Well, after a long haitus, I'm getting back to the business of learning Chinese. In the meantime, I've bought two Pimsleur DVD sets. One for Cantonese and another for Mandarin.
Today I made a trip to the library and picked up Running on Karma (大只佬) or Da zhi lao in Pinyin. It's in Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles. It's numerical designation in the San Jose library is 31197078429831.
I also joined iTalki and figured out how to type Chinese characters on my laptop.
Altogether an educational day!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Google Translate
Today I tried out Google Translate (http://translate.google.com). It lists Chinese among the languages it translates and it's translating into Mandarin Chinese. Since only Chinese (traditional and simplified) is listed I had to type in a few words to find out which dialect of Chinese it was translating.
It also has an option for listening to the translation. It's a computer generated voice but seems to be reasonably accurate. I discovered that it has difficulty with the beginning of words. So if one puts some dummy word in front of the word you're interested in, you'll get a more accurate audio translation. I suppose Google should add a pause at the beginning of the audio or make some other fix to overcome this defect.
It also has an option for listening to the translation. It's a computer generated voice but seems to be reasonably accurate. I discovered that it has difficulty with the beginning of words. So if one puts some dummy word in front of the word you're interested in, you'll get a more accurate audio translation. I suppose Google should add a pause at the beginning of the audio or make some other fix to overcome this defect.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Chinese Language DVDs from the library
It occurred to me that I could get more practice listening to Mandarin if I checked out Chinese language DVDs from the library. I went to the San Jose Public Library (Edenvale branch) and checked out The World
. This is a movie set in the Beijing World Park. It seems to be a sort of extended infomercial for the park. It did look like a nice, clean theme park. It also showed some real-life scenes of Beijing. A refreshing change from Hollywood movies that present the characters as living in beautiful locations that they couldn't possibly afford. I was able to decipher some of the spoken Chinese (with the help of the English sub-titles) but in some instances the characters seemed to be speaking a Beijing dialect I couldn't get. It was a worthwhile experience nonetheless.
I think I'll start checking out the Chinese DVDs at random to supplement my language study. I'd be more focused by I'm unable to read (at this point) the Chinese characters on the DVD boxes.
. This is a movie set in the Beijing World Park. It seems to be a sort of extended infomercial for the park. It did look like a nice, clean theme park. It also showed some real-life scenes of Beijing. A refreshing change from Hollywood movies that present the characters as living in beautiful locations that they couldn't possibly afford. I was able to decipher some of the spoken Chinese (with the help of the English sub-titles) but in some instances the characters seemed to be speaking a Beijing dialect I couldn't get. It was a worthwhile experience nonetheless. I think I'll start checking out the Chinese DVDs at random to supplement my language study. I'd be more focused by I'm unable to read (at this point) the Chinese characters on the DVD boxes.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Vocabulary
I was considering the fastest way to accumulate useful vocabulary and I've decide to first memorize the word list of Charles K. Ogden as well as the vocabulary in the textbook I am studying. That textbook is Mandarin Chinese the Easy Way with Audio CD (Barron's E-Z Series)
.
I'm still working on the first chapter.
Ogden's list has 850 words so it will probably take me a while. But how long is that? If I use Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas' techniques (as described in The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
), could I get it done much much faster?
I'll have to try.
. I'm still working on the first chapter.
Ogden's list has 850 words so it will probably take me a while. But how long is that? If I use Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas' techniques (as described in The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
), could I get it done much much faster? I'll have to try.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Hěn Hǎo!
A small bit of Chinese speaking today. I was discussing the progress of work with one of my Chinese co-workers (in English). At the end of it all I said "Hěn hǎo!" in Chinese. She gave me the thumbs up.
Hěn hǎo! of course, means "very good" in Mandarin.
Of course I have to do a lot better than that if I am to make significant progress.
Hěn hǎo! of course, means "very good" in Mandarin.
Of course I have to do a lot better than that if I am to make significant progress.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Lion Market
Some time ago, I began wondering what the Chinese characters on many of the Chinese themed stores meant. So I bought a copy of the Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary (Chinese/English English/Chinese)
and deciphered the Chinese characters on the Lion Market sign near my home in San Jose. I discovered that the Chinese characters said "Lion Market" just like the English version of the sign. I felt foolish. That was obvious. I don't know what I thought it might say. In hindsight, it seems pretty funny.
and deciphered the Chinese characters on the Lion Market sign near my home in San Jose. I discovered that the Chinese characters said "Lion Market" just like the English version of the sign. I felt foolish. That was obvious. I don't know what I thought it might say. In hindsight, it seems pretty funny.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With The First Step
I work in the electronics hardware industry in California. The workforce is very diverse which sometimes leads me to wonder what my Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc... co-workers are saying. So I decide to pick one of these languages and start learning it. Chinese seemed like a good choice considering how powerful China is becoming economically and considering the number of speakers.
A few questions revealed that Mandarin Chinese is the official version of the language but like other languages I'm familiar with (e.g. German) it has many variants and dialects. So I bought a book on learning spoken Chinese ("Mandarin Chinese The Easy Way" by Williams and Wu) and began studying it.
This blog will record my attempts to learn and speak Mandarin Chinese in the U.S. I'm not learning the language to travel to China. I just want to figure out what all these Chinese in the U.S. are saying.
A few questions revealed that Mandarin Chinese is the official version of the language but like other languages I'm familiar with (e.g. German) it has many variants and dialects. So I bought a book on learning spoken Chinese ("Mandarin Chinese The Easy Way" by Williams and Wu) and began studying it.
This blog will record my attempts to learn and speak Mandarin Chinese in the U.S. I'm not learning the language to travel to China. I just want to figure out what all these Chinese in the U.S. are saying.
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