I love a good Language Infographic

A collection of Language Infographics. I like to read these, though some are inaccurate. I suppose if you get some statistics and present them in a colourful and attractive way it makes and interesting read. Though I think you can emphasise and highlight some things with a clever graphic representation. Still I enjoy reading them.

Some of these I have found and blogged before...others I found on Pinterest (a pictorial aggregator / semi social networking site), for compiling some of the Language Infographics.  You may find the other things on the board interesting too.  You might find a Chinese Mandarin Learner board there too. 

新实用汉语课本 New Practical Chinese Reader 3

I have just started a new text book 新实用汉语课本 New Practical Chinese Reader 3. This is a sort of milestone in my learning. I think this is the last in the series that my University uses. Having started learning the first lesson there doesn't seem to be the sudden rise in difficulty that I found between the first and second text. Perhaps I have just become used to the methodology in the texts.



New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook Vol.3

I really have only one crtiticism of these series of text books. I think that sometimes the books are not very practical. Vocabulary and conversations in the set text about Beijing opera, Shaoxing opera and classical novels I personally do not find very practical. I suppose that last sentence makes me sound like a Philistine, however I do not think I will have many opportunities to use 红楼梦 Dream of the Red Chamber (first completed edition 1791) by Cao Xueqin, one of the four great novels. Despite this the text is mostly practical and challenging enough to make learning Chinese interesting.

10 Free Chinese Lessons

Grasp Chinese.com has to free multimedia lessons. Topics include;

• Saying Hello
• Introduction to tones
• Ordering a Coffee
• Airport -arriving
• Taxi – going to the hotel
• Hotel – checking in
• Numbers
• Breakfast
• Shopping
• Introducing yourself

Lesson include; Video, practice listening, writing words, writing sentences and a vocabulary list. Creating an account will track your progress and keep score of what you have done. All lessons are in Pinyin and English.

While all of these lessons are now too low level for me, I still think they are of a good quality. The attempt to create some interactive and basic lessons is quite good.

Not bad for free. Grasp Chinese

Another Free Chinese Mandarin Learning Resource

Another Free Chinese Mandarin Learning Resource

I found another resource 好好学习天天向上 hǎoháo xuéxí tiāntiān xiàngshàng or the English title Day Day Up! - Chinese Free Online Chinese Mandarin Text book. I think it is a rather long winded title in Chinese and English. However, it is indeed free.

The methodology is that vocabulary and sentences are presented in small pieces or chunking the information. There is lots of repetition. The vocabulary is very practical. Most of the sentences are well explained with grammar notes. The site claims to have PDF downloads of each lesson but I could find none. There are MP3s in each of the lessons. It is not the easiest site find what you are looking for. 

The topics are;

Elementary

• Origins and Nationalities
• Relationships and Modifiers
• Coming and Going
• Time

Elementary II

• Study
• Wants and Desires
• Likes and Dislikes
• Work

There is even some humour scattered throughout the text. “It presents authentic and practical language that is immediately useful – no more dialogues about Beijing opera”. I have to thank my friend / fellow Chinese Mandarin Learner, Christine, for finding that gem.  At the end of some sections you will find “The horrors of pronunciation.” and “You cheeky monkey!”, to name a few of the sections.

Alas it looks like this site was intended to also cover pre-intermediate to intermediate II levels, but these pages are blank. It is a pity as it makes a very good quick reference resource.

The site has a similar feeling to the 中文Red中文Green and 中文Blue pages that I reviewed earlier. Overall, I find 好好学习天天向上 a useful site that I find myself visiting occasional.  Day Day Up Chinese!

Hanzi Practice Sheets

I find learning Hanzi quite enjoyable. For me I do not find it particularly difficult. I expect it comes from learning Japanese Kanji for many years. So learning new Hanzi does not bother me. The rules of writing Hanzi top to bottom, left to right and fill boxes before closing them is something that comes naturally to me now. I have several sources of Hanzi practice sheets; Hanyu.com has stroke order animations and sound files for New Practical Chinese Reader (NPCR), a site called New Trier has downloadable sets of NPCR 1 and NPCR 2 practice writing sheets  and lastly there is Hanlexon. I like Hanlexon resources as the site will allow you to customize your own Hanzi character practice sheet. I found this site very useful before my last exam.

I don’t really have one set method for learning Hanzi. I use pen and pencil to fill out practice sheets. I occasionally use my iPad with a drawing App. I tend to rote learn while listening to music. I do try to make links and connections with previously learned Hanzi. I do use a lot of Mnemonics which I shall write about in detail in a future post.