TIPS FOR SELF-TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 🌍 📚
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- How to get from zero to HSK 6 in less than three years 🥟 I have been getting lots of questions lately about how I learned Mandarin, so today I am sharing with you some of my tips about how to become fluent quickly through self-teaching 🐼😜
0:32 Why I learned Chinese
1:41 Why I didn't take classes
2:36 Is it really necessary to learn how to write by hand? (update: apparently the new HSK coming out next few years will require writing sone characters by hand, so if you plan to take HSK unfortunately the digital test will be phased out in 2023-4😭😭)
3:35 Importance of listening comprehension as a beginner
5:53 Don't rote memorize words without knowing how to use them
6:43 Make use of your new language as much as possible
8:05 Importance of being intrinsically motivated!!!!
Cartoons that I recommend:
Level 1 - Peppa pig 小猪佩奇，aka 佩佩猪 🐷(again, beware of the constant oinking, but it’s a great show to lay a foundation in listening comprehension): • 小猪佩奇 中文 | 精选合集 | 工作和娱乐...
Level 2 - 大耳朵图图👂 • 大耳朵图图（第一季） 01 出生的秘密
Level 3 - 小丸子 🍡 (this is actually originally Japanese but it has a Chinese dubbed version） • 櫻桃小丸子 #1 姐姐成日欺负我
There are plenty of other cartoons out there too but I personally found these to be the best because the voices are clearly understandable (no screechy/weird voices, no super fast talking, etc), the animation is well done, and the storylines are reasonably interesting and won’t completely bore you to sleep. 😴 I watched pretty much every episode on CZcams of all three of these and it was more than enough to move on to shows for adults 📺
Good places to find example sentences:
Pleco smartphone app 🐟
Linedict app or website dict.naver.com/linedict/zhend... 🐻
Anki spoonfed Chinese flashcard set ankiweb.net/shared/info/53920083 🥄
Great tool for language learners: Youdao dictionary pen! Check it out here: amzn.to/36vHN5X
The perfect reading comprehension improvement tool for English learners and Chinese learners alike!
(affiliate link)
My instagram: kats_journey_east 🐲
Music credits:
------------------------------
Your Little Wings by Tokyo Music Walker
/ user-356546060
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/-your-little-wings
Music promoted by Audio Library • Your Little Wings - To...
------------------------------
Cover image credits:
Logohhh.com
🐼 Chinese learners, don’t miss out on this limited-time offer! 🐼
This week I’m partnering with LiaChinese to offer you a great opportunity to take your Chinese to the next level🌻it’s perfect for complete beginners, people who have hit a wall in their Chinese studies, and people who want to learn colloquial speech instead of “textbook language” 😎
🥟🥟🥟
From 7.13 to 7.17, LiaChinese’s online course is open for registration: the course offers lifetime access to 75 online videos [500 minutes of content] to study at your own pace from any device, a Zoom conversation room, a private student community on Telegram, dozens of exercises and downloadable PDFs, study plans, and more 📚 Check out Lia’s website at www.chinesewithlia.com/a/2147513872/X89NAzxC (this is my affiliate link, so I will receive a commission if you sign up 📖 ) if you’re interested and snag this limited-time offer before it’s gone!
🥟🥟🥟
You can also check out some extra study resources on Lia’s Instagram @ Chinesewithlia 🎋 Lia has been teaching Chinese for 4 years and is qualified to teach at Confucius institutes. She’s already taught over 1000 students from dozens of countries, and there’s even a 30-day money back guarantee if you decide this isn’t the right type of Chinese course for you, so what are you waiting for, give it a try and bring your Chinese to the next level 🐉
I hope you are seeing this comment on this year old video. I believe most schools in the US called Chinese Mandarin instead of Chinese. Actually Taiwan officially calls its language Mandarin after the US but for China it is Chinese. There is no Mandarin in Chinese schools. China 中文 Chinese vs Taiwan 国语 Mandarin, even the Chinese names are different for the two. The US recognized Taiwan as China until December 1978 when Jimmy Carter pledged One China Policy with Deng, so it kind of made sense for Taiwan to have adopted the word Mandarin. BTW There is an interesting Jimmy Carter video on CZcams telling the story. As you know, to specify the dialect, Chinese always use the word Putonghua. Many times people said to you 你这个普通话说得比我还要好. Putonghua is the official English word for 普通话, you can see it on China Daily or hear it on CCTV all the time. It’s not a big deal since 99% of Chinese wouldn’t pay attention to such details, I only think it's a bad habit that can be cured.
@@michael511128 Honestly, this is an extremely thoughtful video which should receive greater public attention. You ought to better promote your insights to the wider society in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
It's almost one month since I started learning Chinese Mandarin. I am a Chinese Historical drama/movie addict. Since I was little I watch so many Chinese KUNGFU movies and I fell in love with them and their KUNGFU.
I love chinese people and their food.
The reason I wanted to learn Chinese Mandarin it wasn't just for my dramas. But I am teaching myself that if I want to accomplish any goals in life I must be PATIENT and WORK HARD and UNDERSTAND that there is a PROCESS to reach my goal. In the past I just wanted to hurry up and get to where I want to be without working hard for it. I had no patient then.
So by learning Chinese Mandarin teaches me to achieve this goal I must work hard and be patient in the process.
Me and you both
I became a Wuxia fan a couple of months ago. So, why not? I've started to pick up some random words already.
Beautiful
Actually Chinese culture is so fun. For myself I was born in Hong Kong but still not fully understand the whole Chinese culture. I hope I can understand more in the future.
I live in China I want to find a teach English for my daughter and I can teach you Chinese
420854615@qq.com
whatsapp +1 (838) 241‑8810
6 years only and self-taught and you are really fluent now. Amazing!
The thing I find incredible is that she is writing her university thesis in chinese, really unbelievable.
COMMON SENSE: Once you learn ONE foreign language (she said Hindi) & intensely studied another one (French, but didn’t like it), then picking up another language is difficult, but one knows what to look for & where to go look for it: well, then you are pretty far ahead, & then it’s a matter of FOCUS, CONCENTRATION &. DETERMINATION. Wish me luck!
Number one to learn foreign language is passion. If you are passionate about it, you will persist to learn it.
Most of us would be discouraged to walk into a group/environment that is foreign to us. You walked into a group of all Chinese and converse in Chinese and decided to stay. Wow, you are a force to be reckoned with. Your method of learning a new language should be put in a text book to whoever wants to pickup a new language. The criteria to be successful, one has to love the language and totally immerse in it, just like the ways you did!
I self taught myself mandarin too - became fluent after 18 months or so. Funnily enough used very similar methods and advice to yours - like not bothering about writing, listening to Peppa Pig and talking to yourself, describing your day even as mundane as brushing ones teeth in the morning, watching chinese shows, writing a diary in pinyin etc. It works!
I honestly don't think it's possible to become fluent in Mandarin with just pinyin. So many of the words in Mandarin (especially as you get higher up the HSK levels) are just recombinations of characters you already know- if I didn't know the characters, learning those words just by sounds would be impossible...
@@mattstyles4283 I agree with you - I know how to read the characters which is much easier- I just didnt spend any time writing them.
Yes, you got fluent in mandarin in 18months and I’m the Pope😂
same for me ..
Yees Actually learn chinese characters, can help you , to understand and remember words easily , just think how many "shi" pronounced characteres there are 市是十式石世事时师食实時視屎士 and like 50 "shi' characters more, if you only keep writing in pinyin, It wll be harder to remember the meanings
I have already commented this, but it is incredible to think that you have studied Chinese by yourself for 6 years and you are using it to write your university thesis.
basically linguistic talent + practice vs linguistic no talent .
听>说>读>写，Listen>Speak>Read>Write. Totally agree with you.
自学，两年半，不在中国，就通过了HSK6，you are a legend!!!
Humble, clever , energic, beautiful. Your husband is so lucky man.
Rainbow pee😂
@@layzhangofficial9771 Haha, only Chinese can understand what you say.
@@layzhangofficial9771 哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈逆天
家里有矿
She is enough, doesnt need a husband😂
You are a legend regarding learning Chinese language, I think the most important for learning a language is, you do not hate that language and you love that language you choose to learn.
Agree!
@@Byu12398 great point
I can't agree with you,It is not interests in a foreign language that are the key to master it,it's ambition.
@@user-hu8cj9db6u I can't agree with you; very rarely is it black or white, but many different shades of grey.
Interest / ambition/ Passion -- they would all do one well as motivation
great point, i genuinely loved English when I started learning at school so I get good at it at a much faster pace then my peers. But I've been learning German and live in Germany for 3 years now and all my university courses and everything are in German but I still suck at it.
for kids it´s a combination of movement, picture, repetition, singing, dancing, every piece of vocabulary with Total physical response
In my humble opinion, humility plays a key part of learning any language ( There’s no such a thing as ‘ foreign ‘ language , must be ‘ another ‘ language . A wise man once said: For every language you learn , you become another ( acquired ) ; if you learn 5 languages, you become 5 persons -in 1 persona )
Very true, when you learn a new language you experience a whole new culture which adds to your personality and character because the culture is embedded in the language.
My PhD is in developmental Psycholinguistics (how kids learn language) and bilingualism. I agree with your approach 110%. To master any language as an adult requires PASSION for the language. You live it intensely 24/7. You are right that memorizing words is a waste of time. In fact, words are not language. Language is simply rule knowledge - how you put the words together to make sentences. So memorizing 10,000 words in swahili is worthless if you can’t produce a simple grammatical statement.
Swahili . Reminds me of the black and white movies starring Johny Weissmuller as Tarzan .The producer needed an extra to play a Zulu warrior reporting to his chieftain and they picked a Kenyan student to play this role…. he only have to say something in Swahili.
When the movie was screened in Nairobi, Kenya , the audience roared in laughter when the extra said “ the money the producer of this movie paid me is not even enough to pay for transport to the studio”
Interesting stories on how Katherine learned mandarin by herself without taking any classes and not bothering learning how to write. Her mandarin is really good almost like a native speaker with good intimation and comprehension. The power of immersion and passion
Presume you meant intonation.
Wow, this is great advice. I've been learning Mandarin on and off for a few years, starting in my 40s (late I know). I'm probably HSK3 now, but the problem is, I spent all my time learning vocabulary, how to read and write, that I got great at using WeChat and HelloTalk for conversations, but I never practiced listening much, so I'm basically deaf in Mandarin, even though my vocab is about 1500-2000 words. I can speak and put sentences together, but then the Chinese listener thinks my Mandarin level is much higher and when they reply, I only get like 30% of it.
So absolutely, don't make the mistake I did, focus focus focus on listening. If you can get good at listening, you can use CZcams and Bilibili to 'bootstrap' more learning, and you can get energized by being able to participate in real conversations. As opposed to getting good at reading/writing.
But I wonder when you first started, and your lab partners knew you only knew a little bit, did they still talk to you at full speed, or did they deliberately speak in small sentence fragments, or use simpler vocab? I've tried doing language partner stuff and going to club meetings, but I find almost invariably, I end up teaching English pronunciation to partners more then listening to Mandarin, out of frustration. There's like an initial tough hill to climb to get to that plateau where conversations can go smooth enough. Before that, I feel like its impolite or annoying to keep stopping conversations and asking what something means. I wonder if you would ask for explanations in your early days, or if you just picked out the few words you knew and silently just dealt with the ambiguity of not being sure what the whole conversation was.
得多交流多说话。识字量多对读写有帮助，对说话帮助不大。
The group dynamic of the lab helped a lot. In one on one situations the problem you have described is a bit more common (the partner doesn’t have the patience to deal with your lower level and the language exchange doesn’t work well) but in the group setting everyone was chatting with each other and just throwing me little bits here and there. I participated more and more in the conversations as my level slowly improved. and they seemed to find my attempts to interact with them funny and cute as opposed to being a burden since they were having their own group interaction at the same time and not just focused on me . But not everyone is fortunate enough to have a group to interact with on a regular basis so I recognize that I was a bit spoiled in that sense 😜 our university also had a Chinese language club where 2-3 Chinese students would chat with Chinese learners but hardly any learners ever showed up because ..... they were too busy doing the reading and writing homework 😂😓
As for asking questions , I had to “pick my battles” and just ask the most important questions (ask about stuff I thought was grammatically important or a word I thought was critical to understanding the main focus of what the person was saying, etc). I wouldn’t ask for every single thing . You have to accept that when you’re a beginner you can’t understand 100% , otherwise you will drive yourself crazy and others too
@@user-zd3cm6wz5d Katherine的故事给了我希望，因为她成年后开始学习。我有两个小孩儿，而且我希望他们学习汉语，所以我学习汉语，然后我们可能一起练习，互相帮助。
@@RayCromwell You are good in writing mandarin, and is able to make a bit in-depth article. Awesome! Well, the methods the host teachs that is u quite useful not marely in learning Chinese, but also the significant ideas on English learning. Now I have been striving for one and half year, I like to translate the mandarin to English on my own and correct my wrongs by Google translate or take its original translation for reference, thus on purpose to made up and build the proper englsh frame in my mind, to make it be a part of my body. Wish you can speak fluently Chinese soon as your writing. For me, the task to speak well a language as the native is so hard than to write, like hardly the sounds of pronunciations is made precisely and constantly ........ 加油朋友。 一起加油！
Of all the expats I follow, you and Blonde in China are the better Mandarin speakers. Passion, persistence and thick skin are more helpful.
Meant to say perseverance.
@@yunfeigao5217 老外也用了哎
Listening is really important. Just like how a baby learns a language, it starts with exposure. At the very beginning, the baby cannot understand anything, but they learn it gradually with time and with more exposure and stimulations.
Wow, Katherine , you are a genius being self taught in mandarin.
The best languages teacher in the whole world is Peppa )))
I am Chinese. Let me explain a little bit, the reason why your Chinese colleagues don't talk with you at the beginning when you just got to China is that they have very poor speaking English skill, they can not express themself very clearly, but I am sure they can do more than their words if you need any helps. The most effective way is to write some words to them about your trouble. I guarantee that this applies to all foreign friends who are new to China.
You are right i am a student in Nanjing too
Chinese can read English,but their speaking English and listening English are very poor.
You misunderstood. She was talking about lab work in her university in the United States, where all participants of that project were Chinese.
@@ThePearltong Yes he needs remedial English it looks like.
I dare say immersion and passion are potent forces to not just learning well but to whatever you want to do well.
You are truly amazing, Katherine, and so fluent in Chinese! Not many people can reach your level of fluency in Chinese even if they spend their lives in the country. Well done for your nice and positive videos!
Your spoken Mandarin has already been very good. The key factor to learn a foreign language is to force yourself into the environment: to listen and to keep talking with local people in their language. Making mistakes is completely fine as people understand you're a learner.
What you said about finding the joy in learning (rather than learning cuz it gains you some advantage) is epic. In fact, the same could be said about just about pursuit in life!
Your experience in self-motivation and self-created immersion program serve as a role model for many! Very inspiration indeed! I love your "never stop learning" attitude!
Go, hokies! Dear VT alumni.
Glad to find your channel. It's really beautiful to see what happens when you take in new things with open mind, curiosity and no bias.
You are right!! I agree with you!!💯
I was in Spanish level 3 for 3yrs and i couldn't learn a whole sentence because i wasnt interests in learning spanish. Now i taught myself my tongue languages and its was easy lol. Im starting chinese now...lol
Thank you Kathrine. Your experience with Hindi - being able to speak but not being able to understand what anyone said - is exactly the problem I have with Persian. You've made me all the more determined to focus on my listening skills. Thank you!
You’re absolutely right about the writing aspect of it. I always quit learning Chinese because learning how to write it was so time consuming like you said. I think I can finally move forward with my learning Mandarin now that the writing obstacle pay is out of the way. Thanks for this little but very valuable tip.
‘Started learning Chinese in 2015’
- Respects to you!
‘Learnt Hindi before Chinese’
- That’s beyond awesome!
‘Oh, also learnt French for four years’
- I’m speechless!
From personal experience with Spanish and now trying to relearn Mandarin the right way, this is excellent, top-notch advice. Pay attention, y'all!
The only think I would add to this is, aggressive reading also helps tremendously with vocabulary.
I know many Chinese families sent their children to Chinese language schools, but eventually, they drop the school and failed the mission to learn Chinese in Canada, writing get students frustrated and took too much time, learning a skill that has no use. I told my son Mandarin, only need to read, no need to write, even in China today, people no longer write Chinese after graduating from university, you only need to learn how to type on the phone/computer, that's enough, now my son can use Chinese on a daily base (type on the phone), a big help for his work as a music teacher.
I speak 5 major languages. I agree with Katherine that it's very important to learn how to use a word in different sentences. My favorite dictionaries always have many example sentences.
This is a very successful case of a highly intrinsically motivated language learner. HSK level 6 in two years is an amazing achievement.
You show how beautiful a human being can be! I`m trying to pick up Manderine on the internet, it`s hard but fun. Thanks for making my day!
I am impressed. I've lived there off and on since the very early 2000 and not easy but with dedication and good resources, you can mister it. That was my 5th language. Having said that, Lady, you are awesome.
At first I thought you are a genius but you told us there are also hardwork and fun work involved.
My son went to dual language school (Chinese-English) since he was 4 y/o into pre-K, but since it was a public school for all Americans, its Chinese curriculum plateaued out at a very low level. He graduated from after 5th grade, now it is a struggle to keep him interested to continue learning Chinese. You are such an inspiration, thank you.
From watching a lot of language learner's videos on YT, I believe learning a language in a classroom environment is not ideal. If he can understand the language great, if he can't speak much that means he lacks interaction with speaking. But the problems with language (especially the LEARNING) is that when we were a kid, we don't normally care much about language learning, we normally like to have fun with friends or play with certain things (I believe real learning truly happens when we were in our teens, because we are more aware of what we want in life).
The reason that we don't actually need to "learn" our native language is because we are already fluent before our first year in school. All the learning effort in school are just to improve and sharpen an existing skill along with writing.
take him to Chinatown, let him order in the restraurant (tell the waitstaff to only speak to him in mandarin)
你的孩子你引导后让他自己选择吧
Language comments: Girlfriend came to US and watched re-runs of I love Lucy. To improve comprehension, I listen to a zoom class with people speaking about current events or I watch the news because the pronunciation is impeccable and the speed is conversational. The vocabulary is high school level. You don't have to understand every word.
I am studying a language with 12 tenses and moods of verbs vs. only 6 in English. No problem to recognize the tense when written. However, the spoken language is not the written language so you need to listen carefully to distinguish whether the subject is singular or plural, and some of the pronouns are the same for both genders.
Thank you. You've been very supporting fo all of us who want to learn mandarin and grow as a person.
You know that this video is very special because you say the truth, I never heard someone saying that learning how to write is less useful because they are worried about other people's negative comments 😅
I have to admit that when i stopped learning all the writing part I suddenly started learning a lot faster than before !
Thanks for your video, I hope to meet you and your BF in one of my future trip in China 😁
You are a language genius. You do have the natural gift. I found French is difficult to learn too.
I often wondered how you accomplished this amazing feat! Wow!
Makes me feel proud :- )
Very useful actually. I agree that watching children's cartoons in the language that you're trying to learn is very helpful. And of course, if you want to learn anything fast then nothing beats totally immersion.
As a native mandarin speaker,I’ve spent half of my time practicing handwriting before school even before I knew how to organize sentences structures correctly .it’s obvious that in traditional Chinese culture handwriting is far more important than speaking,just because almost everyone thinks handwriting can show one’s personality.But as a modern foreign learner,I agree with your idea
Peppa Pig is becoming an indispensable tool in language learning :'D
I just got a motivation boost, like, I'd say one of the strongest ones I've ever gotten. Thank you.
I’m self taught as well (HSK 4) and I also don’t write much glad to hear that you didn’t focus on it as well. It takes so much time when I can easily type the pinyin and recognize the character.
You are the first American that I met who speak very good Mandarin, your ways of learning language are correct. Really happy to see you having a good time in china , and by the way I am Chinese and also traveling around the world . You are the fewer American who can master a foreign language at this level, honestly .
As an ethnic overseas Chinese myself that knows the language by heritage and not by education, I am thoroughly impressed by your journey, and in fact, I'm taking tips from you to learn the official PRC Putonghua Mandarin, which is waaayyy different from the Chinese I speak in my community.
Thanks for the tips to "improve your listening". I tried it and it seems to help. I am a fluent Cantonese speaker trying to learn Mandarin. When I watch Chinese TV, I couldn't follow the speech without the Chinese subtitle. It was frustrating! Yesterday, I closed my eyes and just listened. I got about 45%. That is pretty good. I will keep trying to see if that will help me. Thanks again.
Thank you for these tips. They're very helpful. My problem with Chinese right now is that I studied it for 5 years and then decided to take a break from it, as I was stressed with work and university. I'm 41 now and I started studying it again 9-10 years after my break, and I really struggle to talk now, although reading and listening are not a problem.
already very impressive.
Thank you 1000 times for the useful tips and your story. I’ve been so frustrated teaching myself mandarin. I took a mandarin class here in Chengdu (virtually in person) and was so disappointed because even though it was a basic ground floor learning class the teachers didn’t speak English and taught using advanced vocabulary so it was just a bunch of sounds and I could’t follow or catch on no matter how hard I tried.
Small tip for you, if you start the chapters in your description with 0:00 they post to your video timeline ;) Also if you shoot indoors change your frame rate (FPS) to either 50 or 25 or the lights will have an annoying flicker (if you didn’t know already).
Devoted subscriber,
Joshua
Glad it was helpful for you! Thanks for the tip about the chapters, I will do that next time . How do I change FPS? It’s a camera setting , or a setting when I upload to youtube ?
I had no idea about the flicker , I’ve never noticed it before 😭
Oh your videos are ok. It only happens with artificial lighting indoors. (More of an FYI if you try to record and notice it). ;)
It’s a camera setting. It’s how many “pictures” your camera takes per second (FPS frames per second).
Short explanation is that electricity changes polarity (flashes) at 60 times per second in america and 50 times per second in China (fast enough we can’t see it). So if your camera shutter speed (FPS) doesn’t match sometimes it takes the frame when the lights are bright and sometimes when the polarity is changing creating a flicker. ;)
Best example is when you see the noise lines when you record a tv (or computer) screen in your videos. Same concept.
That’s so interesting , never would have guessed that one !! Thanks for the tip , I will try to watch out for that 😹
These are super useful tips even for someone learning other languages. Thanks Katherine!
I have been on this journey since 2012. Continuously improving, failing, tweaking and learning how to do thing on my own. I believe I have almost got the gist of it in the A2-B1 stage, after entering B2 stage I will vary my method. I believe prioritizing, time management, SRS and tracking are also very important non-language aspect of the language learning journey.
Picking up on the local senator scenario, of course you know in person makes better impression . Good luck to you both in your endeavours.
As an ABC, I think the NOT learning to write is really good advice.
I want to offer another pointer, which is music, or singing. Singing uses a different part of the brain, making learning the language easier. I had the reverse of your experience, came to the US and learned English, and watching PBS kids helped a lot.
I could relate with you so much. I find Mandarin so interesting 有意思, and like you I studied french, but I didn't progress in French no where as fast as I did with Chinese. I like Chinese music, TV shows, films and I engaged with it more.
Don't skip writing when you enjoy it. I use a brush, copy the characters, and repeat the pronunciation when I write. Calligraphy makes me feel peaceful too which is a plus.
I’m a Tutor of Chinese as a foreign language. I’m totally agreed with you! This is what I did too to my students. Many others tutors or teachers also disagreed with me too. However I’m still keeping my way of teaching. I’m doing the same too now for picking up my Tibetan language. 大家共勉之！
All true and good advice. Very true about immersing yourself totally in the language in every sense and opportunity. Surround yourself by speakers of the language, or being in the environment (eg country) of the language is the key to learning the language. Or even dating a person of that language is a real booster. Your accent and proficiency is truly impressive. It's my mother tongue (supposedly, lol) and I can barely utter a few words, never mind speak it. I envy, but am happy for you. Congrats and hope you've a good and happy future in China!
你是一位非常努力的人。
Thanks for the tips and your enthusiasm is infectious. That’s given me extra impetus to start learning.
Thank you so much! I'm busily applying your suggestions to my Spanish learning and already I feel a great improvement and can see how quickly this will progress!
As a speaker of several languages like Chinese, English and Japanese, I am very impressed by your language acquisition tips. And I am gonna to follow your sharing from now onwards! Cheers from Singapore 🇸🇬
Great content K. Loved the cycling journeys in particular. Loved to see more of the surrounding areas of Nanjing.
These tips are so well thought out and useful. Thank you!! I am learning Chinese now and I can definitely see where the gaps in my learning are now.
It is so true to begin with children shows and other easier learning materials. For me, I loving watching the Japanese anime but with english dub. I just kept watching and could not get enough of it. And as time went on, I felt my english had improved so much.
I find it pretty interesting - my journey to learning Korean was really similar to yours learning Chinese. I was an engineering major, who joined a lab with a Korean adviser and Korean grad students. I had learned some Korean before that, but really got to speak a lot and improve my conversation skills talking with all the grad students. Having been to Korea and come back, I felt pretty similar to you in one of your other videos where you mention feeling like you were missing something without a Chinese social life - I was able to have a social life in Korean during undergrad, but out of school, it's been a lot more difficult!
And now I'm watching this video just because now I'm married and my husband is Chinese - and I have a lot of experience learning Chinese over the years (actually started in high school, way before Korean), but it just isn't as good as my Korean. I'm hoping that I can get a transfer through my company one day to go to China, as I can get more into a Chinese speaking work environment and just have more chances to use it.
That’s so interesting, I’ve never met anyone else with the same experience ! Did you ever get a chance to live in Korea?
The way you're ambitious to learn chinese,it remind me my situation when I had started learning English.
Now I can say my English is good enough to communicate anyone (who can speak English).
Learning a language is not all about language itself but we learned their culture, history, foods, events, custom, believes and many more.
That’s really useful, thank you 😊
Love all the advices! The immersion is something everyone talks about and it doesn't mean just going to China, it means living in chinese as much as you can, surrounding yourself with it, finding out what works in your routine, even practicing by yourself it that's the only option.
✨It's not a matter of being talented or a genius at all, motivation and hardwork are key to make it happen ✨
Beautiful katherine you master Chinese language you're very smart I will always love you and respect you 😅😉
This was really helpful, thank you.. I've been trying to learn Chinese for a while now, but I'm struggling.. I love learning Mandarin so much, as challenging as it is, my love for China, the culture, the people, the food, and of course the language, keeps me going.. I just need to find the right learning style for me.. I listen to Chinese radio and watch TV shows, films and immerse myself as much as possible everyday, but it's just a very slow process.. I'm going to try to drop the character writing element for a while, as it is absolutely a huge part of my time, I will give it a try and see if it helps, thank you so much again.. Just, subscribed 👍🏻👏🏻
I really like English. I've been learning English more than ten years,I can read a lot,but I almost can't speak one sentedce.I've never talk to other in English.To me it's too hard to learn a new language.Just do it. Go ahead！You can do it！
Thanks for your sharing, your learning journey was just wonderful!
I'm very impressed with your fluency in mandarin and that you self taught yourself. I also got back to learning my Mandarin on my own quite a few years back. I had books, videos that I purchased but never got round to use it because of my work & travel schedules. Then when I stopped working, I decided to take a crack at my books & videos. I started to look at Chinese words every time I see them..words at food stalls were the initial starting point..I learned what the words meant so that I knew how ir was written in Chinese and then I would look up the words in the dictionary if I didn't recognize the word.. then when I found Pleco, it was a God send..it made learning Chinese words so much easier.To cut a story short, I have since progressed over the years learning Mandarin. I can now read a whole lot more, write decently Ok and speak reasonably OK. I do take your point that it is important to be able to speak the language constantly & listen which will make learning the language faster. My drawback is that I'm not in daily Mandarin speaking environment which allows me to be able to converse often in Mandarin. But with the help of CZcams videos that I am following,that at least gives me an opportunity to do that
I enjoy learning Mandarin and agree with you that you must have the interest to learn it & it will help you progress.
I am a big believer of learning by immersion - that's how babies learn languages. Nowadays, everyone is so blessed because of the internet - you can virtually immersed in the language you like to learn. The internets is jam packed with information. All we need is the 'inner motivation' that Katherine talks about.
This was by far the best, practical advice I’ve seen on learning mandarin. I already finished my first hour of Peppa Pig before I came back to comment. Even though I only understood “hello, goodbye, mom, dad, thank you” it felt good getting that input.
Can you please, please share how you learned how to read and recognize the characters without learning how to write them by hand?
I learned them from being exposed to them repeatedly by looking at example sentences, watching Chinese TV shows with Chinese subtitles, sending/receiving texts from friends, and also through the pleco clipboard reader 😝
@@kats_journey_east
I like to watch Chinese TV shows as well.
The latest series were:
czcams.com/video/j23Mm40SjJY/video.html
It's about a girl from our time goes back to the time of the emperor. So it's romance and funny and very entertaining.
⚜️I read the sub in English but still I am learning.
This is the most realistic tips I ever heard about language learning especially Chinese
I just came across this and this is a year old, so you might not read this. But how you learn Mandarin is amazing, out of this world. I bet nobody ever did it this way. And your Mandarin is so good that if you were speaking behind me I would think that you were native Chinese. Your advices are tremendous, especially the no writing part. I fully sympathize with people struggling with learning how to write the minimum of a thousand characters. Conversation is the most important part. I watched some of your bike youtubes, and I have to say that you are exceptional, nobody like it. My full admiration.
Wonderful perspective on learning .... not only Mandarin but other fields of knowledge on a self-directed, independent basis. Cheers to your continuing journey and quest for self-enrichment (through your bike ride trips and otherwise)!
What a wonderful and intellectual young woman, kudos to you.
Thank you so much!! For the really helpful advices 😇🙏🙏🙏
Well done, Katherine. Hard work and sensational achievements!
Your advice not to waste time learning handwriting characters is the best advice about Chinese learning ever. I tell this same advice to everyone learn Mandarin.
It's 2021, we should stop teaching languages like it's 1981.
Thanks for sharing your very interesting journey. It reminds me of the evolution of mankind...a big slice of luck here, a few setbacks there and load of perseverance in-between. But things turned out good in the end! :D
Great advice, this is gold!
Your level of focus is amazing.
great video, it just make me have more energy to learn english consistantly.
your persistent is one of the successful elements.
Thanks for sharing! Great advice!
Thanks for your tips. Learning a new language is a never-ending journey. Just be passionate and self-motivated.
Awesome!! I'm only at a B1 level in Chinese... Definitely going to start talking myself now... Me myself and I will be having fluent Chinese conversations in no time, HAHA
The jigsaw puzzle analogy is EXACTLY how learning Mandarin feels, especially reading.
You’re really amazing! Great tips .... I totally agree with you about listening. I’m trying to do lots of that at the moment. Thanks for posting a really helpful and inspiring video! 👍👍👍
Thanks! Keep on the great work!
I want to learn Chinese too.........
Just ...wow! To just walk into that lab and then decided you want to learn that language? Boss level! Very inspiring. I completely agree about listening. That's how you start to get a feel for the rhythm of the language and to be able to pick out individual words or phrases.
Thanks! Your tips are good for learning any language!