让我们玩蛇和梯子吧。 Ràng wǒmen wán shé hé tīzi ba。

让我们玩蛇和梯子吧。 Ràng wǒmen wán shé hé tīzi ba。
走吧。 Zǒu ba。

Multimedia Chinese Teaching System

Found another Chinese language learning resource. The Rutgers Multimedia Chinese Teaching System has four levels of lessons for first year to fourth year students. It has plenty of content in simplified hanzi, pinyin, audio and English. There is also content in traditional characters.The scripts for learning are quite detailed. Accompanying these pages of scripts are grammar explanations.  There is plenty of content in this site.


However, despite the content navigation for the site is very poor. It is difficult to navigate around the site as menus are not consistent. Sometimes links at the bottom and sometimes the left side navigation changes from English to Chinese Hanzi.   I do not know if this is intentional (perhaps it is an attempt at partial immersion in Chinese). Definitely makes moving around the site challenging. Some of the pages are not set out well. It is difficult to find related content quickly. 


 If the site were redesigned with a consistent navigation it would be better. This site may be useful to supplement your main study. It is a pity that it is difficult to find specific information as the materials and grammar are detailed.

"The Rutgers Multimedia Chinese Teaching System (RMCTS). This is a computer based multimedia curriculum to supplement First year, Second year, and Advanced Chinese (Third and Fourth year) language instruction at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey."

Multimedia Chinese Teaching System 

MP Urges Schools To Teach Chinese

Meanwhile in New Zealand 

MP Urges Schools To Teach Chinese.

Quotes from the article.

"...schools need to "look to the future" and offer courses in Chinese as a way of boosting trade with China..."

"It is out of step that Nelson, with such a strong exporting and visitor industry, is not looking to the future and investing in Chinese language skills,"

"The economic benefit is that it [promotes] creativity and problem-solving. All those brain features are massively advantaged if you've learnt a second language."

"We have tried to promote the language and the culture through initiatives with the Confucius Society. The benefits and potential opportunities seem obvious, but parents and students seem reluctant to embrace the language."

"If we could encourage 20 students, even across a range of year levels, we would run the programme tomorrow."

Read more -->  MP Urges Schools To Teach Chinese

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.

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (Modern Grammars)

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (Modern Grammars)

As my Uni. exam approaches I am using this grammar book to study many of the new sentence patterns and structures. It is one of the many reference books that I use. I really find this book useful as a supplement to my set text book and Uni. resources.  

The lost decade: learning Asian languages

An interesting and detailed article about the past 10 years of Asian Language Learning in Australia.  The article The lost decade: learning Asian languages goes into great detail about many of the problems of teaching and learning languages over the past decade.  While I was aware of the many of the reasons and problems of learning an Asian language, there was still much that I didn't know.  One of the best discussions on this topic I have read.

Thoughts and Reflections

I finished my first year of Chinese learning at University last week. The final exam was not what I expected, however I will know how and what to learn for the next ones. I did not do as well as I had done on my assignments. I think I was quite anxious before the exam. I knew the vocabulary and grammar quite well. Yet I did not feel that I did my best. Despite the final exam I have had a really productive and enjoyable year of study.

As mentioned in my last post I am fortunate as I am able to go to Xian for three weeks of intensive study. Out of all the macro skills speaking is my poorest ability. Sometimes I feel I am learning in isolation. This is the downside of the distance education language learning course. I am able to teach myself to read, write and listen, but speaking is not possible. I can of coure listen and repeat to course texts and materials. However, in reality I do not feel able to hold a very simple conversation. I have no opportunity to speak with a native speaker. I live in what is a rural and remote area so my choices are very limited. Though I am not proficient in speaking, I am still looking forward to the three weeks of language classes and opportnities to speak.

Right now I am very relaxed about my language learning. I am listening to my Pimsleur Chinese course materials fairly regularly. I occasionally have a look at other resources. I am not pushing myself and I think I am getting better results than I did pre exam. I have an chance now to make some progress in a more relaxed learning environment. Shall keep this up for a few more weeks and see how it works out.  

我很高兴

I have received good news I have just joined a programme offered by my university called Asian Language Accreditation Program (ALAP).  It means that I will be able to learn Chinese at UNE and become a registered Mandarin LOTE teacher.  It has some very good benefits such as my HECS will be paid, I can attend intensive schools and my accommodation and transport is subsidized and I will be able to go to the sister university Shaanxi Normal University in Xian, PR China for three weeks in January 2012.  My travel costs and expenses are paid. So I am quite excited about all this. 我很高兴。

Current Studies

I am currently studying Chinese Mandarin with the University of New England.  After much research I found this to be the best option for my current circumstances. It is considerably cheaper compared to Open Learning. For my purposes I prefer a formal course of study.  In CHIN101 we use a textbook, have access to audio, Internet resources, a forum for discussions and questions and access to tutors / lecturers and fellow students via email. So it is a complete package of learning, tuition and resources. The semester lasts for about 16 weeks. Other students come from wide and varied backgrounds. It suites me to learn Mandarin in such a way, as I know exactly what is expected of me to succeed.