Ultraeasy Chinese shows

[AlexBlackman]

Hi all

I'm writing a beginner's guide to Chinese and I want to introduce a few very easy to understand Chinese shows to get people started as early and as painlessly on native materials as possible.

Preferably it should be;

• Easy to understand
  
• with Chinese subtitles
  
• Authentically spoken (edit: to clarify, I mean, spoken with a fairly standard non-wacky accent.)
  
• Very visual.
  
• Not devestatingly boring for adults.
  

I understand the final condition might be hard to meet.

I asked my Chinese friends and they all suggested "蓝猫“, though I think the sciency bits would be way too hard for a beginner.

thanks in advance.

[Daan]

You could try 空鏡子, on which there's a thread somewhere around here.

[imron]

Have you seen the Grand First Episode Project and accompanying index and recommendations guide?

[msittig]

When I was learning Japanese I would watch Chibimaruko-chan. It's about a preschool girl and her friends, so the language is simple and it really helped me a lot. In Chinese it's called 樱桃小丸子 and it's still a good show.

[WestTexas]

It seems like it would be difficult to satisfy your first and third requirements at the same time.

Apparently you can watch Dora the Explorer in Chinese and it's pretty easy

[AlexBlackman]

@Daan: That's a little too advanced.

@Imron - yes, and I'm recommending that people watch 家有儿女 after they get more comfortable. I was going to directly link to the thread in my guide.

@Mstig and WestTexas - yep, these are the kind of shows which'll do. Dora's excellent (爱探险的朵拉)

[bunny87]

Dora in Chinese?! all of these sound awesome. I once came upon the hello kitty cartoon in Chinese, i wonder how it would compare... (it was a cute episode, she basically did the Alice in wonderland episode)

[AlexBlackman]

That'll only do for half of Chinese learners.

I doubt any man on earth would willingly watch 'Hello Kitty!', and this is coming from a guy with a MyLittlePony avatar

[feihong]

I'm just going to say outright that there is no show out there that meets all five requirements. The best you can hope for is four out of five, maybe.

[Gleaves]

喜羊羊 is a fun cartoon. It's not beginner, but easier than dramas. I watched a bunch of Pixar/Dreamworks movies in Chinese. They are definitely not beginner level, but at least they are familiar and rewatchable. Made for a decent gateway into the Chinese media drug.

Edit: I never really found anything at a beginner level that kept my interest.

[roddy]

You could just direct them to kids TV channels online - here's one. At that level a lot of the interest doesn't come from the show, but from the 'oh, I understood that'. I remember having Dogtanian on and understanding something about a horse - was delighted.

[imron]

The best you can hope for is four out of five, maybe.

I reckon 3 out of 5 is more likely:

• with Chinese subtitles
  
• Authentically spoken (edit: to clarify, I mean, spoken with a fairly standard non-wacky accent.)
  
• Not devestatingly boring for adults.
  

[bunny87]

a lot of the interest doesn't come from the show, but from the 'oh, I understood that'.

this is so true. i remember watching that hello kitty episode and after eating the cookie, she became huge and said "zaogao!". i was like OMG I KNOW WHAT SHE SAID. and told everyone i knew that hello kitty curses in chinese. (my book translated it as damn, which i consider a curse word).

it may not seem manly, but maybe you can score a gf if they see you appreciate hello kitty too?

[Areckx]

One of the things you need to get over with learning any language, especially Chinese, is "whether you're the target audience."

You're only limiting yourself. You will also find that you have different interests, so something you liked in English (or Japanese) may not be as good when you watch it in Mandarin.

[AlexBlackman]

I reckon 3 out of 5 is more likely:

• with Chinese subtitles
  
• Authentically spoken (edit: to clarify' date=' I mean, spoken with a fairly standard non-wacky accent.)
  [*']Not devestatingly boring for adults.
  

Yeah, I'd say 奋斗， 空镜子 and 家有儿女 meet these requirements but they just aren't simple enough

You could just direct them to kids TV channels online - here's one. At that level a lot of the interest doesn't come from the show' date=' but from the 'oh, I understood that'. I remember having Dogtanian on and understanding something about a horse - was delighted. [/quote']

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

it may not seem manly' date=' but maybe you can score a gf if they see you appreciate hello kitty too?[/quote']

God, thank you for giving the world Asian girls. I'm so terrible

One of the things you need to get over with learning any language' date=' especially Chinese, is "whether you're the target audience."

You're only limiting yourself. You will also find that you have different interests, so something you liked in English (or Japanese) may not be as good when you watch it in Mandarin. [/quote']

I agree, sometimes you need to push your comfort zone to find stuff which is suitable for your abilities. Besides, I think the majority of Spongebog and MLP:FiM magic fans weren't in the original target demographic and they still ended up loving it.

[Areckx]

I found Spongebob in Mandarin and it's AWESOME(I also like it in English so I guess that's a factor, haha)

I was referring to the "not so manly" comment about Hello Kitty. Hmmm how can I put it in a "man's" term....

A real man can watch Hello Kitty ^_^

[renzhe]

Hello Kitty is awesome!!!

But hardly authentically spoken

[bunny87]

all you gotta do is watch hello kitty with a bottle of dos equis (xx) by your side. You'd be the next most interesting man in the asian world.

when you say hardly authentically spoken... as in it's in baby language? she has an accent? or some other non-authentic manner? because i don't think anyone watching hello kitty is gonna mimic that high pitch voice of hers. but if we should avoid the words, why?

[Areckx]

It's generally not a good idea to mimic anything said on tv shows. The idea is to get used to hearing the language and its patterns. Even if someone has a "cat" accent or whatever, ANYTHING other than normal language, there will still be patterns which apply to the language that your brain NEEDS to hear.

And you need to know the difference between "accented language" and "gibberished languaged" because sometimes shows will have a character that speaks gibberish, and if you don't know any better, you might think they are speaking real language. This is why you must cross-reference cross reference CROSS REFERENCE!!!

Did I say cross reference?

[2010laohu]

There is a good show on CCTV4 called "汉语快乐“ that seems to be quite good. It has english subtitles if you want to cheat, and usually they introduce several different new words or concepts on each show. Other good shows to watch are 走遍中国 and 远方的家 if you like to learn about different parts of China & history. These also have english subtitles.