old form of some characters in a text with the present day forms) and asks him why he doesn't know how to ride a horse either. I think Male character 2 is somehow disapproving that someone doesn't know how to ride a horse (but I'm very unsure about this because "Male character 2"'s dialogues were the most difficult to try to get the gist of). Then Male character 3 (项少龙) says that it isn't that he (can't) doesn't know how to ride a horse, he actually knows how to (can); but the problem is that the horses there don't have a saddle and he can't ride like that. Then I think Male character 2 asks what is a saddle. And finally, Female character 2 says that what she sees is that he (项少龙) doesn't know how to (can't) ride a horse.

I'm not sure how right or wrong I'm with this. I haven't looked any word on the dictionary. This is my raw guess without using additional tools.


Well, this is the end of the first series of "snapshots". It'll be interesting to come back here after a while and see if my understanding has improved.

[Axon]

I was right. This log is extremely interesting. Very well done!

You truly are understanding these Chinese lines. There are a couple of small notes/corrections that I can make, but I'll do them in the same color as the background so you can avoid reading them if you like.

I almost never watch historical dramas, so the notes I'm giving might be skewed toward more modern usage.

(the text below is hidden, highlight to reveal)



就 is often used for emphasis or even just a filler word. I translate it as "just" in my head and it works very well.

放心 means to relax, to stop worrying.

吧 is a particle to make a suggestion. It sometimes has a sense of softening a statement, but in your example the character is making a suggestion.

言辞 is the words that someone uses, the way they speak. I have never heard this word.

内容 is the content of something, like the content of a lecture or video. Fun fact: in very casual spoken Mandarin, you may think you're hearing this word all the time. You're not, you're just hearing the filler phrase 那种, which sounds very similar in fast speech.

极为 means extremely, very much.

古怪 means very strange. I've never heard it, but the word 怪 is in other words meaning "strange." So your sentence is something like "Look at how strange this guy is talking! / Look at the strange way this guy is speaking!"

过 means "to pass" but it's here used as a grammatical particle to indicate a past experience. 没见过 - (I) have not seen (it).

我们不日即将前往邯郸 - We're just about to leave for Handan.

你连马都不会骑啊 - You can't even ride a horse? The 连...都 construction is considered relatively advanced, but it's actually pretty easy. It's a way to express surprise or emphasize that "even XXX" is/isn't possible. It's very flexible in what it can describe (even he can ride a horse! You can't even ride a cow!) and always appears as 连...都 or 连...也.