Mandarin Starter Kit
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:24 am
What do I need to get started with Mandarin?
Start with writing. Should I learn pinyin first? Some say yes, some argue against it. If I learn pinyin, how do I use it with Windows 10 and Word and LibreOffice, or with Linux and LibreOffice?
Or should I learn Zhuyin instead?
And do I go with modern or with traditional pinyin, Zhuyin or characters?
Is there a kind of Mandarin todoku, a set of graded readers starting from scratch?
I want to start off hearing the language spoken at street speed, obviously just a few words at a time. What is a good source?
Mandarin seems like a great candidate for L-R. How can I find out if there is a faithful translation + audiobook of Moby Dick? What do the words Moby and Dick look like in Mandarin (characters, pinyin, traditional, or modern)? What does "Call me Ismael" look like?
There is gBoard for my android phone, but the names of the keyboards come at the end of a list and, not knowing Mandarin, I have no idea which keyboard is which. Any help here?
For the record, I recently bought John DeFrancis' set of texts for Beginning Chinese. After industrious study for a couple of weeks, I now recognize the characters for man/person, knife, and power.
Start with writing. Should I learn pinyin first? Some say yes, some argue against it. If I learn pinyin, how do I use it with Windows 10 and Word and LibreOffice, or with Linux and LibreOffice?
Or should I learn Zhuyin instead?
And do I go with modern or with traditional pinyin, Zhuyin or characters?
Is there a kind of Mandarin todoku, a set of graded readers starting from scratch?
I want to start off hearing the language spoken at street speed, obviously just a few words at a time. What is a good source?
Mandarin seems like a great candidate for L-R. How can I find out if there is a faithful translation + audiobook of Moby Dick? What do the words Moby and Dick look like in Mandarin (characters, pinyin, traditional, or modern)? What does "Call me Ismael" look like?
There is gBoard for my android phone, but the names of the keyboards come at the end of a list and, not knowing Mandarin, I have no idea which keyboard is which. Any help here?
For the record, I recently bought John DeFrancis' set of texts for Beginning Chinese. After industrious study for a couple of weeks, I now recognize the characters for man/person, knife, and power.