Change is the only Constant Thing in the Process of Learning Chinese. By Serene Zawaydeh. July 19, 2024

 

Change is the only Constant Thing in the Process of Learning Chinese.  By Serene Zawaydeh. July 19, 2024

I wrote several Blogs about the process of learning Chinese. Please scroll down for links.

It is strange to see articles that compare testing proficiency in Chinese language to other European language tests. Learning Chinese is totally different. This is another article that I am writing, while studying for HSK5. I have not completed this level yet, but I have taken courses that include words from higher levels. Furthermore, the exercises in the books and the workbooks, include words that are not in the list of new words in each chapter. The student is expected to do the research needed to solve these questions. Watching other content and videos, a lot of words would pop up from other levels, whether HSK 6 or HSK 7-9. Taking classes with native speakers and studying with books other than HSK5 books, one encounters words from higher levels too. It seems to be inaccurate to say that a student studying HSK5 only knows 2500 words.

One has to figure out ways to learn new words, and to do exercises to practice words that were learnt. The learning process needs to be updated, as the amount of information that needs to be processed keeps increasing beyond HSK4. As new exams are expected to introduce a higher number of words starting from HSK1, the new students learning Chinese might find it difficult to handle the amount of information they are expected to know right from the beginning.

I would like to share some notes about the ongoing learning process. This might provide information about why this language is different than other languages, if someone who does not know any Chinese reads this article. It might spark interest in learning the language. It might also provide some insights for new learners, or an indication of the amount of effort needed for this process. I did not come across articles by others who share details of their learning experience, and the kind of process they went through to reach advanced levels in Chinese.

Writing Chinese characters on a paper using a pencil should start at HSK1. The speed of writing increases over time. Writing can start by writing the single character many times; moving to writing sentences, and writing the whole text for the lesson that needs to be learnt, along with all the new words. Standardized lined paper with squares for writing Chinese characters should be used.

Typing Chinese characters is an important part of the learning process. Typing the Characters requires prior knowledge of the needed character, how it is written, and its pinyin.

Several exercises can be done while typing.

1)     Starting with a word 商(shāng); and knowing how it is actually pronounced compared to other words 商(shāng), 场(chǎng), 成(chéng).

2)     The word can be combined with another character to give it another meaning, and learning a new word while checking meanings. Starting with the word above 商(shāng), it is found in other words, such as 商(shāng)业(yè) business,  商(shāng)议(yì)  to negotiate

业(yè) can be used in other words. Such as:

作(zuò)业(yè)： homework , 业(yè)务(wù):  task

3)     Typing down words encountered that have a similar sound, regardless of the pinyin, then adding the pinyin on top of each character, to know the differences.

Shi: 时(shí)， 事(shì)， 实(shí)， 式(shì)， 诗(shī)， 市(shì)， 失(shī)， 食(shí)， 士(shì)， 世(shì)， 石(shí)， 师(shī)， 试(shì)， 室(shì)， 始(shǐ)， 识(shí)，匙(shi)， 适(shì), 十(shí)， 士(shì)， 驶(shǐ)， 湿(shī), 狮(shī)，使(shǐ) , 势(shì)， 施(shī)， 氏(shì)，示(shì)

Sorting the words by tone:

First tone: 诗(shī), 失(shī), 师(shī), 湿(shī),  狮(shī), 施(shī)

Second tone: 时(shí)，实(shí)，食(shí)，石(shí)，识(shí)，十(shí)

Third tone: 始(shǐ), 驶(shǐ), 使(shǐ)

Fourth tone: 事(shì)，式(shì)，市(shì)，士(shì), 世(shì)，试(shì), 室(shì)，适(shì), 势(shì), 氏(shì), 示(shì)

Neutral: 匙(shi)

Each one of these words, can be combined with other characters, to give new meanings. For example:

故(gù)事(shi) story                                         事(shì)故(gù) accident

失(shī)去(qù) to lose                                      失(shī)败(bài) to lose

优(yōu)势(shì)      advantage                          趋(qū)势(shì)      tendency             去(qù)世(shì)dead

实(shí)施(shī) implement                               措(cuò)施(shī) measure                  

实(shí)在(zài) actually                                    做(zuò)事(shì)     

In order to get a specific character, one would have to type the word that has this character.  For example, to get  世(shì), one has to type 世(shì)界(jiè) which means world. To get 室(shì), one should write 办公室 which  means office.

The words can be made of one character, two, three characters. Idioms made of 4 characters are encountered primarily in advanced levels, and are interesting to learn at any level. This is a way to increase exposure to new vocabulary while learning stories about idioms.  

 4)     Another exercise for typing, it to write words that have something in common, learning new vocabulary, and noticing the differences between words.

输(shū) to lose, to transport, to donate
偷(tōu) to steal. In order to get this word, need to type 小(xiǎo)偷(tōu) which means thief.
愉(yú)cheerful, as in 愉快 pleasant, which comes in to 周(zhōu)末(mò)愉(yú)快(kuài) Have a nice weekend!

When new words pop up, one can guess the what the word could be. For example, 褕(yú) means loose garment. Seeing this word for the first time, it looked like words already learnt that are related to clothes. Such as: 裤(kù)子(zi) trousers，衬(chèn)衫(shān) shirt，裙(qún)子(zi) skirt.

5)     Words that have similar sounds, and have similarities in writing. This helps with guessing how new words can be pronounced, as well as the possibility of learning new words 

高(gāo) tall, high, and 高兴 happy, which can be 高高兴兴 in a good mood

搞(gǎo) to do, to make, to take care of. The radical 手is the hand, and is found in verbs or actions.

For example: 找 to find; 抵 which means to support. While the word that is learnt is 低 which means low.

 稿gǎo as in 稿gǎo纸zhǐ which is the standardized writing paper with squares or lines. The word that is already learnt is纸 which means paper.

6)     In Chinese, two words can be combined to give a new meaning. If the person did not see this combination of words previously, and did not learn it previously, or if they know only one meaning for this word, they would not understand the meaning of the combination of the two words.

手means hand.
Adding them together, gives the word手表，means watch.

表 biǎo: can refer to family relationship via females, for example 表妹 means younger female cousin. Other meanings for 表 are: to show (one's opinion)

手表： a watch which is a noun.

表示 to express ; 发表to publish are verbs.

The same word in Chinese can be a verb or a noun.

工作 means to work, and also means job. Following are other words that are combined with it

工作人员 staff member
工作日means workday
工作时间working hours
工作服 working clothes
工作委员会 working committee

工作单位 work unit

工作组 work team

教育工作者 educator

社会工作 social work

新闻工作者 journalist

工作量 workload

While doing exercises in workbooks associated with the HSK5 books, it is noticed that there a lot of new words that pop up in the exercises, that were not in the list of new words in the chapter being studied. Although there is a list of words for HSK5, there are a lot more new words in the workbooks that are might not be listed as new words, but one should be familiar with them. Solving the questions in the textbook and the workbook is needed.

The learning process using different sources, provides exposure to more topics that need to be learnt. The words appear in a different order, rather than just following the words one chapter at a time.  One can also learn material from higher levels.

In addition to writing down the lesson and the new words; typing the text for the given lesson and adding the pinyin to words to know the specific tone; translating the text can be done as part of the preparation for new lessons. A paragraph is written without spaces between words. One is supposed to know whether this character should be read on its own, or combined with the following character or two, or if four characters should be read together.  Having the right tones and knowing which characters are read together as one word is needed. Reading the text out loud many times, with the right tones being shown, will help with getting the correct tones for the words. The reading speed gets better with repetition.

As the text gets longer, classes for learning the material provide more information in a shorter period of time. Using tools that can provide a quicker method for capturing characters can be useful. However, the results obtained automatically should be revised, as sometimes the characters are incorrectly recognized. The automatic translation can also provide indications on errors in typing or automatic character recognition.  It should be noted that one word can have more than one meaning. Looking at the translation is useful for capturing these new meanings, which could be totally unrelated to given text.

There is a lot of information that needs to be learnt in one sentence, or a paragraph. It is not just the pinyin that needs to be known or the meaning of one word. Grammar points are explained in Chinese. There are textbooks that have the meanings of the words explained in Chinese language. The examples are given in Chinese and contain new words as well.

HSK Words

The following graph from Chinese Zero to Hero shows the words that should be learnt in different levels, starting with HSK1, up to HSK6. There is one exam for HSK 7-9, which has a total of 11,000 word.

https://www.chinesezerotohero.com/hsk-word-vis/ 

Language Player

The complexity of learning Chinese increases with higher levels. One should watch more videos, and should look at more content, and should not only rely on just reading the given text in a chapter.  

Language Player is an extremely useful tool that I have purchased, and I use it every day while learning Chinese. It provides a huge library of videos, songs, resources not only for learning Chinese, but for learning over 200 other languages.  It provides videos for each word, showing where the word was spoken. It provides comparisons of words, and examples of sentences that have these words.

One of the amazing features that are really great about Language Player’s Dictionary, is “Let ChatGPT Explain”. This is extremely helpful, as it provides detailed explanation of the meaning of the word in the specific text. If the word is part of a grammar point and is usually associated with another word, that will also be highlighted. Such cases might not be noticed previously. Getting detailed explanation from ChatGPT, shows the meaning of the word in the given text, providing a much clearer understanding of the given text.

Other Blogs I wrote

• 我的汉语学习方式—做完HSK四之后!  2023年2月13日
• Learning Chinese: What kind of effort is needed to complete HSK4, and what is it like to study higher levels?    2023 年2月13日
• What does the process of learning Mandarin Chinese look like? Some tips for new learners.”   2022 年1 月20 日
• The Ongoing Process of Learning Chinese, HSK5.  2024 年1 月10日
• Examples of Simplified Chinese. There is no end to learning 学无止境! 2024 年1 月22 日
• Change is the only Constant Thing in the Process of Learning Chinese. 2024年 7 月19 日
• Tips for Practicing Writing Chinese Characters. 2024年9月10日
• What if… Higher Levels of HSK Chinese Tests could be Redesigned? 2024年4月2 日
• Making up Stories using Chinese Characters. 看汉字写小故事！2024 年6月29 日
• Lost Bag Story, Handwritten in Chinese; 2023 年3 月16 日