The quickest proven way to improve your Chinese listening skills

The quickest proven way to improve your Chinese listening skills
Jul 1, 2020 22:43
BECKY123 Points: Join Date: Mar 19, 2019 Status: offline	Like most Chinese language learners, many of my students have difficulty with listening comprehension in the beginning. Since it’s difficult for non-advanced-level students to clearly distinguish each Chinese word, the quickest way to improve listening skills is to learn to instead listen for the keywords in the topic or sentences. Here are 3 ways I have used to help my students efficiently pick out keywords. 1. Learn common Chinese sentence patterns: ● Sentences with “是 (shì)” Example: wǒ shì Dora. 我是Dora。 I am Dora. “wǒ” means “I/me”, “shì” means “to be”, “equals to”, or “is/am/are”. We can use this sentence structure to introduce our name, nationality and so on. Example: wǒ yào kāfēi. 我要咖啡。 I want coffee. ● “Yes / no” questions with “吗 (ma)” Example: nǐ shì zhōnɡ ɡuó rén mɑ? 你是中国人吗？ Are you Chinese? “ma” is a question word that we put at the end of the sentences to make a ‘yes or no’ question. 2. Pay more attention to the nouns and verbs in sentences. Normally, nouns and verbs provide the most useful information on a topic. Nouns have four main characteristics: ● The majority of the time, they are modified by a measure word. Example: yí ɡè pínɡɡuǒ. 一个苹果。 One apple. Grammar: Number + measure word + noun ● They can act as a subject, an object or a complement, but never as a result. A noun can occasionally be adverbial, but not often. Examples: 1）pínɡɡuǒ hěn hǎo chī. 苹果很好吃。 Apples are delicious ● They may not be modified by the negative adverb “不 (bù)”. ● They may not be reduplicated (unless it’s for a “cutesy” effect, usually when speaking with small kids). There are five main characteristics of verbs in Chinese: ● The main function of verbs is to be in the predicate of a sentence. ● The majority of Chinese verbs are transitive, which means they take an object. Example: wǒ yǒu yì zhī bǐ. 我有一支笔。 I have a pen. ● Verbs CAN be negated by the adverb “不 (bù)”. However, other than verbs of emotion, they CANNOT be modified by “很 (hěn).” Examples: 1）wǒ bù hē kāfēi. (CORRECT) 我不喝咖啡。 (CORRECT) I don’t drink coffee. 2）wǒ hěn hē kā fēi. (INCORRECT) 我很喝咖啡。(INCORRECT) 3.Memorize high frequency vocabulary used in daily conversation. ● Personal Pronouns: 你 (nǐ), 我 (wǒ), 她/他/它 (tā) Examples: 1）wǒ shì zhōnɡ ɡuó rén. 我是中国人。 I am Chinese. 2）nǐ shì měi ɡuó rén. 你是美国人。 You are American. ● “是 (shì)” and “的 (de)” may be used in almost every Chinese conversation. Examples: 1）zhè shì pínɡɡuǒ. 这是苹果。 This is an apple. 2）zhè shì wǒ de nǚér. 这是我的女儿。 This is my daughter. Of course, if you want to be able to fully understand native speakers, you still need to practice with full conversations in different contexts If interested to join a group for learning Chinese, add wechat: jenniferzhu6

Jul 1, 2020 22:43

BECKY123
Points:
Join Date: Mar 19, 2019
Status: offline

Like most Chinese language learners, many of my students have difficulty with listening comprehension in the beginning.

Since it’s difficult for non-advanced-level students to clearly distinguish each Chinese word, the quickest way to improve listening skills is to learn to instead listen for the keywords in the topic or sentences. Here are 3 ways I have used to help my students efficiently pick out keywords.

1. Learn common Chinese sentence patterns:

● Sentences with “是 (shì)”
Example:
wǒ shì Dora.
我是Dora。
I am Dora.

“wǒ” means “I/me”, “shì” means “to be”, “equals to”, or “is/am/are”. We can use this sentence structure to introduce our name, nationality and so on.

Example:
wǒ yào kāfēi.
我要咖啡。
I want coffee.

● “Yes / no” questions with “吗 (ma)”
Example:
nǐ shì zhōnɡ ɡuó rén mɑ?
你是中国人吗？
Are you Chinese?

“ma” is a question word that we put at the end of the sentences to make a ‘yes or no’ question.

2. Pay more attention to the nouns and verbs in sentences.
Normally, nouns and verbs provide the most useful information on a topic.
Nouns have four main characteristics:

● The majority of the time, they are modified by a measure word.

Example:
yí ɡè pínɡɡuǒ.
一个苹果。
One apple.

Grammar: Number + measure word + noun
● They can act as a subject, an object or a complement,
but never as a result. A noun can occasionally be adverbial, but not often.

Examples:
1）pínɡɡuǒ hěn hǎo chī.
苹果很好吃。
Apples are delicious

● They may not be modified by the negative adverb “不 (bù)”.
● They may not be reduplicated (unless it’s for a “cutesy” effect, usually when speaking with small kids).

There are five main characteristics of verbs in Chinese:
● The main function of verbs is to be in the predicate of a sentence.
● The majority of Chinese verbs are transitive, which means they take an object.

Example:
wǒ yǒu yì zhī bǐ.
我有一支笔。
I have a pen.

● Verbs CAN be negated by the adverb “不 (bù)”.
However, other than verbs of emotion,
they CANNOT be modified by “很 (hěn).”

Examples:
1）wǒ bù hē kāfēi. (CORRECT)
我不喝咖啡。 (CORRECT)
I don’t drink coffee.

2）wǒ hěn hē kā fēi. (INCORRECT)
我很喝咖啡。(INCORRECT)

3.Memorize high frequency vocabulary used in daily conversation.

● Personal Pronouns: 你 (nǐ), 我 (wǒ), 她/他/它 (tā)

Examples:

1）wǒ shì zhōnɡ ɡuó rén.
我是中国人。
I am Chinese.

2）nǐ shì měi ɡuó rén.
你是美国人。
You are American.

● “是 (shì)” and “的 (de)” may be used in almost every Chinese conversation.

Examples:
1）zhè shì pínɡɡuǒ.
这是苹果。
This is an apple.

2）zhè shì wǒ de nǚér.
这是我的女儿。
This is my daughter.

Of course, if you want to be able to fully understand native speakers, you still need to practice with full conversations in different contexts

If interested to join a group for learning Chinese, add wechat: jenniferzhu6

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