中文词汇表

Tips to learn a new language

The 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences The 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences The 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences The 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences The 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences The 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences The 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences The 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences

(Sources: 5 Steps to Speak a New Language by Hung Quang Pham)

This article has an excellent summary on how to rapidly learn a new language within 90 days.

We can begin with studying the first 600 words. Of course chucking is an effective way to memorize words readily. Here’s a list to translate into the language you desire to learn that I grabbed from here! :)

EXPRESSIONS OF POLITENESS (about 50 expressions)      

‘Yes’ and ‘no’: yes, no, absolutely, no way, exactly.    

Question words: when? where? how? how much? how many? why? what? who? which? whose?    

Apologizing: excuse me, sorry to interrupt, well now, I’m afraid so, I’m afraid not.    

Meeting and parting: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, goodbye, cheers, see you later, pleased to meet you, nice to have met.    

Interjections: please, thank you, don’t mention it, sorry, it’ll be done, I agree, congratulations, thank heavens, nonsense.    

NOUNS (about 120 words)

Time: morning, afternoon, evening, night; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; spring, summer, autumn, winter; time, occasion, minute, half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year.    

People: family, relative, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife; colleague, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend; people, person, human being, man, woman, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, child.    

Objects: address, bag, book, car, clothes, key, letter (=to post), light (=lamp), money, name, newspaper, pen, pencil, picture, suitcase, thing, ticket.    

Places: place, world, country, town, street, road, school, shop, house, apartment, room, ground; Britain, name of the foreign country, British town-names, foreign town-names.    

Abstract: accident, beginning, change, color, damage, fun, half, help, joke, journey, language, English, name of the foreign language, letter (of alphabet), life, love, mistake, news, page, pain, part, question, reason, sort, surprise, way (=method), weather, work.    

Other: hand, foot, head, eye, mouth, voice; the left, the right; the top, the bottom, the side; air, water, sun, bread, food, paper, noise.    

PREPOSITIONS (about 40 words)    

General: of, to, at, for, from, in, on.    

Logical: about, according-to, except, like, against, with, without, by, despite, instead of.    

Space: into, out of, outside, towards, away from, behind, in front of, beside, next to, between, above, on top of, below, under, underneath, near to, a long way from, through.    

Time: after, ago, before, during, since, until.    

DETERMINERS (about 80 words)  

Articles and numbers: a, the; nos. 0–20; nos. 30–100; nos. 200–1000; last, next, 1st–12th.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.    

Quantifiers: all, some, no, any, many, much, more, less, a few, several, whole, a little, a lot of.    

Comparators: both, neither, each, every, other, another, same, different, such.    

ADJECTIVES (about 80 words)    

Color: black, blue, green, red, white, yellow.    

Evaluative: bad, good, terrible; important, urgent, necessary; possible, impossible; right, wrong, true.    

General: big, little, small, heavy; high, low; hot, cold, warm; easy, difficult; cheap, expensive; clean, dirty; beautiful, funny (=comical), funny (=odd), usual, common (=shared), nice, pretty, wonderful; boring, interesting, dangerous, safe; short, tall, long; new, old; calm, clear, dry; fast, slow; finished, free, full, light (=not dark), open, quiet, ready, strong.    

Personal: afraid, alone, angry, certain, cheerful, dead, famous, glad, happy, ill, kind, married, pleased, sorry, stupid, surprised, tired, well, worried, young.    

VERBS (about 100 words)    

arrive, ask, be, be able to, become, begin, believe, borrow, bring, buy, can, change, check, collect, come, continue, cry, do, drop, eat, fall, feel, find, finish, forget, give, going to, have, have to, hear, help, hold, hope, hurt (oneself), hurt (someone else), keep, know, laugh, learn, leave, lend, let (=allow), lie down, like, listen, live (=be alive), live (=reside), look (at), look for, lose, love, make, may (=permission), may (=possibility), mean, meet, must, need, obtain, open, ought to, pay, play, put, read, remember, say, see, sell, send, should, show, shut, sing, sleep, speak, stand, stay, stop, suggest, take, talk, teach, think, travel, try, understand, use, used to, wait for, walk, want, watch, will, work (=operate), work (=toil), worry, would, write.    

PRONOUNS (about 40 words)

Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, one; myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.    

Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Universal: everyone, everybody, everything, each, both, all, one, another.    

Indefinite: someone, somebody, something, some, a few, a little, more, less; anyone, anybody, anything, any, either, much, many.    

Negative: no-one, nobody, nothing, none, neither.    

ADVERBS (about 60 words)

Place: here, there, above, over, below, in front, behind, nearby, a long way away, inside, outside, to the right, to the left, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, home, upstairs, downstairs.    

Time: now, soon, immediately, quickly, finally, again, once, for a long time, today, generally, sometimes, always, often, before, after, early, late, never, not yet, still, already, then (=at that time), then (=next), yesterday, tomorrow, tonight.    

Quantifiers: a little, about (=approximately), almost, at least, completely, very, enough, exactly, just, not, too much, more, less.    

Manner: also, especially, gradually, of course, only, otherwise, perhaps, probably, quite, so, then (=therefore), too (=also), unfortunately, very much, well.    

CONJUNCTIONS (about 30 words)

Coordinating: and, but, or; as, than, like.    

Time & Place: when, while, before, after, since (=time), until; where.    

Manner & Logic: how, why, because, since (=because), although, if; what, who, whom, whose, which, that.   

H.O.P.E.

坚持住, 痛苦终会过去。

Hold On, Pain Ends.

Me when I get a 5/10 on a science test: oh well shit happens

Me when I get a 8/10 on a language test: I’m a disgrace to my family shame on me do I dare to go home with this I will forever be an outcast of this society

03.06.19 - monday

during exams i used to get really stressed out about not having enough time to study between, so i designed myself a lil study planner that maps out my week

it has a section for events, a checklist, and a time tracker so i can tell myself to stop freaking out :) if anyone wants the pdf, lemme know!

🌼🌻study smarter🌻🌼

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

find a study partner

do extra practice or research

teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)

while u read, talk back to the author

ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!

write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture

read ahead of lectures

watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings

listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures

make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

apply vocab words to ur life

make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)

use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

after u read, ask urself questions

talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class

again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

convert info into a chart or graph

draw it out

make a mental video of a process

look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

make a list of what u remember from class

review notes at the end of the day, every day

stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes

make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

make a daily/weekly study schedule

create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)

divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe

when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)

find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 

walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain

eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)

obstacles force ur brain to try harder, so space learning lessons apart or create a puzzle to solve or change ur physical setting

Something I want back for Christmas 😂

ho ho ho where did my motivation go

你好！hello! so this is my first masterpost and i decided to make a masterpost on chinese since i am currently learning chinese and have been since i was around 5. i haven’t seen very many chinese masterposts here and hoped this will help every single one of you who are currently learning chinese or would like to start learning!! 

the basics:

chinese tools learn chinese - they have 31 lessons!

bbc learn chinese - several different sources

memrise - i’ve heard lots of good things about this site!!

quizlet - great for grammar, flashcards, i used this at school since my chinese teacher made sets for use to learn!

CCTV learning chinese - CCTV is a chinese tv broadcaster, this has a lot of videos you can watch

mandarin chinese pinyin chart with audio - awesome chart of pinyin and tones

you could also find a chinese ethnic school near you, this is what i did but i know many non-chinese who choose to go to a chinese school since you are surrounded by others who are also at your level and you have a teacher in person to teach and guide you. having native chinese speakers around you is definitely helpful and it will help you develop listening and speaking skills! :)

apps:

learn chinese - chineseskill  [ android | ios ] free

learn chinese - hello chinese [android | ios ] free

skritter [ android | ios ] free for a week, then you have to pay

pleco dictionary (the best thing ever honestly) [ android | ios ] free and there is a paying option but the free version is still good!

line dictionary [ android | ios ] free

laokang tone test [ ios ] free but no android version :(

shi zhi - learn characters [ android (this is a similar app and its cute!!) | ios ] the android app is free but ios app isn’t

dictionaries:

MDBG dictionary - has both a simplified and tradition character option and also you can draw the characters and they can recognize them

line dictionary - sometimes this site doesn’t work for me but when it does it is very useful!! also has a handwriting option

chinese tools

chinese text annotation - i’m not sure if this counts as a dictionary, however whenever you copy and paste or type a chinese paragraph into the box you can annotate the phrases and get the pinyin and the english meaning

google translate - ok i know this isn’t a very reliable translation option, however when you type a paragraph of chinese into it, it shows the pinyin which is v useful for those who need to write down the pinyin into their textbooks etc etc

other resources:

中外对话 china dialogue - read chinese articles for you to improve your reading skills and to find new vocab

slow chinese - another chinese article site where it also has audio and podcasts on itunes. slow chinese also translates not only into english, but german, french, portuguese and many more languages!! [podcasts]

music, movies & tv shows etc.:

myasiantv - other than korean dramas and movies, myasiantv offers chinese ones!!

最强大脑 the brain china - a game/talent show aiming to find people with exceptional brain power

非诚勿扰 if you are the one - a game/dating show, addicting :’)))

奔跑吧兄弟 hurry up, brother (aka. running man china) - running man is a very popular variety show in korea and now there is a chinese version based on the original version!

learn chinese now - youtube channel

chinese class 101 - youtube channel

tips:

try to make learning chinese fun!! watching tv shows in chinese with or without subs will definitely help you pick up on some vocab and pronunciation

engage with native speakers, if you have chinese friends, ask them to help you with conversation and pronunciation, don’t be shy!

try to use at least one word/phrase in a sentence each day, this will help you in future for making sentences

keep on practicing! i stopped learning chinese for 2 years and i actually lost a lot of vocab that i learnt and when i started again, it was hard to remember some of it ;A;

other language resources: 

language learning tips + resources by @study-ings 

free online language courses by @wonderful-language-sounds 

tips + tricks for learning a language by @ofminervas

chinese resources by @brbimstudying

ok this was a huge masterpost tbh but i hope i was helpful!!

ig: acadehmic

慢速中文：星巴克在中国

vocab from this podcast episode

星巴克 xing1 ba1 ke4 Starbucks

作为「作為」zuo4 wei2 to act as

连锁店「連鎖店」lian2 suo3 dian4 chain store

偏远「偏遠」pian1 yuan3 remote, far from civilization

戏称「戲稱」xi4 cheng1 to jokingly call

抱怨 bao4 yuan4 to complain

否认「否認」fou3 ren4 to deny, to declare to be untrue

普及 pu3 ji2 popular, to spread extensively, widespread

融入 rong2 ru4 to blend into, to integrate, to assimilate

以往 yi3 wang3in the past, formerly

元素 yuan2 su4 element

装饰「裝飾」zhuang1 shi4 decorations

协调「協調」xie2 tiao2 to coordinate, to match (colors, etc.), harmonious

当地「當地」dang1 di4 local

独特「獨特」du2 te4 unique, distinct

纪念品「紀念品」ji4 nian4 pin3 souvenier

how to stay motivated

hey guys so recently I have had quite a few messages asking me how to stay motivated so I thought I would put it in one post so that people can see how I like to stay motivated and hopefully these tips help you too!

TIP #1 SET A GOAL

I feel like setting a goal is super important and this is my main source of motivation. I set little mini short-term goals and the odd long-term goal so I am surrounded by aims to get me motivated. 

So what is a short-term goal? A short-term goal is a goal that you want to set for the near future. The near future could be an hour, a day, a week, a month - but something that you can accomplish in a ‘small’ amount of time. Examples could include:

Getting up at 7am every morning and starting your work early

Reading a chapter of a book a day to improve your reading 

No chocolate for a month

No studying past 6pm

Keep a clean desk

A long-term goal is something that you want to reach but takes a lot longer to achieve. Long-term goals can include:

Going to university to study Law

Getting straight B’s in next years final exams

Landing a career in journalism

Gaining/losing X amount of lbs

Saving £X so you can go on holiday

I find setting a long-term goal can be helpful, but short-term goals are just as good. I have a long term goal at the moment to work hard and get good grades so I can go to university and study history. Whilst this is a good goal, I also need stepping stones to get me there and to keep that motivation flowing - these are my short-term goals: such as getting more organised for my final year, or getting an A on an essay I’ve written. 

Sometimes people don’t know what to do when they have to set a goal, but think slightly selfish for a bit and think about what you really want and how to get there. This sets up some motivation. I love having a goal because I feel like every small task I complete gets me one step closer to that goal of mine - almost like ticking an assignment off of your to-do list!

TIP #2 SCHEDULES AND TO-DO LISTS

Speaking of to-do lists, this brings me on to tip number two. I don’t know where I would be without a to-do list/schedule because without it, I would be an absolute mess. With having so much to do, it is impossible for me to keep a mental list of everything and writing it down helps so much!

Not only does it help me remember what I have to do, it also motivates me in so many ways. First of all, setting one up at the start of the day means that I know exactly what I need to get done and I want to get it done as quickly as I can, but without rushing it and so it makes me start straight away so I can tick things off of my list. 

This brings me on to the second reason why they motivate me so much - because every time you tick it off, you get an amazing feeling of satisfaction and relief that your to-do list is slowly getting smaller. Also, the amount of happiness it brings when you have ticked off everything you have to do is definitely such a good feeling and it is so amazing to know you have finished and you can now relax! Each time you tick something off, it motivates you to get the whole list done.

Schedules work in the same way, as you go through the day, there are less and less things for you to do and it makes you feel gradually more satisfied that you’re coming to the end of your work!

Pro tip: however, it is important to be realistic, if you set a to-do list with 15 things on it, it looks less appealing and you are less likely to do it. go for realistic lists that are long enough to keep you busy but small enough to manage!

TIP #3 BREAKING DOWN BIG TASKS INTO SMALLER ONES

This is actually quite simple and original but also helps massively and perhaps one of the most amazing things ever. If I have a massive chunk of homework for a subject, breaking it down into smaller tasks makes my life so much easier and saves me so much agro. 

Of course it isn’t always possible to break it down if your deadline is two days after it is set - but you can always break it down into two halves which makes tackling it seem a lot easier. 

I know some of my friends really don’t like doing this because they would rather just get it done and out the way, but if you are someone like me where motivation needs to hit me like a truck before I get work done, this can be a really good way to tackle projects and homework and isn’t as stressful. Whilst it might take slightly longer due to the breaking up of tasks, I actually find this more productive and makes things so much more manageable so I actually feel like I want to do the small task instead of the one large one. 

I break up the tasks and schedule these broken up tasks on my to-do list. For example, instead of reading a whole chapter and taking notes from my history books, I will just write ‘take notes from page X to page Y’ and it completely changes my frame of mind and makes me more positive.

TIP #4 DO THE TOUGHEST TASK FIRST

You probably must be thinking something like, ‘Jess you must be mad! why on earth would you do the hardest task first thats just the worst idea ever?!’ but honestly, this is something that can really change your mood and uplift you for the rest of the day - honestly, this tip works!

I completely understand that in a morning the first thing you are not going to want to do is that physics homework that entails you doing 3 pages of questions on oscillations and harmonic motion. However, doing the hardest task / things you don’t want to do first, not only makes you tackle it with a fresh mind after waking up (or after a break from school or whatever it is you were doing), but also afterwards, you feel more confident and motivated to get the rest of the things done which are more enjoyable and is actually more motivating because you have got the worst thing out of the way.

You also don’t want to not do it and then set it for another day, when you are probably going to procrastinate getting it done. Get it out of the way!

We all know that leaving an assignment you really don’t want to do until last is perhaps the worst thing you can do, as you take one look at it and decide you have had enough and need a break or some sleep. Prioritising this first means that you can get everything done without leaving the thing you didn’t want to do. 

TIP #5 YOUR SUCCESSES ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THINK ABOUT YOUR FAILURES TOO!

This one is a great one to bare in mind and this really applies to me at the moment and is actually where my main source of motivation has come from since the 18th August (results day!).

For me, getting great results is a massive success, and receiving results such as A’s and B’s makes me very very happy and much more motivated. It gives me a spark of inspiration to keep going to make sure that I keep that up! Whilst I know grades aren’t everything, they are really important to me and so this is why when I get very good results, they motivate me to keep me going to achieve more - and it ends up in a cycle!

However, whilst good grades motivate me to carry on performing at my best and to keep working hard, it is important that I understand my failures too, and so should you. A failure for me isn’t a specific grade as such, but where I am disappointed at myself for getting something or knowing I didn’t perform as well as I should have, or an unexpected failure as I thought I had done better than I did.

From these failures/mistakes, these also motivate me to do better next time, or to focus on improving myself and my technique to be the best I can be. Failures/mistakes can make you more motivated than what your successes can, because it motivates you to find areas of improvement and work hard and improve techniques so that you can get to where you want to be - you can get to that goal! 

Successes and failures are so important in receiving motivation. Not only do they provide you with something to keep you going, but they build you as a character and I think that is a lovely thing!

TIP #6 MAKE USE OF YOUR CREATIVITY

I find that since joining the studyblr community, I have found really nice ways to be creative and to make my notes look neater and more appealing for me to look at. This might seem to be such a silly little tip, but drawing simple doodles or fancy titles really motivates me. 

Whilst making my notes look more aesthetically pleasing takes slightly longer, I find it calms me with anxiety as I am being creative whilst I am working and it is a really great way for me to stay relaxed. So not only does it bring me motivation, but calms my anxiety too! Killing two birds with one stone!

This point doesn’t really apply when I am revising, a fancy title will probably do; and also when I am taking notes in class, I never bother; but when I am going over things or making flashcards, it helps to make things look more appealing so I am more likely to pick them up and go for them and learn. 

Some might disagree that this would actually make them less inclined to do work, but if you need to alleviate stress, get motivated or just want to make your notes look nice, then this could be for you!

TIP #7 BREAKS AND REWARDS!!

Breaks and rewards give you so much motivation whilst you are doing your work! I study and revise probably more than what is healthy, and so I like to make sure I have a nice break whenever I can because I work myself very hard. Sometimes, something can take me about 2 hours and so a half an hour to an hour’s worth of break can really help me before I start something else. 

You can try having a break every 45 minutes, every hour or two hours; but make sure your break really puts your mind at ease before you start work again. You need to make sure you give your brain a good rest. 

You can have a break or reward yourself by having a nice shower, going for a walk or to the gym, cooking, having a coffee and a biscuit, meeting up with some friends, going on social media, having a nap - whatever it might be, as long as you have that break you will feel so much more refreshed after! It also motivates you to get things done so you know you can have a break after you have finished your task and makes you feel compelled to finish it so you can relax!

TIP #8 GET HELP ALONG THE WAY

This is actually a really important point and can help maintain motivation in the long run. Getting people to help you can be a really good way to stay motivated. Tell people, such as your friends and family, about the goals you have set for yourself or that you are struggling to stay motivated and ask them to help you. 

My friends sometimes study with me and help me with things I don’t understand which can help maintain my motivation. When I finally understand something or I go over things with my friends, it can make me feel more confident and uplifted that I know things and spurs me on. Letting family know about your goals also helps them support you which is a really significant part of motivation, because if no one is there to support you, the will to carry on eventually disintegrates and you don’t want that! 

Make sure that you do have some support, whether it be from friends, family or the studyblr community, but ensure you are surrounded by people who can motivate you and who can help you along the way so that you can achieve these goals and keep you on target! Sometimes, motivation doesn’t come from the things you do, but from the environment that you’re in - which is why support and help is such a good source of motivation!

That is the end of the tips I have on how to stay motivated. Hopefully they are good starting points for you all! Let me know if you try any of these tips for a while and tell me if they have helped you, it is always nice to see what people think and if these things work - remember if they don’t, that everyone is different and different things work for different people!