Think about how long it took you to learn English. Or, think about how long it typically takes an adult to learn English as a second language. Now, triple that amount of time and you’ll have a good idea of how long it takes to learn Chinese…minimum. Why so long?! 1. Vocabulary and Grammar – and all the various rules, exceptions, measure words, and other language usage guidelines require a…
Read MoreLanguage “Study” vs. Language “Learning”
Is there a difference between language “study” and language “learning”? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself more and more over the past few months. Unfortunately, we have not had easy access to good objective measures of language learning, making it difficult to assess our learning progress (i.e., “where” are we on this journey of learning?). As a result, I’ve become very interested in the standardized Chinese fluency exam called…
Read MoreLearning ABC’s at 50?
Can you imagine returning to preschool at age 50?! Well, that’s essentially what we’re doing, although with a lot more experience and learning tools than your average preschooler! Seriously, it’s a bit surreal to spend so many hours writing out ABC’s at my age (except in this case it’s a matter of practicing strokes, radicals, and characters the building blocks of Chinese written language). It’s been over 50 years since I…
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