My Mandarin Drought

6 Replies

I’ve been struggling to replace ChinesePod as my source of all things Mandarin and a month after my account expired, I’m anxious to do something to end my Mandarin drought.

Truth be told, I’m struggling to know where to turn. I have been studying online from day one and as a result my listening is better than my spoken Mandarin, which in turn is remarkably better than my non existent reading/writing ability. This isn’t a problem in itself and I can honestly say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning this way. It does, however, put me in a difficult position when deciding what to do next. Many courses, tutors, etc. expect you to have mastered all three equally.

So, what are my options?

  1. Go back to ChinesePod
  2. Sign up for a formal Mandarin course
  3. Find a personal Mandarin tutor
  4. Use alternative online study tools
  5. Find one or more language exchange partners
  6. Move to China
  7. Other…

Of course, these options are not mutually exclusive and whatever method I choose, it is highly likely that I will end up using a combination of the above to keep things interesting.

In determining how I want to take my studies forward, I’ve been thinking back to some of the best Chinese learning experiences I’ve had. Asking for directions, thinking I understood the directions and ending up hopelessly lost, coffee with my previous Chinese tutor in Shanghai, discovering the characters for ping pong (乒乓), being able to talk (in English) about Chinese current events. So many of these involve interaction with people. Human interaction is key and I think I need more of it.

When I began studying there were four main drivers behind studying online:

  • it was interesting
  • I could study in private
  • I could study anywhere
  • I could progress at my own pace

Online study was perfect for my lifestyle. I have often found myself based on an industrial estate, miles from civilisation with a laptop and a patchy mobile connection as my link to the wider world. Being stuck in a hotel is a great opportunity for private study, but not so good for committing to attending regular courses. Things have changed (for now). On Monday morning, I could be told to jump on a train and head out of town, but it’s unlikely. I’m fairly confident that I’m going to be in town for the rest of the year, and that opens up study possibilities.

I’ll be taking a closer look at the following two resources, as recommended by Eli Bildner of Tea Leaf Nation (For Those Coping With Mandarin Withdrawal, Two Tools That Can Help):

But I’m keen to hear your suggestions for; courses in London, podcasts, private tutors, or even language exchange partners. Leave a comment, or get in touch on any of the major social networks.

  • http://twitter.com/qimet888 qimet888

    You could try skritter.com on it’s own without Chinesepod to improve your writing abilities – and they now have an app that let’s you do it on your ithingy, too.
    I’ve also started using memrise.com (free for now) to memorize words.
    If you wanna take it to another level, maybe go for weibo.com ?

    • http://billglover.co.uk/ Bill

      Many thanks for the link to memrise.com, it looks like a site worth investigating further. I love how the pictures morph into characters. I do wonder how many characters they have managed to capture in this way though. I’ll try it out for a bit.

  • Greg

    Hey Bill

    On the basis of what you’ve written, it sounds to me (and what do I know, right?) that you should either get a teacher, or get a language exchange partner – the teacher if you have money but little time, partner if you have time but little money :-) You’ve done podcasts, you’ve done lots of listening … sounds like it’s time to turn your passive vocab into active conversation. Online options are possible, but it sounds like you’ve worked out for yourself that something face to face would be more pleasurable.

    Good luck!

    • http://billglover.co.uk/ Bill

      Thanks Greg. I don’t think I’ll ever fully give up listening to podcasts, or watching videos online, but something tells me it is time to shift things around a bit. This week I’ve been writing Characters on my short tube journey to work, attempting to structure sentences by replying to weibo posts and am in the process of talking to a couple of teachers and prospective language exchange partners. We’ll see how things pan out, but I’m excited again.

      Hope things are treating you well over there in the East.

  • http://jefflau.net/ Jeff Lau

    What method did you choose in the end?

    • http://billglover.co.uk/ Bill

      I’m currently using a combination of Skritter and infrequent lessons with a teacher. I’ve had the in-laws over for three weeks and will be spending a couple of weeks in China at the end of the month. This has given (and will give) me a fair bit of practice without needing to find a language partner.

      When I get back from China, I suspect I’ll need to re-visit my approach as opportunities for Mandarin immersion will be few and far between.