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!

NPCR1 to NPCR2

Recently I reached a milestone in my learning. I finished New Practical Chinese Reader and began New Practical Chinese Reader Two. There are some noticeable differences between the two texts. The most obvious is that there is no longer any pinyin with the dialogues that begin each lesson / chapter. The idea is that the text will gradually ween us off the use of pinyin. According to the introduction in NPCR1 this is part of the methodology of the series of books. A more subtle change is that the grammer, sentence patterns, questions and answers have become much more complex. I expected the texts to become more difficult, but there seems to be quite a jump from simple Chinese to more complex Chinese.

Here is something I did not expect. There are many suplementary resources for NPCR1 across the Net. As for NPCR2 there seems to be very few resources available. I can't understand this. It is as though learners had very good intentions to begin learning Mandarin, worked their way through NPCR1 and then stopped. Alternatively many of the supporting web sites seemed to have given up creating media that would help learners who choose this text. There are a few websites where I can still access some resources, but others finished with Lesson 14 of NPCR1. So this makes working through NPCR2 for me a bit more dull and less of a rich learning experience. I have searched for suplementary materials for NPCR2 and found nothing.

I still have access these sites;

Chinese Character Writing Exercise Sheets

Quizlet

YellowBridge

Hanlexon

I should mention that my university UNE does supply me with multiple resources to support my learning. The lesson guides are very detailed, well written and support my studies. There is much to do and much to learn in my course of study. 

So onward and upward using NPCR2. If anyone has a NPCR2 related resource or resources I would be very pleased to know about it.  

Supplementary Text Books

I don’t use supplementary text books often enough. I do have a very good Basic Chinese A Grammar and Workbook published by Routledge.  Click on the picture to find out more details.

Basic Chinese A Grammar and Workbook

It is only now that I am beginning to appreciate some of the intricacies of Mandarin Grammar. To be really honest I at my level I find some of the Chinese Grammar too good to be true. Of course I am comparing it to German Grammar, Japanese Grammar and English Grammar. It may just be my level of Chinese, but I am really finding it easy…too easy. Each chapter of Basic Chinese A Grammar and Workbook has very simple easy to understand explanations and a then a series of exercises to test your understanding.  Of course answers at the back to check. Perhaps one of the reasons I don’t use it much is that it seems a bit low-tech too. I tend to use online dictionaries, Chinese teaching and learning websites and Youtube for explanations and to deepen understanding. However as I am always looking for ways to improve my learning techniques I am going to make an effort to use my grammar book more often over the next month.