Help me learn Mandarin Chinese

whoops

四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十

http://v.ku6.com/show/mn6TsS2nS-Dz6uHmBAeqhw...html?loc=youce_tuijian

xps to dylannnnn i'm pretty interested in east asian languages in general, i just happened to start with japanese. my plan is to do a transfer program after i get my undergrad and work in japan, mb even using as a hub for further studies (it'd be easier to fly to/from china/korean and japan than from the us, right?). my focus might end up being studying the linguistics of the various sinitic/altaic language groups, but it's too soon to tell really

btw I applied for HSK level 2 and now I'm shitting my pants.

― undermikey: bidness (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 19:01 (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

think i fucked this

I practised my arse off for this thing (9 practice exams, passed them all comfortably), get in the room and for a whole block of questions it was like the audio was in lingala or something. maybe I was too nervous, really not sure at this point. if I pass the first half it'll be a miracle. devastated.

I have a gut feeling you'll be fine.

hmm cheers. there's always hope.

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/making-mandarin-mandatory-in-u-s-kindergartens/

1) come on
2) a financially gutted school district grasping at straws
3) if you're just going to look at probable success rates and the utility of the language, spanish wins in this part of the world (southern united states, article mentions growing hispanic population) + a good esl program
4) if it has to be stated again: mandarin is not the future language of international business. give me a break, guys.
5) and most importantly, confucius institutes creep me the fuck out

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/us/critics-worry-about-influence-of-chinese-institutes-on-us-campuses.html

i hate confucius, i hate his institutes

http://www.epochtimes.com/i6/608120040071017.gif

sorry, i know this thread is "help me learn mandarin chinese," not "discourage rural georgian kindergarteners from learning mandarin chinese"

Yeah, seems so much more important to learn Spanish.

However, my second 10-week session of Mandarin begins tonight!

I have studied exactly ZERO words/phrases in the interim between sessions, so tonight is likely to be brutal.

ahaha oh no

p sure I failed another exam tonight btw

i am starting to learn vietnamese. 'starting' means i got a pimsleur language lesson and hated it, learned how to say six words, and couldn't hear differences in intonation and forgot them all, and can now count to ten, sometimes. whyyyyyyyy vietnamese?

it's haaard

I practised my arse off for this thing (9 practice exams, passed them all comfortably), get in the room and for a whole block of questions it was like the audio was in lingala or something. maybe I was too nervous, really not sure at this point. if I pass the first half it'll be a miracle. devastated.

― * The "no hands" rule can be compared to socialist tax policies (Autumn Almanac), Saturday, 8 September 2012 11:45 (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more than six weeks later and no results released, for ANYONE doing ANY exam at that facility on that day. from a given range of reasons that would explain the delay in releasing the results, i choose to go with the one that describes them as fucking spanners.

right now i'm awfully glad i just about killed myself studying for this thing

ugh sorry

np

can someone translate?

http://www.theonion.com/images/18/18499/original/450.jpg

I believe that's a translation of romney's remarks about China from the last debate

"Chinese leaders, I promise you, when I am President, I will make sure that China respects international trade rules. Your country has long manipulated currency to benefit your manufacturing industry, so that it has harmed American manufacturing. This is not fair! My administration will not accept this from China. The first day I enter the White House, I will label China as a currency manipulator. This is a warning."

take THAT china

and yeah, that must be from the last debate

hahah

http://www.theonion.com/articles/romney-delivers-stern-warning-to-china-speaking-di,30053/

but that was taken pretty much word for word from the last debate wasnt it?

*sheds wistful tear for jon huntsman*

more than six weeks later and no results released, for ANYONE doing ANY exam at that facility on that day. from a given range of reasons that would explain the delay in releasing the results, i choose to go with the one that describes them as fucking spanners.

― turn left onto bisexual woman (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 19:13 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

two months today, still nothing. they're ignoring my emails. someone else who sat exactly the same exam has got his results. utter utter UTTER fucking incompetence. rarely have i been this angry with anyone ever.

clearly i should not have killed myself studying for that fucking piece of shit exam

mannnn. that's fucked. i remember you saying the people running the course were decent, though. no word from them? call them up and cuss them out in the foulest chinese slang you can learn in the next half hour.

I tried them today. no word yet, but they're clearly my best hope given hanban is apparently incapable of scratching its arse

sorry to be all donnie downer, just absolutely ragged

听力 99 阅读 99 总分 198 合格

whether or not i ~trust~ that response is another issue, as I've yet to receive anything official (and tbh thought i had completely flubbed the first half)

I had to reload the software onto my iPhone after a crash and now Skritter is only showing new words. It's forgotten about all the ones I spent months learning before and never shows them. Anyone know what I'm meant to do?

oh god, someone on app.net is about to give me old 'so why are you learning chinese?'

i can feel it building

just say for the broads/future international language of business lol leave it at that

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/5702554422_2c98d56bd5.jpg

haha yes, native chinese speakers love it when you say you want to get rich off the language.

btw the above didn't transpire, but app.net seems to be a great way to hook up with chinese speakers. my crap language skills have been taxed to the limit today.

also, new dn

downloaded sogou pinyin but am afraid to install it for FEAR OF CHINESE HACKERS

what if there's a backdoor built into it????????

i solved that "problem" by using google's ime, which was built by leveraging some non-google database resources/jacked wholesale from sogou pinyin

not available for mac unfortch

well there was a leaked 'beta.' but it crashes in mountain lion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnlkLDqgPI&list=PLC175F3EC9EA4B856&index=2

antonioni in china

...but it was severely denounced by the Chinese authorities as "anti-Chinese" and "anti-communist". The documentary had its first showing in China on 25 November 2004 in Beijing with a film festival hosted by the Beijing Film Academy to honor the works of Michelangelo Antonioni.

i guess i meant that for the rolling china thread

https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/use-your-language/check-your-skills.aspx

coming out of the chinese language programs at both universities i attended (esp ubc), the only serious attempts at recruiting us for future employment came from csis canadian security intelligence service

Starting Mandarin this week. Not the oldest person in the class, but everyone else seems to be some sort of Commerce/Law/Politics major, hmmn.

If you mind me asking, AA, which Aussie uni does yr course get accreditation w/?

ace! it's this one: http://rmit.edu.au

what textbook have you used in your courses? would you recommend them for an autodidact?