Xiaoniu 小妞

Albeit a bit slower than others I finished reading How to Learn Any Language by Barry Farber. If you are interested in picking up a second (or third) language without going to school you should read this book first.

Farber has some good tips for language learners, although, the book does seem a little out of date. You should probably substitute any mention of “Walkman” with “iPod” or “MP3 Player” as well as references to “Rambo” with something a bit more contemporary.

Even though I never gave my approach much thought Farber’s suggestions coincide pretty closely with the methods I’ve been using to learn Chinese. However, he suggests a more aggressive approach that I haven’t been able to do myself due to time and energy constraints.

Farber’s approach is simply to use all possible resources available to the self-study student in a sort of round-robin or as possible/necessary.

1. Simple textbook
2. Dictionary
3. Traveler’s phrase book
4. Literature in your target language such as a newspaper or magazine
5. Student textbook, such as one as the 6th grade level
6. Portable audio player (he actually says tape player)
7. Audio courses
8. Blank cassettes and recorder
9. Flash cards
10. Blank flash cards

Nothing too out of the ordinary there. I have almost every one of those in some fashion. Books, textbooks and dictionary are no problem. I have plenty. Literature. Sue has dozens of Chinese books and I have many clippings from Chinese news papers. Literature is not a problem either. Flash cards and blank index cards; got them. Lastly for portable audio and courses I am using Sue’s iPod and the plethora of lessons from ChinesePod and other Chinese language podcasts.

Once you have your supplies ready you just keep attacking the language from all possible directions.

• Read the textbook for simple grammar.
• Read the traveler’s phrase book to pick up on common phrases.
• Listen to audio courses when possible.
• Attack the literature one paragraph at a time. Any words you don’t know get written onto blank flash cards with definitions (and in my case with pronunciation).
• Use the flash cards anytime you have at least 1 second of free time.
• Don’t move onto another paragraph until you learn all the words in the first.
• If and when the occasion arises use any people you meet that speak the language natively to help you.
• Don’t do any one thing for too long. Switch up.
• Use the hidden moments. If you have a few seconds refer to your flash cards. Test yourself instead of just day dreaming.

As I said after reading the book it looks like I’ve taken a similar route. I didn’t go out and buy any new supplies. I had them all. I always make sure to switch up how I’m learning Chinese. One day it is reading the next is listening to ChinesePod and the next day is talking and discussing language with Sue.

One key thing that Farber stresses that I was not following up with religiously is using the hidden moments. I usually use those hidden moments for resting and winding down. He suggests that these hidden moments are key learning times.

The second key thing that Farber suggests is the use of mnemonics to learn and remember words in your target language. I never bought into using mnemonics seeing as I never felt that they worked for me. Well, I believe I was wrong. After reading a couple pages of examples of mnemonics he hits you up with some questions and you realize that you learned the words he used in his examples with only one read and without trying. I was hooked.

I’m been trying out his suggestions and so far so good. I carry around my flash cards and always trying to learn mnemonics for the words I’m trying to learn. I think it would be easier with a roman alphabet or any alphabet based written language. With Chinese I have to look at the character and decide how to create a mnemonic based on the character’s design. That mnemonic must serve two purposes; pronunciation and meaning. So, it is a little more work, but I’ve had good luck so far.

I still find that many words are difficult to describe using a mnemonic, but there are just as many that are easy to learn this way. I’ve also started using the flash card technique to learn one of the many children’s story found in the newspaper every day. I’ve been clipping them out whenever possible, but now I’m putting them to work.

It works! I’ve nailed down quite a few new words that have appeared in other places like Sue’s books and on TV. So, I’m confident that my work isn’t for naught. I just have to keep going. Keep the ball rolling and keep on top of my studies. Otherwise, I’m likely to end up learning Chinese for the rest of my life and not being able to sufficiently keep up with the most basic conversation. I’d like to do that and more, but I’m realistic too. It will take time and plenty of energy. At least Sue and Amy are willing to help out and answer questions even if they are silly or I make a mistake.

One last thing. The book mentions something called the Language Immersion Institute at the State University of New Paltz. I had no idea it even existed. I’ve been to New Paltz many, many times and it never came to my attention that they have intense language classes available. Seeing as SUNY New Paltz isn’t too far away and the costs are reasonable this may be an option later if I feel I need a boost. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper and easier than going to China, although, I’d rather visit China for two weeks, but we can’t have everything.