Chinese is Hard

The trials and tribulations of students learning Chinese.

[allaboutchinese]

晚上做夜猫，早上做熊猫 be the cat in the night, be the panda in the morning

[marie-toh]

爱•死•你 // Love you to death

Based on an old fairytale “The Rose-Elf” about a woman keeping her lovers skull in a pot after he was murdered and crying into it day and night. Soon a jasmine plant grew from it.

[whatischinese]

Some of my favorite apps for studying Chinese :)

[aimingforpretty-deactivated2018]

Look up MindSnacks. It has some great fast games that can pack in review time anywhere! I love it. The 50 lessons cost about $6 but you get one to trial. Definitely recommend. Oh and Flashonary (sp?) is a great Flashcard app and has the HSK vocab lists too.

[whatischinese]

Ooo good to know! HSK vocab is über important :)

[whatischinese]

Gahh sorry I started rebloging to the wrong blog!!

[whatischinese]

Some of my favorite apps for studying Chinese :)

[whatischinese]

Hello.I wanted to post this as an “ask” but tumblr for some reason doesn’t allow me to,so I write it here,hopefully it’s ok.

There are a few things I would like to ask you. Firstly,I have a huge problem with tones.I can’t remember them and even if the text has them marked,I can’t pronounce them correctly.This and the fact that sometimes I get comments about my pronunciation is really sad,because I’m already studying Chinese for 2.5 years. I have no idea how people can learn them.Is this really a huge problem and no one will understand me and will make fun of me?How can you memorize them?I just learn them,write a test and then forget them instantly.There are so many words so how it is possible to memorize them for each one of them?

The other thing is that I’m lazy,so now I’m quite behind everybody else. I went to another country on the exchange program and came back with no new knowledge at all,while those who stayed here and those who went to China learned a lot. Then I decided not to take a more “serious” additional course because I was really scared and I thought that I couldn’t keep up (which is true). So now I can’t read anything correctly because I don’t know a lot of hanzi and overall my Chinese is very very bad.So I’m scared and don’t know what to do.Should I just leave all of this and choose something else after 2.5y? Should I take the course that I will 100proc fail and feel miserable and scared because of it,but maybe learn something new?  I know this may be tldr so the main point is,what would you do if you felt really behind everybody in your class?How do you stay motivated and just go forward learning new words and not forgetting the old ones?   And what do you do with that fear of failure and embarrassment?(I feel like this is my n1 problem)

I understand if you ignore me,because it’s a long question and you probably answered everything already at some point.But I really need to ask this someone and I don’t really have anyone to ask,so all of this makes me very sad and lost and scared.

[whatischinese]

Okay let’s start with tones. One way I worked on tones while I was over in Beijing doing an intensive program was making flash cards. On the front you write the character and add the tone marks over the top of them. Then the back has the pinyin and English.

Oops I gotta run I’ll continue this in a little bit!

[whatischinese]

I am also a huge advocate for iOS apps. I love Skritter and I feel like it is worth every penny. Note card and flash card apps are also amazing. So quizlet is a must. You can also try apps like Memrise and ChineseSkill. Oh and Pleco is a really good dictionary app that everyone in my 4000 level course would use- even during class!

I'm a bit of a hardass on myself in relationship to my grades. Particularly when I see how good my peers are doing on exams and things. Buuuutttt it matters how you improve. You are learning this incredibly difficult language to better yourself. You need to focus on your improvements. THAT is the key.

I completely understand how you feel you are behind and aren't doing well or aren't motivated. To help with your motivation maybe look at the studyblr tag here on tumblr? I always find that it helps me get in the mood to study. You might also consider changing how you study. You can work on listening by watching films online. Netflix actually has really interesting Chinese films that I 100% think you should watch. My friend Abby LOVES "Lost in Thailand" I haven't seen it but it's super funny.

I hope this helps you! As I've said my family life is a little rough with funeral arrangements and such but please feel free to ask me to be more specific or anything :)

[whatischinese]

Hi, I'm on my way to become an International Chinese teacher and I will get my license by September. Feel free to ask me stuff about Chinese, I would love to help!

Yay thank you for being willing to help!! Hear that followers?!? We have a teaching resource :)And as always I'm here as well to answer any questions to the best of my ability :)

[whatischinese]

你好！ I just found out about this blog. It's really cool to see foreigners learning Chinese! I hope you're doing ok! I speak Chinese as my second language and would be really cool to speak to you in Chinese, since my Chinese isn't that good haha

认识你很高兴！I'd love to speak (or type) with you in Chinese! And I'm sure the followers would as well!

[whatischinese]

Hello.I wanted to post this as an “ask” but tumblr for some reason doesn’t allow me to,so I write it here,hopefully it’s ok.

There are a few things I would like to ask you. Firstly,I have a huge problem with tones.I can’t remember them and even if the text has them marked,I can’t pronounce them correctly.This and the fact that sometimes I get comments about my pronunciation is really sad,because I’m already studying Chinese for 2.5 years. I have no idea how people can learn them.Is this really a huge problem and no one will understand me and will make fun of me?How can you memorize them?I just learn them,write a test and then forget them instantly.There are so many words so how it is possible to memorize them for each one of them?

The other thing is that I’m lazy,so now I’m quite behind everybody else. I went to another country on the exchange program and came back with no new knowledge at all,while those who stayed here and those who went to China learned a lot. Then I decided not to take a more “serious” additional course because I was really scared and I thought that I couldn’t keep up (which is true). So now I can’t read anything correctly because I don’t know a lot of hanzi and overall my Chinese is very very bad.So I’m scared and don’t know what to do.Should I just leave all of this and choose something else after 2.5y? Should I take the course that I will 100proc fail and feel miserable and scared because of it,but maybe learn something new?  I know this may be tldr so the main point is,what would you do if you felt really behind everybody in your class?How do you stay motivated and just go forward learning new words and not forgetting the old ones?   And what do you do with that fear of failure and embarrassment?(I feel like this is my n1 problem)

I understand if you ignore me,because it’s a long question and you probably answered everything already at some point.But I really need to ask this someone and I don’t really have anyone to ask,so all of this makes me very sad and lost and scared.

[whatischinese]

Okay let’s start with tones. One way I worked on tones while I was over in Beijing doing an intensive program was making flash cards. On the front you write the character and add the tone marks over the top of them. Then the back has the pinyin and English.

Oops I gotta run I’ll continue this in a little bit!

[whatischinese]

Ufda. Tumblr keeps eating my responses. For memorization I love using various apps. Skritter is my favorite. For a flash card format I use Quizlet all the time. Pleco is a dictionary that all of my 4000 level classmates and I used- even during class.

Motivating yourself when you feel you are doing worse than others is very difficult. Heaven knows I understand that. But you need to look at how YOU improve. THAT is the key. You are learning Chinese for you. Not for your classmates. Looking at the studyblr tag is something I like to do to help get me in the mood to study.

For fearing embarrassment you should know what my head Chinese professor thinks. She always says that mistakes help show her how the students may be confused. It's a teaching point. If you don't understand something, usually others don't understand as well!!

I hope this helps. My family has been busy with funeral arrangements but I'll do my best to answer if you have more questions!

[astrohy-deactivated20150502]

[whatischinese]

Hello.I wanted to post this as an “ask” but tumblr for some reason doesn’t allow me to,so I write it here,hopefully it’s ok.

There are a few things I would like to ask you. Firstly,I have a huge problem with tones.I can’t remember them and even if the text has them marked,I can’t pronounce them correctly.This and the fact that sometimes I get comments about my pronunciation is really sad,because I’m already studying Chinese for 2.5 years. I have no idea how people can learn them.Is this really a huge problem and no one will understand me and will make fun of me?How can you memorize them?I just learn them,write a test and then forget them instantly.There are so many words so how it is possible to memorize them for each one of them?

The other thing is that I’m lazy,so now I’m quite behind everybody else. I went to another country on the exchange program and came back with no new knowledge at all,while those who stayed here and those who went to China learned a lot. Then I decided not to take a more “serious” additional course because I was really scared and I thought that I couldn’t keep up (which is true). So now I can’t read anything correctly because I don’t know a lot of hanzi and overall my Chinese is very very bad.So I’m scared and don’t know what to do.Should I just leave all of this and choose something else after 2.5y? Should I take the course that I will 100proc fail and feel miserable and scared because of it,but maybe learn something new?  I know this may be tldr so the main point is,what would you do if you felt really behind everybody in your class?How do you stay motivated and just go forward learning new words and not forgetting the old ones?   And what do you do with that fear of failure and embarrassment?(I feel like this is my n1 problem)

I understand if you ignore me,because it’s a long question and you probably answered everything already at some point.But I really need to ask this someone and I don’t really have anyone to ask,so all of this makes me very sad and lost and scared.

[whatischinese]

Okay let's start with tones. One way I worked on tones while I was over in Beijing doing an intensive program was making flash cards. On the front you write the character and add the tone marks over the top of them. Then the back has the pinyin and English.

Oops I gotta run I'll continue this in a little bit!

[whatischinese]

Hello.I wanted to post this as an “ask” but tumblr for some reason doesn’t allow me to,so I write it here,hopefully it’s ok.

There are a few things I would like to ask you. Firstly,I have a huge problem with tones.I can’t remember them and even if the text has them marked,I can’t pronounce them correctly.This and the fact that sometimes I get comments about my pronunciation is really sad,because I’m already studying Chinese for 2.5 years. I have no idea how people can learn them.Is this really a huge problem and no one will understand me and will make fun of me?How can you memorize them?I just learn them,write a test and then forget them instantly.There are so many words so how it is possible to memorize them for each one of them?

The other thing is that I’m lazy,so now I’m quite behind everybody else. I went to another country on the exchange program and came back with no new knowledge at all,while those who stayed here and those who went to China learned a lot. Then I decided not to take a more “serious” additional course because I was really scared and I thought that I couldn’t keep up (which is true). So now I can’t read anything correctly because I don’t know a lot of hanzi and overall my Chinese is very very bad.So I’m scared and don’t know what to do.Should I just leave all of this and choose something else after 2.5y? Should I take the course that I will 100proc fail and feel miserable and scared because of it,but maybe learn something new?  I know this may be tldr so the main point is,what would you do if you felt really behind everybody in your class?How do you stay motivated and just go forward learning new words and not forgetting the old ones?   And what do you do with that fear of failure and embarrassment?(I feel like this is my n1 problem)

I understand if you ignore me,because it’s a long question and you probably answered everything already at some point.But I really need to ask this someone and I don’t really have anyone to ask,so all of this makes me very sad and lost and scared.

[whatischinese]

Hey all! There are some messages that I'll answer eventually but to be frank since I'm the only mod on this blog it'll take me awhile- there's been a death in my family. As always good luck in your Chinese language adventures ~nico

[whatischinese]

Couldn't help but wonder... Why study Chinese in the first place?

Well personally I find the language(s) and cultures of China fascinating! I strangely also found Chinese easier to learn than Spanish despite being a native English speaker. I really love the general lack of verb conjugations. There are no annoying tables of verbs to memorize in various tenses. Additionally as a United States citizen a lot of U.S. companies are creating bases or factories in China (cheap labor and such) but they need people to be able to speak the language too! The U.S. economy is being influenced by China more and more, so I personally believe it is a field worth working into!

[caffeinated-linguist]

This is Chineseskill and it’s amazing! DuoLingo is also fantastic, but it has no Chinese language courses as of now. So Chineseskill is quite equivalent in respect to teaching methods. Of course neither are perfect replacements for a language class, but you may find them for your phone and use your smart phone for studying.

[azaleamarie]

Conquering Chinese Lit one paragraph at a time.

[whatischinese]

What kind of stuff are we allowed to submit? Im self teaching chinese and Im an artist. I plan to do some art of chinese character definitions if that makes sense. Like take the character 马 and actually draw it as a horse, show how 人 is a person, ect. Could I submit those here when I do that? I think being able to see the picture in the character definitely can help people to remember :)

Oh my gosh this sounds fantastic!!! We don't have any requirements really for submissions- so feel free to submit anything!! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all come up with :)~nico