BEFORE you learn Mandarin Chinese... learn this first!

In this session, I will guide you through writing a Chinese character, specifically the character for 你 (you) while teaching you the essential rules of stroke order. It's crucial to learn these characters from memory, as you'll encounter them everywhere in China, from menus to exams, where pinyin is rarely used.

Additionally, I will introduce you to a technique I call "speedies" to help you memorise characters more effectively. Your challenge is to pause the video and attempt to write a character on your own before we continue.

Note that this video cuts off just before the activity starts for your writing challenge! Continue off onto the next lecture to finish it up.

In this video, I guide you through the process of writing the Chinese character for 你 using the correct stroke order.

I encourage you to practice writing it slowly and then at speed, reflecting on your experience after each attempt (I call these speedies).

I also share resources like mdbg.net and the Pleco dictionary to help you find stroke orders for any character.

Mastering the rules of stroke order is crucial for developing neat and rapid handwriting in Chinese.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Writing Practice

02:24 Practicing Stroke Order

04:39 Stroke Order Principles

08:01 Understanding Stroke Direction

In this video, I discuss the concept of radicals in Chinese characters, emphasizing that each character is composed of smaller pieces that often carry their own meanings. I highlight three key points: the importance of radicals as the roots of characters, their ability to shapeshift when pieced into different characters, and how to identify them using resources like mdbg.net. I provide examples of radicals such as 火 (fire), 口 (mouth), and 人 (people), explaining how they relate to the meanings of various characters. I encourage you to familiarise yourself with these radicals, as they will help you better memorise, write and sometimes guess the meanings of characters later on.

In this video, I discuss the importance of pinyin, the script we use to write Chinese. While pinyin makes learning easier with familiar English letters, it's crucial to understand that you can't rely solely on it if you want to interact effectively in Chinese-speaking environments. The characters and pinyin go hand in hand, especially when typing Chinese on your phone, as you need to get the pinyin spelling right to find the correct characters. I encourage you to learn the correct spellings and not to ignore this essential aspect of the language.

NOTE: There are some different schools of thought about Pinyin and how you write it (whether combined: nihao, or ni hao) - personally I like to combine as it helps with entering pinyin. Ultimately, in written communication characters are king so focus on getting your characters strong and accurate as a priority. But do make sure your pinyin spelling is always accurate - the details matter here! It will be the difference between you being able to type a character or not.

In this video, I introduce you to the importance of learning numbers in Chinese and how they can quickly expand your ability to communicate about various topics like time, dates, and costs. I explain that once you grasp the numbers, you can easily learn the words for days of the week and months, which is much simpler than in other languages. I also guide you through the pronunciation and Pinyin spelling of numbers one to ten, emphasizing the need to memorize them for effective communication. Additionally, I mention the fun aspect of using hand gestures for numbers in Chinese markets. I encourage you to practice these numbers and prepare for our next session on tones.

Timeline:

00:00 Introduction to Numbers in Chinese

01:55 Learning Numbers and Pinyin

05:51 Hand Gestures for Numbers

In this lesson, I’m excited to dive into the fascinating world of tones in Mandarin Chinese, specifically focusing on the numbers 1 to 10. I reveal that all four tones, except for the neutral one, are represented in these numbers, which is a key to mastering pronunciation. I encourage you to memorize the tone associated with each character as you learn it, as this will greatly enhance your proficiency over time. Additionally, I suggest practicing the tones by singing the numbers to help solidify your understanding. Remember, don’t fret too much at the beginning; just focus on getting the tones right as you progress!

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Tones

02:08 Learning Tone Rules

04:12 Numbers 1 to 10

06:48 Practice and Recap

In this video, I’m going to help you to deepen your understanding of some key characters we’ve been practicing. We’ll explore how to use "hǎo" in greetings like "lǎo shī hǎo" for "hello teacher" and "tóngxué hǎo" for "hello classmate," emphasizing the importance of titles before names.

In this video, we revisit the use of the verb 叫, which means "to be called" or "to call."

I explain how it remains unchanged, unlike other languages where you need to conjugate a verb depending on the tense and noun/pronoun.

I also introduce a new sentence pattern with 我叫你, meaning "I'm calling you."

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to 叫 usage

01:23 Examples of 叫 in sentences

In this mini-session, I focus on deepening your understanding of the particle 呢 and its various uses in sentences.

We explore how 呢 can be applied not only to ask about someone's name but also to inquire about others, enhancing our dialogue and vocabulary.

I also introduce the particle "呢," to also mean "what about me?" or refer to oneself, allowing for more diverse sentence structures.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to usage

00:56 Dialogue Example

02:34 Using 呢

03:35 Expanding the sentence pattern

In this video, I explain the concept of 听写, which means dictation, and how it was a crucial part of my Chinese lessons, particularly when I was at University in Beijing.

I emphasise the importance of practicing not just the characters, but also the pinyin with tone marks and the English translations.

I share examples from my students to illustrate how they can improve their skills.

And I encourage you to incorporate 听写 into your learning routine, as it's a fantastic way to build a solid foundation with Chinese characters and your grasp of the language in general.

I hope you enjoy the process and consider challenging yourself with your own 听写 at the end of this course.

Remember: for your own Tingxie, clear the decks and hide all of the access to characters that you can. And try to fill each part of the tingxie columns from memory. I've included it as an assignemnt and added the tingxie templates for you.

Good luck!

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to 听写 (Dictation)

01:12 Explaining the four components or parts of the 听写

02:15 Student Examples and Feedback

02:57 Benefits of Practicing Characters