Tag: language learning

The First 100 Chinese Characters, Simplified Character Edition: The Quick and Easy Way to Learn the Basic Chinese Characters by Alison Matthews

The First 100 Chinese Characters, Simplified Character Edition: The Quick and Easy Way to Learn the Basic Chinese Characters by Alison Matthews

The First 100 Chinese Characters, Simplified Character Edition: The Quick and Easy Way to Learn Basic Chinese Characters delivers on everything it promises in the title except the part that mentions “easy”.

I didn’t find it easy at all.

“You’ll be learning a writing system which is one of the oldest in the world and which is now used by more than a billion people around the globe every day.” pg 4

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After a brief introduction in which the author Alison Matthews outlines the book (there is a pronunciation guide, explanation about the construction of the language, techniques and more), it hops right in to the basic characters, beginning with numbers.

The book provides plenty of space for practice, but I utilized calligraphy paper because I’m not allowed to write in a library book. 🙂

That being said, I am going to acquire a copy of this just for me, because not only is it fun, but also it’s going to take me longer than a few weeks to master the basics.

I had some warning going in to this project that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. One of my nephews took Chinese as his foreign language option in the lower grades and, though he’s a smart little dude, he said it was very difficult.

It is. But it is also beautiful. I love how the characters sometimes resemble the words they stand for, a dimension English lacks with our boring Roman alphabet.

My efforts at writing Chinese numbers!

And like calligraphy, there is an art to creating the characters. I suppose the same could be said of cursive, but it doesn’t have the same feel at all. When I finish a practice page of Chinese characters, I feel like I’m looking at a painting rather than an essay.

In addition, being a left-hander is a benefit in writing Chinese rather than the hindrance that I feel it has been for me in English. The characters are traditionally written top to bottom, right to left. I don’t smear the ink across my hand and wrist! It’s been quite novel.

Highly recommended for anybody interested in learning how to write Chinese characters.

Thanks for reading!

Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World by Benny Lewis

Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World by Benny Lewis

Fluent in 3 Months is a self help guide for anyone who aspires to speak more than one language.

Though it’s mainly filled with common sense ideas, I liked how the author, Benny Lewis, put it all together.

Lewis begins by sharing his own life experience with readers- that he felt he failed in his early attempts to learn another language through the traditional method of high school class. He also details how he spent six months in Spain with the idea that he’d absorb language like a sponge but then didn’t learn any Spanish.

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The reasons why he feels like he was unsuccessful, because he was lacking the passion to learn and also didn’t speak the language to native speakers, are his main suggestions for language learning in this book.

“When it comes to language learning, there is no room for doubt: you decide your own success.” pg 24

Beyond those two main tips, Lewis shares shortcuts for learning tons of vocabulary quickly (visualization methods) and practicing immersion without going to the actual country. The latter, as he points out, has been made much easier since technology has brought distant countries into the comfort of your own home.

Through Skype calls or internet programs or even Netflix, language learners can interact with and immerse themselves in their target language.

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“You must speak the language with other human beings.” pg 87

The task facing language learners has now become putting in the work to do so rather than traveling the distance for the opportunity.

I think Lewis is on to something with his insistence on speaking your target language from the start.

“As a result of speaking the language right away, students start to acquire the language rather than learn it as they would other academic subjects.” pg 6

I have a friend who’s niece majored in Spanish. But when they visited Spain together, she lacked the confidence to speak it when ordering dinner.

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If, from the first stages, learners were able to clear that initial hurdle, day-to-day use, and the successive ones of perfectionism or uncertainty, I agree that the whole language learning process would flow more easily.

Because, as Lewis points out, language is meant for communication with others. We’re rather missing the point if we acquire skills on paper that can’t be put to real life use.

Highly recommended for language learners of any age.

And thanks for reading!