Tips on being able to understand spoken Chinese better?

[geoffkhan]

Hi, I'm new here.

I've been learning Chinese for two years now, and I'm still having a hard time understanding it when people speak. I guess it's because the words in Chinese are so short and people speak it so fast that it's hard to catch on.

Any tips, please?

[smithsgj]

Hello Geoff and welcome.

I'm not convinced that the words of Mandarin are short; and if they were, how that would affect matters. Potentially the language could be more difficult because of a limited no. of syllabic sounds representing many meanings. But that in turn could be making things easier, less to learn; and the confusing ambiguous sounds are usually parts of longer words which are non-ambiguous.

One thing is undoubtedly the tones. Search this forum for advice on improving your tones. But exposure to lots of speech is the only real answer, and if you're planning to go to China you'll obviously progress by leaps and bounds after being immersed in the langaueg for a while.

Another problem is registers. With English learning, you can pick up a book, watch the telly, chat to someone, go to a meeting, and it's all the same thing really. Practice in one of these activities boosts performance in the other.

Someone said on another thread that English text message speak is completely different from normal English, and might not be much use as a learning tool. I believe that with Chinese, most of these discourse types vary as widely as txtspk and real English. Written style is very different from speech, that much is clear (plus the added and unaccustomed difficulty of the writing system itself of course). But I think that often telly language helps you to practise watching the telly, meeting language helps you with meetings... get the picture? The skill domains, for me, don't interact in the same way as English (or French, which I learned as a non-native speaker).

Two years? Don't lose heart, but with twelve years of Mandarin practice, a degree in the subject and a Taiwanese wife, I still can't understand the TV news properly!

Another tip: try radio instead of TV. I find it *loads* easier!

[Guest jizhu3]

Yes, Chinese people always speak fast.

Sometimes Chinese also can not understand others...

No problem, you can just tell them to say more and more slowly.

One day I asked a man to repeat 4 times! He didn't mind it at all.

[geoffkhan]

Thank you for the advice.

Actually, I'm only 17 right now, and I hear that the younger you are the easier it is to learn a language.

I think I should listen to chinese internet radio more. I used to a while ago, but with my slow connection, I can listen to 30 seconds, and then wait like 20 seconds for it to buffer more, etc.

Tones may be what I'm having trouble with. I think it is mainly recognizing tones, though.

[Shi Rui'en]

If you don't mind my asking, what was the link that you used to go to to listen to chinese radio? I'd be interested in listening to it.

[geek_frappa]

here's a website that's good for listening to cantonese:

http://www.rthk.org.hk/

at first, you may laugh at the news talk radio feeds, but then you get used to it. music is nice.

[geoffkhan]

I just connect to internet radio through winamp. All the stations are labelled, so it's easy to find a Chinese station.

geek_frappa: I speak Mandarin, though. Thanks all the same.

[doumeizhen]

I like to put on Chinese movies with subtitles, and I try really really hard not to look at them, only when I have to.

When I watch the Chinese soaps (I had a flu, ok! Not much else to do!) I do so with a dictionary close by.

It's rough. Another thing is Chinese music, and listening to a set of songs until I can clearly identify what they are saying. Problem is, if they use any English phrases, I tend to just listen to those after a while. Beware of that.

[sunyata]

I like to put on Chinese movies with subtitles' date=' and I try really really hard not to look at them, only when I have to.

[/quote']

I pay attention to the subs - good way to learn new characters and review old ones...at least for me

[geoffkhan]

Thank you for the advice! I really like Chinese music, so I think I'll go that way. So what bands do you recommend? F4?

[eion_padraig]

geoffkhan,

it helps a whole lot to live in China. I've been here for just over a year and a half. It's funny how all the sudden you can start to understand people a lot better. I actually understand a lot of what my students say before and after my English classes, if they aren't speaking the local dialect.

The folks that I know who studied Chinese before coming to China have it so much better than I do when adjusting and learning Chinese. So when you do get here, it will be tremedously useful.

Eion

[geoffkhan]

Well, here in California there are LOTS of Chinese speaking people. I think that helps.

[Lu Yi Si]

If you can tolerate it, karaoke is quite useful as you hear the singing and see the characters at the same time which are big and easy to read. So then you can look the characters up in your dictionary. A slowly sung ballad would be a good start. Beware of traditional character karaoke if you are trying to learn simplified script, though.

I think that A'Do is bareable in terms of Chinese pop. If you don't like pop, maybe Tang Dynasty (rock). F4 have gone a lttle out of fashion at the moment, and A'Do is going that way. Jay Zhou (Chou?) and S.H.E. seem to be popular with Chinese kids at the moment.

[trooper]

Why not try getting the listening courses that roddy recommended in another thread? See http://www.chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=948.

Apart from that, watching soaps and films which have Chinese subtitles is the best way to improve your skills in listening to everyday speech, but you need have access to the programmes!

Talk shows on the radio are a good way to practice your listening skills, but only once your overall level in Chinese is good, otherwise it can get overwhelming, especially if the topic moves onto current affairs and politics.

I think that listening to pop music might not be the best way to improve your listening skills because some song lyrics are a bit poetic and quite different from everyday speech. Another reason is that the singers tend to neutralise the tones to fit the words with the music. If distinguishing tones is one of your main problems, then you won't find listening to pop music something that clears it up.

[Smoothie]

hey i try not to look at the subtitles too, but u know i just can't catch up to them they sound so similar. so i have to look at the titles to understand. i need to work on that too, just listen.

[geoffkhan]

Oh, I can definitely tolerate Chinese pop. In fact, I like it, too.

So that's what I've been doing lately -- listening to Chinese bands.

[beijingbooty]

yes, after three years of hard chinese learning I am still lost when i watch the TV news.

I can only pick up about 20% of the words and that is not enought to understand the gist of what is being spoken about.

I recommend staying away from news broadcasts until you are verging on fluency, otherwise it can be very disheartening.

[geek_frappa]

children's book -> book -> TV Series -> TV movie -> New broadcast

is that the order from easy to hard?

[Quest]

I would think a news broadcast is easier than a movie, is it not? because the hosts/esses usually enunciate rather slowly. There are all kinds of accents and slangs in movies.

well that's my experience with English.

[Tsunku]

I also find the news really hard to understand. Perhaps because the vocabulary is more specialized? I also find the broadcasters speak very quickly. I can understand conversations in Chinese quite well, probably at least 80-90% comprehension in most daily conversations, but the news mostly escapes me.

Living in China and using the language really does help. If you're not in China, try arranging a language exchange with a native speaker in your area. I tell my English students the same thing when they ask me how to improve their oral English. Nothing substitutes for good old practice. Movies are good too because the language tends to be more colloquial for the most part. I can understand most movies much better than I can the evening news.