I’ve been studying Chinese for several years now. Lately I’ve moved on from textbooks and started using just news and podcasts as studying resources. I’m looking for any suggestions on my current method. I broke down how I study each skill.
Reading:
I can recognize a good amount of characters. But there are still many I have trouble remembering. Right now what I do is use Google News in Chinese. I will pick a news article and copy and paste section by section into Pleco to read. This was I can quickly look up characters. It’s pretty easy because as soon as you copy it automatically pastes in Pleco’s reader. I use my iPad for this.
Recently I also started reading Harry Potter in Chinese. The books are very cheap on Apple Books. I learned traditional, but most of the books are simplified only, so i am taking the opportunity to learn some simplified.
I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for news sources that will offer a good variety of new vocabulary. I’m worried I’ll be looking at the same words over and over again.
Listening:
Mainly I just listen to podcasts. A mix of native and learning podcasts. Some native ones I listen to are “One Call away 打個電話給你“， ”臺加臺電台“， “The Dark Forest 暗黑森林”， and “故事 FM”. When I listen to these I can range from understanding nearly everything to sometimes understanding very little.
Learning podcasts I like are “台味中文 Learn Chinese, the Taiwanese Way”, Talk Taiwanese Mandarin With Abby”, and “Learn Taiwanese Mandarin”. With these I generally understand everything.
Sometimes I listen while going for a walk. Sometimes I am in front of my computer typing words I don’t know into the dictionary. But right now I kind of find myself in between learning podcasts and native podcasts trying to transfer over. If anyone knows any native level podcasts that still aren’t too hard that would be great.
Speaking:
This one is hard for me to practice. I’m not super outgoing. I spend a lot of time at home or studying alone. Any suggestions would be great.
Writing:
I gave up remembering how to write a long time ago. I can recognize characters pretty well. And I know stroke order. If I see a character I usually know how to write it in the correct order. I just can’t remember how to write characters form memory only. I am wondering if it will be easier to write if I switch to simplified. I’m not sure If writing is really a skill worth pursuing.
Thanks. Feel like I’ve been stuck in a upper intermediate level trying to break into advanced for a long time. I’m not really sure if I am using my time well.
Thank you.
>Speaking:
>This one is hard for me to practice. I’m not super outgoing. I spend a lot of time at home or studying alone. Any suggestions would be great.
Try [shadowing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qx_hnAGc-k). If you’re already listening to lots of material, shadow the speakers to get the speaking practice.
Reading aloud is also another thing to do. If you can get transcripts of podcasts or interviews, that’ll help you build up vocabulary and see how others express themselves at the same time.
Reading:
1. Suggestion I would give here is start reading things you are genuinely interested in. Unless you love the news, it would be better to dive into some webnovels in whatever genre you like, or read more specific articles on topics you enjoy (technology, plants, etc.). Also, you will miss out on Chinese cultural/historical aspects if you only read translated work (Harry Potter).
2. Ideally you should know atleast 95% of the vocabulary in whatever piece of text you are reading. This is where I feel you get the most out of it (so dont worry about “looking at the same words over and over again”. Especially when you read text around +98% comprehension, you will notice that you can infer the meaning of unknown words and learn them more naturally. I noticed words stick better when they are learned this way, compared to getting the answer via translate.
– The time I learned the most words in a month, is when I switched to reading easier material that was more on my level.
For speaking, try Tandem. Many people are happy to exchange voice messages, so you don’t have to speak with them in real time.
Find a native speaker to practice with. You need to make friends and have normal conversations to really improve speaking.
I think one on one lessons online eg italki are very valuable. Great conversation practice.