r/ChineseLanguage • u/willowsprings15 • May 23 '22
Studying How it started and how it's going 😊
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u/XElavyy May 23 '22
Hi! I’m studying Chinese for two years now but I’m struggling with sentence structure (now that they’re going to be more complex). How long did it take for you to get out of that initial state of confusion? 😰
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u/willowsprings15 May 23 '22
Hello! I understand how you feel, I made slow progress with my Chinese for the first 6 years since I was only raking evening classes once a week for an hour. The sentence structure and speaking patterns only started feeling more natural for me when I really immersed myself, and I did that by watching Chinese tv shows! I got really hooked on a tv drama called Meteor Shower and after 2 weeks of watching it, pausing, analyzing the subtitles, and hitting play again, the structure of the language suddenly clicked in my head. No everything, but enough that I suddenly started speaking Chinese when before I was always too unsure about grammar. Try watching a show you enjoy and stick with it, the sentence patterns will slowly become more familiar to you. 😊👍
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u/Electronic-Ad4753 May 23 '22
I use to use that book on the left for my Chinese lessons but had to return it and can't remember which it is now. I don't suppose you know the name or where I can get it?
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u/willowsprings15 May 23 '22
Of course, no problem, I have it here, it's called "Chinese for GCSE Students Book 1" published by the British Council in 2003, I'm afraid there is no ISBN number or barcode on the back. I also have volume 2. It's a good book for beginners! But perhaps a little more suited to children. If you're looking for a textbook for adult learners, I recommend 新实用汉语课本 New Practical Chinese Reader, it also has videos with the dialogues on YouTube!
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u/Schattenmeer May 23 '22
Oh that's so cool :) Currently, I am doing a free chinese course from my university and I hope to stick with it after that (to read novels, too).
How long did it take you to read your first novel?
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u/willowsprings15 May 23 '22
Nice! It's an interesting language, right? 🥰 As for how long it took for me to read my first novel, well, I think it would be misleading to pay too much attention to my timeline because your reading comprehension really depends on the pace of your progress. Personally, I read my first novel 10 years after I started learning Chinese, but I made slooooow progress with only occasional study during the first 6 years. After 1 year of full time study in China I could read manga and comics comfortably. After another 6 months of full time study in Taiwan I could read novels with the help of a dictionary app. After about a year of reading with the dictionary, I can now read novels and understand 99% without a dictionary. One step at a time, you will make progress. The key is immersion immersion immersion! 加油！😊👍
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u/Ivysoraya May 23 '22
Wow, that's great! Keeping learning a language is always something challenging.
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u/willowsprings15 May 23 '22
I agree, motivation for continued study is definitely important. And Chinese is such an interesting and fun language to learn, so I've always felt really motivated to learn more. 😊👍
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u/zamo555 Jun 19 '22
What did you start learning Chinese with?
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u/willowsprings15 Jun 19 '22
I started taking evening classes at my local language centre once a week for 2 hours each time. We used children's books even though all the learners were adults. We had a wonderful passionate teacher, who made it really fun to be in her class. 💛
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u/willowsprings15 May 23 '22
I remember my very first lesson back in 2009, we learned 你好， 中国 and 日. 13 years and several trips to China and Taiwan later, and I'm reading novels now. 😊💛 Stick with it folks, you can do it! 加油！👍