13
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Explaining the difference between 'very' and 'too' to native Chinese speakers
Sometimes an image speaks to people. Maybe try something like this.
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10
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Is it easy for native Japanese speakers to remember simplified Chinese characters?
Japanese learners of Standard Chinese have both advantages and disadvantages compared to native speakers of other languages. (I will simply write "Chinese" from here on.)
According to Hu Xinghua,
...
- 19.7k
10
votes
Accepted
How useful is it to study Chinese using Duolingo's English for Chinese speakers course?
I actually find the reverse courses very useful. I have worked with the reverse courses in many languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, and Portuguese.
Perhaps my experience is ...
- 400
8
votes
Does learning the stroke order in Chinese help with learning that language?
Learning the stroke order probably does not help with learning the spoken language. However, with regard to the written language, the arguments that come closest to cognitive benefits are related to ...
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7
votes
Is it possible to learn a language just by being exposed to media and books?
The short answer is, yes. You could learn (to comprehend) a language just by being exposed to media and books.
The longer answer is, yes, but...
Books (and other language learning kits) provide a ...
- 1,881
6
votes
How useful is it to study Chinese using Duolingo's English for Chinese speakers course?
Interesting question! I've never thought about using reverse language courses to try to learn a language, so I tried it out. Since I'm fluent in Spanish, I tried out Duolingo's English for Spanish ...
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6
votes
What resources exist for learning Fuzhounese?
You definitely won't find Fuzhounese on any major online language learning platform, but I did find a pretty decent YouTube playlist Fuzhounese Lessons (English) 福州话教程 (英文版) by AL Language Cafe that ...
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6
votes
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Evidence that learning radicals speeds up character learning in Chinese?
The 1999 article "Using Radicals in Teaching Chinese Characters to Second Language Learners" by Marcus Tuft and Kevin Chung reported on a study where students who new nothing about the Chinese writing ...
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6
votes
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Should I learn Simplified or Traditional Chinese characters for reading in China?
In mainland China, simplified Chinese characters are the dominant form of written Chinese. It's the type of characters used in newspapers, most books, in subtitles on TV, in dictionaries, at school ...
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6
votes
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Does it take "about 50 exposures for most words to be retained in long term memory"?
There are two important things about Terry Waltz that you need to know:
she teaches Chinese to native speakers of English, so not everything she says about learning Chinese automatically applies to ...
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6
votes
How do I make my Chinese listening robust to unknown words?
In my experience reading has always been easier than listening, but I think that is because the majority of my study comes from text based materials. Practice is definitely required for learning to be ...
- 344
5
votes
How to remember words I never use
Spaced Repetition is a great way to remember such words. Spaced Repetition can be done using paper flashcards, or computer software.
The Leitner system is a simple way to do the employ the technique ...
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5
votes
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Necessity of studying Hanja to reach intermediate level of Korean proficiency?
It certainly isn't necessary to study Hanja to learn Korean or to take the TOPIK examination. The TOPIK contains no Hanja, so it's possible to get the highest level without studying Hanja. Also, ...
- 1,817
5
votes
Accepted
Does learning the stroke order in Chinese help with learning that language?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: no, but it increases overall fluency and will help your legibility.
Chinese (as well as other character-based language systems) can have characters that seem to differ ...
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5
votes
Is it necessary to learn the characters of a language that uses logograms [Japanese]?
(Since this question is just as relevant to Chinese as to Japanese, I will cite a few sources about learning Chinese.)
Learning Japanese kanji or Chinese hanzi takes a lot of time. As far as I know, ...
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5
votes
List of Chinese "verb plus object" verbs?
A similar question was posed to Chinese Language Stack Exchange in 2014: Is there a comprehensive list of separable verbs/离合动词 anywhere? There are several lists out there, but they're not ...
- 51
5
votes
Are there any advanced proficiency tests for Standard Chinese (CEFR C1/C2)?
Yes. There are proficiency tests for Standard Chinese that go beyond B2 and that cover at least level C1.
The DLPT V offers assessments of High Level Language Proficiency. It has been 25+ years since ...
- 51
5
votes
How can I progress from A1 to B2 on listening skills?
I found myself in a similar predicament early on in my language learning endeavors. Many people fall into the fallacy of "when I am watching TV or listening to it, I am only learning if I understand ...
- 51
5
votes
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Should I use my second language to learn my third language?
There are various ways to learn or teach a foreign language. At one end, there is the direct method, and at the other end there are methods such as the bilingual methods and the grammar–translation ...
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5
votes
Is there much point in aiming for the HSK5 or HSK6 Chinese tests (assuming it's not required)?
If you would like to do professional translation in China, companies will often ask that you have an HSK level 6 or higher. I've also seen this requested from companies in Europe (the US tends to ask ...
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4
votes
How useful is it to study Chinese using Duolingo's English for Chinese speakers course?
To be honest, personally I don't think Duolingo is useful at all for learning languages. That is, even if it had a Chinese for English speaker course, it wouldn't help you much at all. You'd be best ...
- 201
4
votes
What resources exist for learning Fuzhounese?
I found Fuzhounese.com, a Fuzhounese audio phrase-book. (It describes itself as an "English to Fuzhounese Audio Phrasebook/Dictionary Website".)
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4
votes
How to teach someone to correctly pronounce tones in tonal languages such as Standard Chinese?
How can I help other learners of Standard Chinese to get the tones right? Especially without being a native speaker myself?
You can help learners of Standard Chinese (Mandarin) get the tones right by ...
- 141
4
votes
How to teach someone to correctly pronounce tones in tonal languages such as Standard Chinese?
To practice pronouncing two tones together, such as 哪里 and 那里, you could try tone pair drills.
Chinese has a lot of two-character words and twenty possible combinations of tones and practicing these ...
- 141
4
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Is it more difficult for a native Chinese speaker to learn English, or vice versa?
I think it depends on what aspect of the language you're talking about.
For reading and writing, English, being a primarily phonetic written language (albeit very irregular), seems to be easier to ...
- 226
4
votes
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How many words/characters do I need to understand Chinese sitcoms?
My experience is that even after passing HSK4 (1200 words, 1064 characters) with ~90% in the listening and reading part, and now closing in HSK5, I am still not fully comfortable to sitcoms without ...
- 156
4
votes
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Reading and Listening Resources for HSK 6 (B2)?
The HSK6 exam has a very specific, unnatural format, so studying unspecific material (such as native content), while generally helpful, will not target your HSK6 test-taking skills.
If you definitely ...
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3
votes
How useful is it to study Chinese using Duolingo's English for Chinese speakers course?
Interesting. I have tried to learn Chinese by use reverse language course. I thought:
You can learn that, but it is hard.
You need to master Pinyin, but Duolingo will not help it.
You cannot practice ...
- 655
3
votes
Is it easy for native Japanese speakers to remember simplified Chinese characters?
Yes it is. However it is hard for Japanese to learn Chinese pronunciation because Japanese and Chinese read same kanji differently, for example Japanese read 中 as "chuu" but Chinese "zhong."
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3
votes
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Can I measure my Chinese proficiency without taking an HSK test?
This page on Emory University's website about HSK Sample Tests should be of use to you. There are 6 different sample tests, along with a relevant review of vocabulary and grammar.
Unfortunately, I'm ...
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