![]() ![]() Phase 2: Select and Create a Vocabulary Listįrom the saved words in Skritter or Pleco, I then open up an Excel notebook and write each character down, with the pinyin on the right, and the definition on the far right.īut wait…don’t these apps keep the lists for you? Of course they do, but the objective here is to force yourself to see and write the words for yourself. You can also reference the character in the subtitle, but try first to rely on your listening and your skills of guessing from context to figure out the appropriate word.Īfter this, you have a list of new words to learn. When I identify a new word, I open up Pleco and search in pinyin and choose the appropriate word according to what I heard and what makes sense in the context. ![]() (don’t worry, you’ll get better as you go along) With many other languages this could be a difficult task, but due to the relatively small number of possible sounds in Chinese it is easier to identify new words you hear. SKRITTER DISCOUNT: Try Skritter free and get 50% using code CB50 ![]() Phase 1 is to watch or listen attentively and look up and save the new words you hear with a tool like Skritter or Pleco flashcards. Cartoons also work wonders for easy to comprehend content. *Important*: For beginners, Chinese TV shows can be incredibly intimidating, so I would stick with ChinesePod until you are an upper-intermediate learner. The benefit of TV shows is that they all have subtitles in Chinese characters, making words easy to identify and add to your list. My main sources for finding words are the ChinesePod podcasts and TV shows that can be found on. Finding words in context is a great aid to remembering them and in particular how they are used. ![]() I once tried learning all the HSK6 Chinese vocabulary words as fast as I could with Memrise only to realize I forgot many of the earlier words after devoting a couple months of time into it. Word lists can be overly extensive and it’s easy to get carried away. Phase 1: Find a Source of VocabularyĪlthough one can learn vocabulary from word lists or frequency lists, I prefer finding my own words in the material I’m studying because: I believe that this repetition, coupled with the relatively stress-free context (in that I’m not forcing the words into my memory but relaxing and letting them enter naturally) is the key to its success. The way it works is essentially by creating a maximum number of ‘exposures’ to the new vocabulary, spaced out over time, allowing the words to naturally move from short-term memory into long-term one by convincing the brain that the information is valuable, rather than passing stimuli to be discarded. Not bad right? However, for it to actually work, you MUST do it every day or the process will fall apart. As such, it may need to be modified slightly depending on the type of learner you are.īased on this method of learning Chinese vocabulary, I am able to learn 20-30 words (often comprising of more than one character) per day in under an hour of study and with a retention rate of about 90-95%. I developed my method after learning about the way my own brain works. My Method for Learning Chinese Vocabulary ![]()
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