Learning Chinese | A China Blog on Suzhou Expat Life

Posts Tagged ‘Learning Chinese’

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J
u
l 27 20
08

Almost – a new friend

As I was quite active in the blogger scene (if you can call it that) up in Dalian, and had met a few good friends because of it, I was eager to check out what Suzhou had in way of bloggers when I first moved down here two years ago.

At the time the only blog of note really was Chabuduo, written by an Aussie named Matt. Though the scene has grown a bit since, Matt’s blog was, for a long time, the only real window into foreigner-living in Suzhou.

Through the time we both mutually…

Comments Posted in China Expat Life

J
a
n 22 20
08

ChinesePod affiliate program back up

ChinesePod.com, one of the pioneers for learning languages via podcasts, has recently relaunched their affiliate program, and I gotta say, it’s better than ever.

An affiliate program might not mean much to many of you, but I know a lot of folks that read this blog regularly also run their own China-related blogs and sites, and so I figured I’d help the folks over at ChinesePod get the word out about it.

For any that don’t know, ChinesePod.com is a rather hip podcast that delivers free daily Chinese lessons in a fun and contextual radio-show format. The podcast and…

Comments Posted in General, Learning Chinese

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o
v 02 20
07

Why not to study Chinese at university

As some of you may know, I’m enrolled at Suzhou University (or Soochow University, SuDa) studying Mandarin. Having just completed my mid-terms, I want to give a bit of a summary on the problems I see studying in this way.

First, the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, as overall I really like studying Chinese, think my teachers are great, and I really like SuDa’s environment. However…

Having lived in China now for a few years, I have a rather messy Chinese “level” in that my speaking and listing are pretty good, but my reading and…

O
c
t 02 20
07

Practice writing Chinese on your computer

Over the past couple years of half-heartedly studying Chinese I’ve come across a good number of computer-based tools to help in my studies.

ChinesePod, Google’s IME, Adsotrans and Google Translator, Wenlin and a bunch of great freeware and Firefox plugins – just to name a few.

However, about two months ago I was casually browsing the local diànzǐ chéng and I stumbled on a little USB input device that allows you to write Chinese as an input method for your computer. I finally pulled it out of the box…

Comments Posted in General, Learning Chinese

A
p
r 22 20
07

Put Down The Chalk & Pick Up The Language

My road through the Chinese language has been a bumpy one full of roundabouts and dead-ends. In the more than two years I’ve been here I’ve not had any formal Chinese education, and I’ve really no excuse for it.

I’m often praised and then quickly chastised by Chinese co-workers on my level of Chinese. When they first meet me they lather it on, but once they know I have a Chinese wife, their faces screw up and they try desperately to understand why I can’t speak better.

The truth is, nothing has hurt my Chinese more than having a Chinese…