Chinese Rules

Language Learning Ideas Printable

Here is a printable I made that I hope can help you out on your language learning journey. It has different activities based on how much time you have, as well as a checklist for frequent activities. By using it, you can see what works for you and what doesn’t. 

I tried to include as many things that many people can use, but some activities can’t be used by all language learners, unfortunately. The links to the website are clickable in the PDF file. I tested this myself and have even included a blank version if you prefer to write your own activities. Again, these are just some ideas for you to incorporate and I hope that they are useful.

Download Links: Dropbox

Full Activities 

Blank Version 

自信 (zi4 xin4) - self confidence; literally: 自 = self 信 = believe

Ex. You can increase your 自信 over time. It is something I try to improve everyday.

Learning a foreign language is intimidating to many students, so I though I’d share some of my best tips for effective language studying!

MEMORIZE SMARTLY

Be selective about vocabulary. If you’re learning a language for class, you most likely won’t have much control over the material you learn. However, if you’re self-studying and you do have a choice, invest your time and energy wisely by prioritizing vocabulary to memorize based on what is significant and relevant.

Significant words are the ones that are the most common in the language. Learning these core words and phrases will give you a bigger return by allowing you to sooner start comprehending more things. For example, studies show that 0.5% of the English language, or the 3000 most common words, makes up 95% of the content in any given conversation or written text (source). You can search online to find lists of the words that appear most frequently in your target language. I used this list of the top 1000 French words to get me started.

Relevant words are the ones that pertain to your unique needs and interests, such as vocabulary to describe yourself, your career, and/or your family members. If you’re traveling to another country, you may need phrases for introducing yourself, asking for directions, or buying things. If you’re a gourmand, you may want to learn the names of different types of food. You’ll be more likely to retain and use words that are interesting and relevant to your own life.

Use spaced repetition to memorize faster. I explain how to use the spaced repetition method in this post, although you can also achieve the same effect without using Anki.

Apply the vocabulary you’ve learned. You can engage with new vocabulary by doing the following:

Make it a goal to incorporate the word you’ve just learned into your next three conversations.

Learn phrases and idiomatic expressions that include the new word (ex: if you’ve just learned the English word green, learn green thumb and green with envy next).

Research the context the word is usually used in– is it formal? casual? vulgar? specific to one particular use or topic?

Write funny, creative sentences or stories using your new word(s) to help them better stick in your memory. This is especially important for verbs, so you can see the conjugations in action instead of merely memorizing a table of endings.

Don’t neglect memorizing correct spelling, accent marks, or the genders of new words. These often seem like trivial details to beginning language learners, but slacking off on these will come back to bite you down the road. Even small mistakes can change the entire meaning of what you want to say. Genders, especially, are hard to memorize but imperative to know for making adjectives and object pronouns agree.

AVOID TRANSLATING

Most language learners will hear/read something being spoken/written in their target language, mentally translate it to their native language and formulate a response in their native language, then translate their response back to their target language. This direct translation will slow down your rate of comprehension and expression, make you unable to speak naturally and fluently, and increase your chances of making mistakes with idiomatic expressions (ex: incorrectly writing Je suis 12 ans instead of J’ai 12 ans). Aim to avoid internally translating as much as possible.

Instead, learn to think in your target language by using the following methods:

Connect new vocabulary and phrases with images and ideas, not translations or definitions in your native language.

Draw doodles that represent new vocab words you receive. This doesn’t work for all words, but I try to draw a picture for all the words on my weekly French vocabulary list, and I’ve found it very helpful.

When making flashcards, put the new word on one side and an image to represent it (as opposed to the translation in your native language) on the other.

Look around you and describe items you see in your target language (color, size, use, etc.)

If you’re reading and you come across a word you don’t know, attempt to ascertain its meaning through context clues instead of immediately looking it up.

Once you’ve reached an intermediate/advanced level, use a monolingual dictionary so definitions for all new vocabulary will be in your target language instead of your native one.

However, don’t feel discouraged if you find yourself frequently translating in your head. The way most schools teach foreign languages focuses on translating, not thinking in the target language, so you’ll likely have some tendencies and habits that are hard to break. Practice, practice, practice, and you’ll get better!

IMMERSE YOURSELF

Obviously, the fastest way to learn a new language is to travel to a foreign country where you’ll be forced to use it. But if you don’t have the resources to take a trip, there are many ways to get the immersion effect from the comfort of your own home.

Consume a variety of written and spoken language though television, movies, music, news, blogs, poetry, comics, podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube videos, and/or children’s books.

If you’ve already completed your Duolingo course, try doing it backwards.  Instead of the native language to target language course, do the target language to native language course. If you know 3+ languages, do the Language 2 to Language 3 course for an extra challenge!

Speaking of Duolingo, the immersion feature is a great way to find articles in your target language that are both appropriate to your skill level and relevant to your interests. I tend to avoid the translation aspect for reasons stated in the previous section, but I still think reading the articles is useful.

Find a pen pal who’s a native speaker. You can communicate through email or online chat, but snail mail could allow you to also send each other trinkets and souvenirs from your respective countries/cultures. HelloTalk is a great app that allows you to connect with native speakers of your target language who are learning your native language, so you can teach and help each other.

Change the language on your phone, laptop, and/or browser to your target language. You can change the language in your device settings, and I personally use the extension Language Immersion for Chrome for my browser. Just make sure you know how to change it back!

Lastly, have confidence and take risks! Make an attempt to say something even if you’re not 100% sure it’s correct. I know how embarrassing mistakes can be (I once used “un baiser” as a verb and I still cringe thinking about it. Yikes!), but ultimately it’s all part of the learning process and leaving your comfort zone is the only way to improve. Trying to learn other languages is admirable in itself, so take pride in that and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!

Thanks for reading! If you have questions, feedback, or post requests, feel free to drop me an ask.

+Click here for the rest of my original reference posts!

—Sophia :)

小王子 vocab (mandarin) pt. 1

描写 miáoxiě to describe

原始 yuánshǐ primitive, first, original

幅 fú classifier for textiles or pictures

扣人心弦 kòurénxīnxián  exciting, thrilling, to thrill

书名 shū míng book title

叫做 jiàozuò to be called

丛林cónglín jungle

奇遇 qíyù adventure

吞吃 tūn chī to devour

野兽 yěshòu beast, wild animal

蟒蛇 mǎngshé python, boa

复印件 fùyìn jiàn duplicate, photocopy

囫囵 húlún complete, whole

猎物 lièwù  prey

躺 tǎng to lie down

消化 xiāohuà to digest

种种 zhǒngzhǒng all kinds of

奇事 qí shì marvels

产生 chǎnshēng to come about, to arise

强大，而不粗鲁。善良，而不软弱。勇敢，而不欺凌。谦逊，而不胆怯。自豪，而不傲慢。

Be strong, but not rude. Be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant.

Turns and Steps, Explained (2/2)

Hey guys *cheerful wave* Wimbledon is over so my tennis obligation is done with and now I’ll resume my full-time figure skating follower status. I’ll kick things off with the second part of this turns and steps explanation. This post will touch on a couple of concepts we’ve discussed in the first part so you might want to check that one out before diving in: here it is.

The ISU technical handbook defines 6 types of steps: toe step, chassé, mohawk, choctaw, change of edge, and cross roll. Out of these 6, the only step that is considered difficult is the choctaw. Now if you recall from the previous post, the ISU also defines 6 types of turns (twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, three-turn). Among these 6, only the three-turn is considered basic, the other 5 are all counted as difficult. At this point I guess you’re naturally wondering why there is such an imbalance between turns and steps. Well, that is because a turn, by definition, must be done on one foot, while a step would normally involve two-footed skating, and that is something we don’t want to see too much of. In fact, the ratio of one-footed to two-footed movements is one of the most reliable indicators of a skater’s skating skills.

That said, let us check out what each of the 6 types of steps looks like. This time, to switch things up a bit, I’m going to use Seimei as illustration.

Keep reading

用爱心互相宽容。

Bear with one another in love

中文词汇表

浓 (nóng) — concentrated 承诺 (chéng nuò) — to agree to do something 　 奢求 (shē qiú) — to make excessive demands 懂 (dǒnɡ) — to understand  迷惑 (mí huò) — confused

如此 (rú cǐ) — such 执著 (zhí zhuó) — stubborn, persistent 脆弱 (cuì ruò) — fragile 习惯 (xí guàn) — to be accustomed to 摆脱 (bǎi tuō) — to cast off

Words taken from: 明知道 Complete song lyrics: 明知道

好好活、多多爱、常常笑。

Live well, love much, laugh often.