A simple explanation of Chinese characters

Re:A simple explanation of Chinese characters by polymatter on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @06:01AM (#10743488)

as someone currently learning Vietnamese do you have any tips for learning the language? I've learnt some Mandarin so I am no stranger to tones - but the tones in Vietnamese seem quite different.

I've been using Pimsleur which I highly recommend, but I find I end up atuned to their particular voices and can not understand genuine Vietnamese speech. Also I am using memrise to learn vocabulary, but without example sentences and the like I find it of limited use until I find the same word in a real life context.

Interested in your thoughts.

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Re:A simple explanation of Chinese characters by cageface on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @06:08AM (#10743512)

There's no substitute for one on one tutoring with a native speaker. Get somebody to drill you on the tones and the alphabet. Once you have those down you can work on vocabulary on your own.

If I'd done this when I first got here I'd be a lot further along now.

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Re:A simple explanation of Chinese characters by polymatter on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @07:35AM (#10743835)

Thanks for the reply. I will do that.

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Re:A simple explanation of Chinese characters by contingencies on Wednesday December 16, 2015 @10:00AM (#10744611)

If either of you feel like visiting Yunnan up the Red River, hit me up!

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