Translation of the Lingholic article

When I started learning Chinese in 2009, I followed the “traditional” path of learning a foreign language. I took classes, took notes, sat in a cramped apartment in downtown Taipei, sketching out hundreds of characters. The training was progressing, but I was exhausted, I was bored. Lacked the motivation to go to class, knowing that each class ended with homework from a variety of written exercises. Familiar situation?

I was about to drop out when one day I accidentally overheard classmates talking about an online podcast they were listening to. It turned out that there are 3 or 4 programs that createvirtual classrooms.They are going to those who want to learn Chinese. I tested these programs and liked them so much that after 2-3 years I created a virtual Chinese class for myself.

Now I will share with you some of the ways to create these virtual study rooms. I hope this helps you get motivated, streamline your learning, and enjoy your journey to become fluent in Chinese. Deal?

8 websites and programs for learning Chinese - learn Chinese on your own from scratch

In a world where smartphones are everywhere and high-speed internet is a click away, learning foreign languages ​​has changed radically. Today it is not necessary to study in classes; mobile applications and websites make it possible to study anytime and anywhere. So no more excuses for lack of time!

The following eight methods I used on the way from zero knowledge of Chinese to almost fluent in it in a year. Why don't you try them out and form your own opinion about them?

So, let's begin.

1. ChinesePod

If you are serious about learning Chinese and still do not use this portal, then you are missing out on a lot. ChinesePod started out as a simple podcast, but has grown into a popular platform that contains a variety of content. The ChinesePod archive contains 3500+ lessons with dialogues and grammar comments, vocabulary and grammar exercises. There is online teaching. Among so many lessons, it is easy to find the one you need. It's nice that they are all based on life situations - buying a SIM card in a store, booking hotels.

Listening to podcasts in Chinese will improve your understanding by an order of magnitude. In addition, this is a great option to fill the time on the way to work or school.

1. ABCs of Chinese

ABCs of Chinese is a site that uses the method of memorizing hieroglyphs using pictures. This method is an alternative to cramming and endless hours of calligraphy on paper.

Here is how ABCs of Chinese describes himself:

“The fundamental idea of ​​the ABC of Chinese curriculum is that characters are pictures (images). When you look at , you realize that this is not a random collection of lines. This is a stylized pictogram or symbol. Master the basic elements (bricks) that make up most of the hieroglyphs, and then move on.”

Check out their YouTube channel for some great stuff.

1. Pleco

A foreign language learner needs a dictionary. This is vital for learners of Chinese. The Pleco app is a favorite among dictionaries. The number of settings and functions in it is head and shoulders above the competition. Best of all, it's free on Android and iOS.

Pleco dictionary entries provide the following information: a range of meanings of a word, examples of usage in context, order of writing. The user saves the word as a card if they want to repeat it later. Pleco has another great thing - it can recognize a hieroglyph when pointing the camera and gives instant translation.

1. Nciku

Next on the list of cool dictionaries is Nciku.com. It's a simple online dictionary, but here's what caught my attention: when looking up a word, it gave an example of its usage. It was very useful to me when I studied Chinese, because I often got confused in the contexts of the use of a certain word. I prefer to use Nciku on my computer and Pleco on my smartphone while traveling.

Some of us have amazing memory abilities, but most people don't. This is where Anki comes to the rescue. These are applications for memorizing information on cards. Anki analyzes user responses and decides which cards to show more often.

In Anki, you create a set of cards by topic, language, and so on. I had topics on animal names, fish names, food names, slang and words that I had difficulty using in my life. You can add pictures, sound, and articles to the cards. Such a useful application available on computer, Android and iOS.

1. Language Exchange

The more spoken language, the better the knowledge of a foreign language. Facebook constantly hosts events called "language exchange" - a place where native speakers talk with foreign language learners. Therefore, use social networks to find the right event and go!

Except Facebook There are a couple more platforms for communication. LiveMocha presents learning in the form of levels, which are the stages of learning a foreign language.

My Language Exchange is my favorite site. It has registered 1 million people from all countries.

Looking for a cool foreign language chat app? Try HelloTalk.

Tip: Don't forget the ChinesePod lessons when talking to Chinese people. Print 2 copies of the lesson and study it together! This will be a great practice, and besides, you won’t have to sit through boring textbooks.

1. Television shows and films

I can't say how many hours I spent watching Chinese cartoons, women's talk shows, and other mind-numbing TV shows. No matter how boring and unpleasant these TV shows are, watching them increases vocabulary, improves grammar without memorizing rules, improves listening skills and gives an order of magnitude better understanding of the language.

Here is a nuance. Surely you will not want to watch a video with a technical focus. Choose videos with dialogues. If you encounter an unfamiliar word, then pause the transmission of the video and look at the translation from the dictionary. Memorize frequently used phrases.

Search for videos and movies on Youku and Tudou, these are two large portals. This is how I search for videos:

1. Perapera

With this plugin, I confidently used Chinese sites and even paid bills (remember, I live in Taiwan).

I hope that the sites, programs and applications I have proposed will be useful to you in your studies. Even if you study with a teacher, these methods will speed up learning Chinese.

Video

Watch a video about ways to learn Chinese.

Learn pinyin. This is a system for writing sounds in Chinese using Latin letters.

• This system is very suitable for beginners to learn Chinese. So less time is spent on learning traditional characters. With pinyin, you can learn to read and write Chinese without resorting to characters. There are a lot of materials and textbooks on pinyin.
• However, it should be noted that not all Latin letters can convey the true pronunciation. Therefore, pinyin should be learned with the help of a teacher or appropriate video and audio materials.

Learn to read some Chinese characters. Despite the fact that it is not necessary to be able to read Chinese characters, many learners of this language still try to learn it in order to get to know Chinese culture better.

• Learning hieroglyphs is not an easy task. To read a newspaper, you need to know about 2000 thousand hieroglyphs - and this is just the beginning. All in all, there are over 50,000 characters in Chinese (many of which are not in use today).
• The main benefit of learning kanji is that it will open the door to other languages, including Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean. All of these languages ​​use a simplified form of Chinese characters in writing, but the speech is different.

Learn to write hieroglyphs. If you have learned to read characters, you will most likely want to learn how to write them. This is a complex skill that will require patience and creativity to master.

• First you have to study the table of radicals. These are separate strokes from which the hieroglyph is formed. There are a total of 214 radicals in Chinese, some of which have meaning on their own, while others make sense when attached to other radicals.
• It is important to consider the direction of the strokes when you write them. For example, from top to bottom, from left to right, and a horizontal stroke is written before a vertical one. If you do not follow these rules, the hieroglyph will be written incorrectly.

Read texts in Chinese. If you want to improve your Chinese reading skills, you should spend 15-20 minutes a day doing this.

• For starters, you can use children's books or textbooks (they are often published in pinyin). You should also look for useful materials on the Internet.
• Practice anytime, anywhere. Read labels and signs in Chinese. Ask a Chinese restaurant for a menu in Chinese.
• Having learned to read well, you can switch to newspapers (printed in hieroglyphs). In addition to improving your reading, you will get to know the culture and society of the PRC better.

Write something every day. To improve your writing skills, write kanji every day or use pinyin.

• You can start a diary in which you write simple expressions in Chinese. For example, what is the weather like today, how are you feeling, or what are you doing. If there is nothing personal in the diary, you can ask a Chinese teacher or just a Chinese friend to read it and point out mistakes.
• You can find a friend on the Internet and chat with him. Your correspondence may be useful for him if he becomes interested in the Russian language. Ask a pen pal to correct errors in your letters and forward them back.
• We also recommend making simple lists in Chinese. For example, lists of products to buy. Or post stickers around the house with Chinese names for specific things.

HSK - Chinese Proficiency Test

Everyone who has ever started learning Chinese will sooner or later come across this uncomplicated abbreviation. What is behind these letters? When it becomes clear to us why we started learning Chinese, these letters take on a very real meaning. And it happens that our life begins to revolve around them: "Where can I find HSK preparation courses?", "And what level of HSK do you have?"
HSK is a state examination of knowledge of the Chinese language for foreigners (as well as for national minorities of the PRC, Chinese huaqiao emigrants, etc.). This abbreviation stands for the Chinese name of the exam - Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, sounds like Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi. Simply put, this is an attempt to bring our knowledge of the Chinese language into line with other sinologists around the world.
The HSK Chinese assessment can be useful for:
- admission to a university - at the moment, all universities in China adhere to the HSK results when recruiting students for training in their specialty;
- job searches. HSK has been in existence for almost twenty years - many former Sinologist translators have now become directors and heads of departments. For them, HSK is not an empty phrase, but an opportunity to objectively assess your level of Chinese.
- to assess your level: your strengths and weaknesses - writing, listening, speaking, presentation. HSK is the most standardized and objective way to find out your language level.
- so that teachers can evaluate students' knowledge in teaching;
The insert itself indicating the points earned - Score Report or ChengJiDan - is valid for two years. It is this amount of HSK time that will be accepted by the university upon admission. The same amount of time your result is stored in the HSK results database - and it will be easy to restore it if lost. Well, the HSK certificate itself (HSK ZhengShu), in which not points are written, but the general level, is valid without a time limit.
Tests of the new HSK (let's call it that for now) are now given in two equivalent versions - written and oral. The written exam involves a separate test in one of six degrees: 1-2nd degree is the initial level, 3-4 is the average level, 5-6 is the highest level.
Oral exams are divided into only 3 levels - beginner, intermediate and advanced. At the same time, the total passing score of each test (oral or written, for each individual degree) is 180 points, that is, if the student scored less, then they will have to try again.
There is an inconvenience in this form of HSK - the test taker must decide at the time of registration what degree of what level he will take. Nevertheless, despite the apparent complexity of the new form of the exam, it greatly simplifies the life of students passing it: written and oral exams are independent of each other. This means not only that the oral and written parts are paid separately, but also that you can take only the written part, but not the oral part, and vice versa. What is so good about it? According to the reviews of those who have already experienced it for themselves, this approach significantly saves the effort spent on preparation, and, of course, money, too.

A very short Chinese-Russian phrasebook

Here we present the minimum set of words necessary for a tourist to communicate in China at the most basic level. We deliberately do not use the Russian transcription of Palladium, because it strongly distorts the real sound of syllables, instead we boldly write a translation as close as possible to reality according to the principle "as it is heard, so it is written."

Note: for the correct display of hieroglyphs, your browser must have Chinese language support installed.

Hieroglyph	Meaning	Transcription	Pronunciation
你好 再见 谢谢 请 中国 俄罗斯 不要 多少 好 不好 户照 北京 莫斯科 钱 行李 火车 飞机 饭店 出租汽车 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 我 我的 你 你的 他 他的 买 这个 给	hello goodbye Thanks please China Russia don't need, don't need How many? good, good bad, doesn't fit the passport Beijing Moscow money baggage train airplane restaurant Taxi one two three four five six seven eight nine ten I my, mine you you your he his buy this, this give	nihao zai jian xie xie qing zhong-guo e luo si bu yao duo shao hao bu hao hu zhao bei jing mo si ke qian xing li huo che fei ji fan dian chu zu qi che yi er san si wu liu qi ba jiu shi wo wo de ni no de ta ta de Mai zhe ge Gei	no hao zai jien ce ce rank zhongguo Elos pu yao tuo shao hao pu hao hu zhao pei ching mosykhe chien xing li huo chae fei chi fan dien chu zu chi chae and er sleigh sy woo liu chi pa jiwu shea in vo de neither no de tha tha de May zhe ge Kay

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Welcome to Chinese video tutorials for beginners. This phonetics course for beginners will help you learn Chinese. Tatyana Glavkova, Zhong Wen online Chinese language school teacher, will help you learn the language.

When talking about learning Chinese, it is usually about learning Mandarin, and translated literally as the common language spoken throughout China. Many people have heard about different dialects of the Chinese language, but only putonghua brings the Chinese language to a common denominator. It is studied in schools, universities, every educated person in China can speak Putonghua. It is also the official language in the PRC.

The formation of the Putonghua language began in 1200 AD, when the capital of China was moved to Beijing. At that time, it was not an official oral form of communication based on the Peking dialect, as well as other northern dialects of the Republic of China. Now the Putonghua language unites a large number of the Chinese population, and also helps us to get acquainted with the Middle Kingdom.

Learning Chinese must be learned from phonetics. First of all, the Pinyin Chinese transcription system. The transcription of each hieroglyph is written in Latin letters, but they are not read the way we are used to. Pinyin consists of letters called initials and finals.

• The initial is the first letter of the syllable.
• The finale is its end, the finale.

Initials and finals in Chinese form about 400 syllables. Each word in Chinese is one word of 400 syllables, spoken in one of the 4 tones, or a combination of these syllables.

Chinese is declined in 4 tones:

1 tone - even. We pronounce the syllable in a flat voice.

2 tone - ascending. This is when we ask something.

4 tone - low walking. Affirmative.

Tones in Chinese have a separating function. This means that the same word pronounced in different tones has different meanings. It is very important to remember in what tone to pronounce the word, this will not only help you more accurately express your thoughts in Chinese. It is also better to perceive Chinese speech by ear.

Writing in Chinese is hieroglyphic, all words are written in hieroglyphs. One hieroglyph consists of 24 lines, when you learn how to write all 24 lines, you will be able to write any hieroglyph of any complexity. To make it easier to memorize hieroglyphs, there are such keys to them, they are also called graphenes. There are 214 graphenes in the Chinese language.

The grammar of the Chinese language is the easiest, compared to other languages ​​in the world. For example, with languages ​​such as English or Russian. It does not have a huge number of temporary forms, there are no endings or cases. At a certain stage of studying the grammar of a language, it comes down to the study of vocabulary.

Due to the relatively simple structure of the language, Chinese allows you to build the simplest sentences already at the first stages of learning. The vocabulary of the Chinese language is very rich and simple, the number of words is very large, but you should learn the basic ones for communication that are in everyday life.

Video Chinese lessons for beginners will help you learn the basics of the language and their pronunciation in more detail.

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Answers to the fourth phonetics lesson

You will be able to learn correctly or you pronounce the sounds from the fourth video lesson on learning Chinese. This exercise is very helpful and helps you correct mistakes in your pronunciation of words. You should also do the same exercise with pronunciation tones in Chinese.

The answer to the fifth phonetics lesson

This video lesson is the answer of phonetics to the pronunciation of words. Try to write down your pronunciation and listen to yourself from the outside. So you can correct inaccuracies in your pronunciation or understand that your pronunciation is absolutely correct.

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