好久我沒開我的電腦。一邊我覺得每天看Email 很麻煩， 一邊我的生活不是貼我的臉螢幕上。 不過現代的社會要每一個人知道怎麼用電腦，否則不一定可以找工作。
最近我看“痞子英雄”，那偶像節目非常糟糕可是我不得不看， 臺灣人都看完了。
雖然我有作業很多， 我沒有動因寫。
一方面我覺得太無聊，一方面我的舌很痛。舌上有小小的點似乎一個小小的包包。我不能過癮我吃的菜。
我鼻子塞， 所以這周我一定不會發音的對。 這沒關係，反正我說的話大部份不好。如果我想好的事情的話我一定閉嘴。否則有風險被我的身份展示。
dimanche 27 décembre 2009
mardi 22 décembre 2009
Getting the tones right
Today in class, I was rather embarrassed. True that I did not get formal training for the most basic stuff, nor do I think it is necessary, but when it comes to tones, I can hear them from time to time, but really am unable to reproduce them.
As we were practicing 繞口令 or tongue twisters, the teacher made me start over and over on lines like 四十四 and so on。 later 44zhishishizi of the like. ( i will find the characters some time - hey my taking notes this semester is rather off...) In a nutshell, all i want to say there are few times that the tones are really crucial, but the number of combinations, with more less proper pronunciation makes one understandable. Context is important. if you have a map and you ask for a place named 衡芬（not that there is any to my knowledge) 在哪裡？ People will not think that you are looking for a pink object 粉紅。。。
As we were practicing 繞口令 or tongue twisters, the teacher made me start over and over on lines like 四十四 and so on。 later 44zhishishizi of the like. ( i will find the characters some time - hey my taking notes this semester is rather off...) In a nutshell, all i want to say there are few times that the tones are really crucial, but the number of combinations, with more less proper pronunciation makes one understandable. Context is important. if you have a map and you ask for a place named 衡芬（not that there is any to my knowledge) 在哪裡？ People will not think that you are looking for a pink object 粉紅。。。
jeudi 10 décembre 2009
Other tools for learning Chinese
This entry does not have much to it, but I realised that the only way that one can really learning something is by enjoying. OK, that may be a false presumption, but the torturing nature of the Practical Audio Visual Chinese- its poor translations, dialogue, vocab, grammar structure, makes it unbearable at times.
(there really should be no English and let the students figure out the meaning of the vocabulary or grammar for themselves)
Anyway, here is my latest computer transformation : 蘋果日報 = 國語日報 !!!
Having the pronunciation of every character, rather than constantly using Chinese Pera Kun, may force me to think of the meaning of a character by a pronunciation that I already know.
Going to bars is not really my thing lately, so I am trying to take more time to read. Children`s books are sometimes too difficult, due to the vocabulary of specific historical elements, but sometimes really boring as well. I just discovered that the passion of millions of kids and adults around the world can be used (efficiently - i hope so) for learning a language. This mostly due to motivation. Read comics.
Given my level is still quite low, it is more cost effective for me to buy second hand ones and read them at home. Going to a manga café may be a plan in the near future.
Comic books give an impression of natural language. Common grammar use in normal frequency makes it a lot easier to get how it is used and what it can mean.
mardi 8 décembre 2009
Chinese fonts with Pinyin
For those of you looking for a way to improve your electronic Chinese reading experience, I came across a set of fonts that include phonetics.
I am making entry of this for two reasons :
Looking for pinyin 拼音 zhuyin注音 fonts 字型 or 字體 i came across this
my searches for Pinyin on top, or font with Pinyin did not provide much until.... I am not quite sure. Ｉwill probably get this package in a proper manner, but it is better than the alternative. or here http://www.china-guide.com/software/characte.html
This may also interest you, but i do not have enough disk space to download it!
華康字型百科全書—SWF黃金版
So why am I making an entry on downloading Chinese fonts? good question, but feel I wasted so much time looking for them that hope you do not do the same as me!
If you take the time to get this 文鼎 注音小博士 2 package, which includes setting up a GoGobox Account etc! (ｒｅｑｕｉｒｅｓ ＩＥ－ ｂｌｅｈ ）
the full password is (without quotes) "☆請尊重智慧財產權☆【kib56056】"
yest you need the space at the end. I not have the file open and hope to look around to see it it's worth my while. A lot of posters complained, so would have I if had not read other's comments!
My next challenge is to convert these fonts such that the whole can be used throughout my operating system. Ｉthink it will take less resources than the ＭＤＢＧ reader (about 250 MB ＲＡＭ ！）
I am making entry of this for two reasons :
- To see if there are actually any benefits to using the software ( fonts ).
- When providing information, avoid using spaces!
Looking for pinyin 拼音 zhuyin注音 fonts 字型 or 字體 i came across this
my searches for Pinyin on top, or font with Pinyin did not provide much until.... I am not quite sure. Ｉwill probably get this package in a proper manner, but it is better than the alternative. or here http://www.china-guide.com/software/characte.html
This may also interest you, but i do not have enough disk space to download it!
華康字型百科全書—SWF黃金版
So why am I making an entry on downloading Chinese fonts? good question, but feel I wasted so much time looking for them that hope you do not do the same as me!
If you take the time to get this 文鼎 注音小博士 2 package, which includes setting up a GoGobox Account etc! (ｒｅｑｕｉｒｅｓ ＩＥ－ ｂｌｅｈ ）
the full password is (without quotes) "☆請尊重智慧財產權☆【kib56056】"
yest you need the space at the end. I not have the file open and hope to look around to see it it's worth my while. A lot of posters complained, so would have I if had not read other's comments!
My next challenge is to convert these fonts such that the whole can be used throughout my operating system. Ｉthink it will take less resources than the ＭＤＢＧ reader (about 250 MB ＲＡＭ ！）
mercredi 25 novembre 2009
NTU Chinese Language Division - Not Recommended !
For the past 2 1/2 months I have been studying at the NTU Chinese Language Division. I'm not wholly convinced it is the most effective methods for learning a language, although I'm not one who is enthusiastic of learning methods per say, I would have a very hard time recommending anybody to go to NTU to learn Mandarin. Friendly staff does not mean efficient teaching.
First off, throughout the whole term, I've only had one language teacher. For 15 hours a week of continuously getting one person's point of view, one person's approach, it is difficult to say that that one receives a well-rounded view of the society or culture of the language that we intend to learn. Moreover, the teaching methods or curriculum is entirely classroom-based. That means at the intermediate level we have the textbook(Practical audio-visual Chinese), some student presentations and a professor rambling on sometimes of her personal life, sometimes of gossip news but more often than not explaining vocabulary in the most uninteresting ways. (PS - If you have a modern computer that does not have a drive, you can download the MP3 CD for book 3 and for book 4. Book 5 will follow shortly. These audio tracks are utterly boring, ando maybe useless if you do not have the text books. Chinesepod does a much better job, especially when it comes the entertainment factor not to mention the grammar explanations.
On a personal note, my greatest difficulty with the language remains. Although many people believe the Chinese grammar is simple, it is a matter of where to know, or how to place the words in a sentence, a classroom setting does not give you the opportunity to learn how to use these basic sentence structures influence our national manner. In my opinion, it would make a lot more sense to have more repetition of the grammar structures that they intend that we learn, and expect more from students to learn vocabulary without the teacher's explanations.
In front of me I have three or four textbooks, unfortunately this last term has killed any interest that I had in learning the language. My intentions are to learn the language so that I can carry out my research have conversations with people and so on, however I'm confronted with the reality that having artificial or superficial reasons to interact with people does not make language learning interesting but more burdensome. That is I don't really want to find from for the facts before the sake of finding friends because the intentions or the basis of the relationship are instrumental I want to learn language they may want to gain face or like me as well learn another language, I'm not sure.
Right now, the learning method which appeals me most consists of television, movies, more or less interesting dialogues. This may sound like an utterly boring list of activities but unless I have a valid reason for interacting with people that I don't know, is the approach they must take.
I've tried some demo versions of language learning software, which have a more or less accurate recognition of one's voice and how well one pronunciation matches the provided sample. However I found part of the language learning software packages are the recording and repetition of the user's voice. Although may sound archaic, it closely resembles the use of a tape recorder where the language learner would speak and then listened to his or herself. Nowadays, an inexpensive MP3 player or a mobile phone will do the job, however the advantage of being in front of a computer is that one can see the soundwave of the original, compare and repeat, and find other resources, other audio sources with which one can practice.
Getting back to the experience of classroom learning at NTU, I feel I should supplement my complaints, my grudge towards the learning centre, with some suggestions :
First off, throughout the whole term, I've only had one language teacher. For 15 hours a week of continuously getting one person's point of view, one person's approach, it is difficult to say that that one receives a well-rounded view of the society or culture of the language that we intend to learn. Moreover, the teaching methods or curriculum is entirely classroom-based. That means at the intermediate level we have the textbook(Practical audio-visual Chinese), some student presentations and a professor rambling on sometimes of her personal life, sometimes of gossip news but more often than not explaining vocabulary in the most uninteresting ways. (PS - If you have a modern computer that does not have a drive, you can download the MP3 CD for book 3 and for book 4. Book 5 will follow shortly. These audio tracks are utterly boring, ando maybe useless if you do not have the text books. Chinesepod does a much better job, especially when it comes the entertainment factor not to mention the grammar explanations.
On a personal note, my greatest difficulty with the language remains. Although many people believe the Chinese grammar is simple, it is a matter of where to know, or how to place the words in a sentence, a classroom setting does not give you the opportunity to learn how to use these basic sentence structures influence our national manner. In my opinion, it would make a lot more sense to have more repetition of the grammar structures that they intend that we learn, and expect more from students to learn vocabulary without the teacher's explanations.
In front of me I have three or four textbooks, unfortunately this last term has killed any interest that I had in learning the language. My intentions are to learn the language so that I can carry out my research have conversations with people and so on, however I'm confronted with the reality that having artificial or superficial reasons to interact with people does not make language learning interesting but more burdensome. That is I don't really want to find from for the facts before the sake of finding friends because the intentions or the basis of the relationship are instrumental I want to learn language they may want to gain face or like me as well learn another language, I'm not sure.
Right now, the learning method which appeals me most consists of television, movies, more or less interesting dialogues. This may sound like an utterly boring list of activities but unless I have a valid reason for interacting with people that I don't know, is the approach they must take.
I've tried some demo versions of language learning software, which have a more or less accurate recognition of one's voice and how well one pronunciation matches the provided sample. However I found part of the language learning software packages are the recording and repetition of the user's voice. Although may sound archaic, it closely resembles the use of a tape recorder where the language learner would speak and then listened to his or herself. Nowadays, an inexpensive MP3 player or a mobile phone will do the job, however the advantage of being in front of a computer is that one can see the soundwave of the original, compare and repeat, and find other resources, other audio sources with which one can practice.
Getting back to the experience of classroom learning at NTU, I feel I should supplement my complaints, my grudge towards the learning centre, with some suggestions :
- Teacher rotation -- throughout the term the teacher should rotate once or twice a week whenever possible that there are students at approximately the same level. Given that the textbook at lower and intermediate levels are the main tools of learning and require very little preparation on behalf of the teacher the rotation of classes should not pose too many difficulties.
- Diversified learning materials -- obviously, one can not learn the language from a book ignore from rote repetition of audio CDs, but self evaluation, or even feedback on how one presents or describes something in this foreign language would assist students greatly in making progress. Throughout the term, aside from being yelled at "use Chinese grammar not English grammar", the feedback on what's I should work on how I should work on it has not been provided.
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