Learn Mandarin
Learn Chinese uses Mike Campbell's language learning method developed specifically to build the working memory which enhances speaking and listening. Module 1, with 50 videos, starts you off with the basics of Mandarin Chinese and works you up to an intermediate conversational level. Just by using the videos alone, you don't need to do any reading, writing, practicing or review, because we do it for you all in the videos.
But in addition to the videos, we provide lesson plans (講義), MP3 recordings of the lesson plans, sample videos of the new material, plus full-length videos of all the review material. Each lesson has an MP3 of just that lesson's material read by a native speaker. The sample video is a sample of me and the native speaker teaching just the new material's vocabulary and sentence structures. Each lesson comes with a full-length video of 30-45 minutes that includes in addition to the new lesson, a full review of the last lesson and an introduction to its conversations cued in English first, a full review of the vocabulary, sentence structures and conversations from 2 lessons back, the same for 3 lessons back, and just a conversation review without cues from 4 lessons back. In other words, each full-length video reviews four lessons and introduces a new lesson. These videos can be watched directly in streaming video online or are available for download in several formats: iPod's MP4, Windows Streaming WMV, Pocket PC WMV, and just the sound MP3.
The courses are arranged from Beginning to Advanced in several Modules. In addition to these modules are some additional supplementary modules for increasing vocabulary.
You'll need an account in order to view and access the free materials on the site.
On this page, you will find the Beginning Intermediate Level for learning Mandarin. Once you have reached this level, you should by now have a good grasp of Chinese syntax (word order) and basic command of the language. However, there will definitely be some hard to grasp sentences in the selections offered here. Out of so many hundreds of sentences, don't get caught up on any one of them.
As a learner of many languages, including Chinese, I've found that one of the most effective ways of growing vocabulary and remembering it for the long term, especially in Chinese, is having an environment where you can witness the vocabulary being used (hence everything offered in example sentences here). However, don't just notice the words being used, but pay very close attention to details, for example what commonly comes before and after the vocabulary, the kind of situation or sentences it is used in, etc. The more you understand the surroundings of a vocabulary word, the better you are at being able to pick it up and use it yourself naturally.
Hopefully, words you have learned will start to pop up more and more in later sentences and other places where you might hear Chinese.
Chinese is, for the ears of a westerner, a hard language from which to pick out all the homonyms and multitude of meanings that could be attached to a word, regardless of tone. I recommend don't try to identify tones in the vocabulary you hear, but try to relate the intonation to that you may be used to in English. For example, try to see if you can pick up on the "accent" of a vocabulary word like you would identify in English. English has a complex intonation system, sometimes with up to four different accents in a single word. Well, if you train your ear to listen more and more carefully to the "accents" in Chinese, you'll start to hear tones without even realizing it. I would say to start off with, stick with trying to identify your new vocabulary words out of a sentence. See if you can recognize any other words, and working with a translation see if you can work out any unknown words and try to learn the sentence as a whole.
I have added two introductory MP3 files on how to use these unique exercises. (July 10, 2006)
|
The Languages of China
The Sino-Tibetan Languages
Tone Sandhi