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RIP me

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Some Chinese + bubble tea.

Follow my studygram for more: @oswiestudies

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Just wondering what app or study tool you use for learning mandarin plus any recommendations???

APPS 

Memrise - This is good for vocabulary. I use the official Mandarin Chinese Courses and I am currently on the 3rd one 

Du Chinese - I use this app for reading comprehension. I love it because they have different levels so if you are more advanced you can still benefit. There is audio to go along with the text so you can also practice your listening

Pleco - A great Chinese-English Dictionary App 

I have other apps like Duolingo, Lingodeer and ChineseSkill but I have not used these apps in a while. 

WEBSITES 

Written Chinese - A Chinese-English dictionary. Shows you radicals that are in each character 

Line Dict - A Chinese-English dictionary that has tons of example sentences

PinPinChinese - A Chinese-English dictionary (can’t use too many dictionaries lol)

PurpleCulture - They have many tools but what I use the most is their character to pinyin converter 

OTHER

Integrated Chinese Textbook - I take notes in my notebook from this textbook

Music Channels - I like to copy and paste the lyrics of a song to the character to pinyin converter on PurpleCulture so I can read the pinyin and sing along. Songs I recommend: Chen Yifa - Fairy Town | Pu Shu - The Ordinary Road | Zhao Ke - Someone

VIKI - I have used VIKI in the past to watch dramas however I am very picky about what I watch so I struggle to find new dramas to watch. Some that I recommend are: When A Snail Falls in Love | The First Half of My Life | My Huckleberry Friends 

Chinese Youtube Channels - I like to watch lifestyle/vlog channels that include Chinese subtitles so I can practice my listening. Most of them rarely include English subs so I use this as an opportunity to find new words. 

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Podcasts

I used to listen to podcasts before but only for listening to audio dramas and some ted talks but then I stumbled upon suggestions for podcasts on language learning so I searched for a Mandarin one.

Why I like studying through podcasts:

Learning preference. When I used to study for my college lectures, I preferred print-outs more because I study better with them than using tablets. I would only study on a computer or a tablet as a last resort so since I get all of my materials online, I printed them out plus listened to podcasts.

Personally, I think it’s important that you know what learning style or method works best for you and trying out different ones will be the only way to find out! You can learn by buying a book that’s for leaning the language, listening to podcasts or watching your fave English show Chinese dubbed or subbed!

Bad eyesight. At times when I don’t feel like wearing my glasses and at times when I can’t wear my glasses, reading would be a difficult task for me and studying through listening will be my last option.

I spend a lot of time in front of screens doing other tasks so I think it’s best to avoid spending my time on it if I can to prevent my eyesight from getting worse. 

I like multitasking. When I do my chores, that only thing that i have free are my ears so I listen to music, but sometimes music just turns into noise and that’s when I listen to podcasts.

Cons: One, it would be hard, especially for a beginner, to determine which tone is being used but it can also be helpful for you to learn how to distinguish them. Two, there’s no way to know the pinyin or how the words are spelled through the podcast unless it gets spelled out. I guess it can also help since it encourages you to search for the word therefore getting familiarized with different spellings.Three, while she (in the podcast I listen to) sometimes explains how the characters looked like by explaining the meaning one by one, you wouldn’t entirely learn to write through listening so you have to look for a different learning source for that. (like the app CE Dict)

Podcast that I mainly listen to: TalkChineasy (ShaoLan)

Watch/Listen to ShaoLan’s TED Talk: https://youtu.be/troxvPRmZm8

There are apps on the Play Store (Android) that has Chinese learning podcasts, try downloading them one by one and find out which one’s the best for you. 

There are also helpful videos on YouTube such as on ChineseClass101. All you have to do is type learn chinese on the search bar and hit enter!

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i’ve been learning mandarin for fun through apps so i know what some words mean when they’re in pinyin and/or when they’re spoken. today, i decided to step it up and learn the characters! wish me luck.

also, it’s my first post. i hope to improve in photography as well. lol!

jiayou, self!

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Chinese Measure Words

个 gè: for people, abstract things and objects | Ex: 我有一个老师。

口 kǒu: for family people | Ex: 我家有四口人。

只 zhī: for animals | Ex: 我爸爸家有三只狗。

条 tiáo: for long and narrow things | Ex: 她有两条鱼。

张 zhāng: for flat things | Ex: 教室里有五张桌子。

把 bǎ: for objects that can be grasped by hand | Ex: 我房间里有一把椅子。

本 běn: for books | Ex: 桌子上有四本书。

支 zhī: for long and thin things | Ex: 笔袋里有一支笔。

家 jiā: for establishments (house, hotel …) | Ex: 我哥哥开了一家公司。

块 kuài: for portions or pieces | Ex: 来吃块西瓜吧。

岁 suì: for years (old) | Ex: 我今年40岁。

棵 kē: for trees | Ex: 这棵树又高又大。

台 tái: for machines | Ex: 这台电脑是新买的。

双 shuāng: for pairs | Ex: 一双筷子。

辆 liàng: for vehicles | Ex: 一辆汽车。

篇 piān: for articles and texts | Ex: 这篇报道是我写的。  

节 jié: for time periods | Ex: 我们下午只有一节课。

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Sorry I’ve been MIA for so long, I was in hospital for a while :\ I’ll be back to posting regularly now

Thank you so much @emmastudies for these amazing printables! They are available on her account, I highly recommend :)

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tag urself as a student type

coffee: always frantic, has a crammed schedule, never stops consuming caffeine, will agree to go to a party even if they have a six a.m. shift the next day

bujo: organized, likes to makes lists and keep track of things, plans outfit the night before, stresses when they get a grade less than a B

oops: stopped caring in the third grade, somehow manages to get okay grades, never studies, kind of lazy, would eat Waffle House at 3 in the morning

sweatshirt: is trying as hard as they possibly can, has to study and work hard for their grades, constantly stressing, has social anxiety, tries to do every extra curricular under the sun

aesthetique: probably vegetarian or vegan, has a “mom jean” 80′s aesthetic, glorifies local cafes, wants to live in Europe, always wants to cut their hair

gothique: black clothes only, still stans my chemical romance, uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism, desperately wants some tattoos, likes the black lipstick look but too shy to do it

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types of study breaks for every situation

if you realize you’ve been studying for hours: grab a snack to refuel your body and watch a sitcom to refuel your brain. then back to the books.

if you’re feeling stressed out: take some deep breaths, text your friends, maybe stare at a wall for a few minutes. gather yourself.

if you can’t seem to focus: get moving and get outside. take out the garbage, check your mail box, maybe walk your dog. just get moving and get fresh air. it’ll help bring you back.

if there’s something else going on in your life and you can’t get it off your mind: write down what’s going through your head, sort of like a diary entry. it’ll help you work things out.

if you’re just mentally and physically exhausted: set a timer for 25-30 minutes and take a nap. any longer and you’ll hit REM and you’ll wake up feeling just as tired. once you wake up, get some caffeine in you.

if the material is boring as hell: find another way to study. see if there’s a crash course video online about it or draw out what you’re trying to learn in diagrams and pictures to make it fun.

if people around you won’t shut up: listen to some music. soundtrack and classical music is always good because they won’t absorb you as much as music with lyrics. white noise (like ocean waves, rain sounds, etc.) also works.

if you only half understand a concept: call/message a friend who’s not in the class and try to teach the material to them. this will help you mentally work through the material and will help you remember it as well.

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My Printer: ZZZZZZWZWZWZZZAAZWHHHHZZZZZAAZWWAAZKADJASKLJAAKSALFJSDKLJSDK

Me, afraid with tears in my eyes: Dont say that 

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i sometimes forget that we’re all just a bunch of nerds and that it is not normal to have a blog about studying

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me: i’m going to clean my room! i’m going to take a shower! i will wake up early and take care of myself! brain: u know whats fun? rotting.