On 3 November 2011 03:59, Lindsey <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm learning Chinese. You have to memorize at least a couple thousand > characters to have even a chance of reading anything but a carefully > selected educational text. >
Hi, I'm also learning Chinese and I struggle with this problem sometimes. Murray's idea is interesting and probably better for learning, but I'd probably find it difficult to gather all the required sentences. In my cards, I lump meanings together on the front side (unless there are way too many in which case they might get split into a few cards, but in practice this rarely happens) Since there are usually many Chinese characters which could suit the definition, I narrow it down by indicating the number of strokes (and sometimes, mentioning which sounds it does not begin with). e.g. (don't have access to my deck ATM but roughly) Front: vegetable dish (of food) cuisine (11 strokes; not z/p/d) Back: 菜 cai4 This works ok for me, but I'd be interested to hear of other strategies people are using. I'd definitely agree that this work should be supplemented with outside reading (and TV etc!) Good luck! Oisín > On Nov 1, 6:39 am, Murray James Morrison <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Lindsey, > > > > Unless you're supplementing your flashcard study with heavy reading in > your > > target language, I would be cautious about learning words absent from > > context. Say you were learning English, and wanted to learn the word > "bear". > > > > Q1: > > bear (not the large, omnivorous mammal) > > A1: > > to be burdened with; to suffer, endure > > > > Q2: > > bear (but not the verb that means to suffer or endure) > > A2: > > a large, omnivorous mammal > > > > (This is unwieldy. Instead of that, try this.....) > > > > Q1: > > The pain was too much to bear. > > A1: > > bear: To be burdened with; to suffer, endure. > > > > Q2: > > I saw a bear up ahead. > > A2: > > bear: A large, omnivorous mammal > > > > These latter cards reinforce both definitions *in* context, which is > after > > all how you'll be using the word in conversation. > > > > --murrayjames > > > > On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 2:12 PM, Peter Bienstman < > [email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Interesting. Would it still work if it was Q: foreign word (not > > > > meaning B,C,D,E,F,.....N)? > > > > > Of course, but it would become unwieldy. However, you should ask > yourself > > > if > > > you really want to learn that many meanings. Perhaps many of them are > > > somewhat > > > synonymous? > > > > > Peter > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > > "mnemosyne-proj-users" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected] > > > . > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected]. > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/mnemosyne-proj-users?hl=en. > > > > -- > > ================= > > Murray James Morrison > > Saxophonist, Composer, Music Educator > > > > Tel. 780-791-4651 (Canada) > > +86-18608001531 (China) > > Email. [email protected] > > Website:http://www.murrayjames.net > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "mnemosyne-proj-users" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/mnemosyne-proj-users?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mnemosyne-proj-users" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mnemosyne-proj-users?hl=en.
