by 卡梅尔 on January 31, 2012
2 things led up to my first lesson:
I’ve been studying A LOT all hols, and I’ve also been following the exploits of Benni in Taiwan.
And yesterday, I had my first lesson of the year, on Skype, with my teacher XuNi from Xi’an.
I didn’t write my usual story before my lesson that I usually read to my teacher … No, this time my preparation was just thinking about things to say. Obviously I tried to practise talking (see, no hear, my previous posts 🙁 ).
I took a bit of advice from Benni .. I made myself just talk! I talked slowly, very slowly and XuNi was both patient and helpful. She was helpful because she asked me questions that made me think of things to say (note to self: write a list of questions.) And of course she corrected my sentences. I was thrilled because I understood her corrections when she said them.
Here is an excerpt from the lesson .. talking about a guest having to stay in a tent in the back yard because our house is too small!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
by 卡梅尔 on August 18, 2011
Xu Ni on Skype
我想认识你我的汉语老师。她叫许妮。她住在西安,在中国中部！从现在她有她的自己网址。请看一下。
click here
by 卡梅尔 on December 5, 2010
practising my chinese characters
I am trying to get a little bit ahead in my text book before I start my lessons again with XuNi. I love her lessons, but they are very challenging. I think it might be easier if I am a little ahead. Not only do I have to be able to read the characters (and it is easier to remember them if I can write them), but I need to be able to use the words and put them into sentences. I also have to be able to hear them when XuNi speaks to me. Naturally, that’s what learning a language is all about.
For my recent trip to France, I learnt a little French. I was so surprised when after learning a word or phrase, I could then recognise it when I heard it spoken. It is not like that in Chinese. It takes a lot longer to be able to recognise the new words. But it does happen!! and I am getting a lot better.
This photo is this morning’s effort at learning a list of new words. I copy them, and then cover up my writing and try to write it again, and again, always from memory, only peeking when I have to, and going back over and over them. I listen to the new words, and am happy when I can write down what I hear … quickly.
This is where I need XuNi. I have to speak these words too. I have to speak them quickly, and hear them instantly. I should be able to understand the words without translating them into English!!!! Sometimes this happens. I think the first phrase I really understood like this was ‘wo bu zhi dao’: I don’t know!
今天上午的汉字练习 ~ This morning's character practise
这是我的汉语老师！