{"id":7714,"date":"2016-08-17T07:27:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T07:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2016-08-17T07:27:05","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T07:27:05","slug":"using-topics-scenarios-make-chinese-learning-efficient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/using-topics-scenarios-make-chinese-learning-efficient.html","title":{"rendered":"Using Topics and Scenarios to Make Your Chinese Learning More Efficient"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a Mandarin teacher, I am always delighted to observe and learn from my students. One thing I have noticed in my interactions with my students is how hard most of them have to struggle during the learning process. The courses you take and the textbooks you use can of course be beneficial, but they alone cannot make you a better language learner. Too much time can be used up figuring out the meaning of words, taking notes in class, looking up words in the dictionary, or talking with friends. What you need to make the process more productive is a way to establish a context for your learning and sort your vocabulary.<\/p>\n
The learning method I am recommending here will not only help you improve your Mandarin\u2014it will help you learn any language. I call this method topic-oriented learning, since it requires that you study certain cultural topics with explanatory scenarios. This method works particularly well with adults, who (unlike children) are more likely to have difficulties picking up an authentic accent and are frequently distracted by the syntax of their mother tongue.<\/p>\n
My students (especially my beginner-level students) also sometimes complain to me that they find it quite easy to figure out the Mandarin I teach them in class, but quite difficult to understand the words that actual Chinese people use in the real world. Why is this so? I believe it is because the teachers tend to use class content that makes use of the limited Mandarin the students already know, which means that the content may be not that idiomatic. To increase their ability to understand how real Chinese people speak, students need to study scenarios that depict actual everyday life. When adults use topics and scenarios to learn, memorize, and practice a language, they usually achieve a much higher degree of success.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take the topic of \u201cGreetings\u201d as an example. Here are five widely-used ways to greet others in daily life:<\/p>\n