Comments on: How to Approach Chinese Grammar

By: The three factors that determine how much Chinese you learn | Hacking Chinese | Hacking Chinese

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:41:03 +0000

[…] an attempt to address the lack of discussion on learning pronunciation, Chinese characters, tones, grammar, and more. This is why most articles on this website focus on this […]

By: Chat your way to better Chinese | Hacking Chinese

Chat your way to better Chinese | Hacking Chinese — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:44:25 +0000

[…] Time to think – Everything goes so fast in a spoken conversation; you need to figure out what the other person is saying and formulate your responses at the same time. This can be stressful and also limits your ability to use words other than those that immediately come to mind. When chatting, you can take as much time as you want to understand what the other person is saying and how to respond, choosing among different options and trying out new ways of expressing yourself. This is a good opportunity to review grammar patterns you think should work but aren’t entirel… […]

By: Is learning things by heart good for improving your Chinese? | Hacking Chinese | Hacking Chinese

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 18:31:24 +0000

[…] Memorising a phrase to learn a sentence pattern – Sentence patterns are abstract, and learning abstract things is harder than learning concrete things. Instead of trying to memorise something like 即使A，也B, memorise a real sentence like 即使明天下雨，我们也要去. This illustrates well how this pattern is used, and will also help you apply it in real life. This is not enough, but it’s better than having a flashcard with 即使A，也B. Read more about learning grammar in this guest post by John Pasden: How to Approach Chinese Grammar […]

By: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 4: Learning to process spoken Mandarin quickly and effortlessly - Hacking Chinese

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 19:18:30 +0000

[…] Understanding complex sentences – When you first start learning Chinese, word order seems very straightforward, because it’s the same as in English (SVO, or subject-verb-object, or 我爱你, wǒ ài nǐ). Soon, however, you realise that it’s not that easy, because even a simple phrase like “the person I love is completely different in English and Chinese. In Chinese, it’s 我爱的人 (wǒ ài de rén). This takes a while getting used to and you need to consciously find the 的 to untangle the sentence. To do this, you use up most of the controlled processing resources you have, but when you’ve reached an intermediate stage in your learning, you will no longer struggle with sentences like this: the process has become automated. John Pasden from Sinosplice and AllSet Learning wrote this great article about how to approach grammar in Chinese. […]

By: Olle Linge

Olle Linge — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 19:30:05 +0000

In reply to Adam Ross. Perhaps John can answer this himself, but as far as I can see, there is no confusion here. Input usually refers to listening and reading, which is what I think he means in this article. Perhaps you could be more specific so we can sort out the misunderstanding?

By: Adam Ross

Adam Ross — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:31:52 +0000

Excellent article, but I’m wondering if you’re confusing the word input with output — “input” in the taking in of new vocabulary and patterns in the cognitive act of “acquisition” of new language; “output” is the way learners use language items in their own speech or writing.

Thanks for sharing these thoughts on learning Chinese, both here and elsewhere in your blog.

By: George

George — Mon, 12 May 2014 00:01:56 +0000

What I find the most frustrating is a lack of grammar exercises. As a non native speaker, at the moment when I was learning English, I’ve had hundreds of books, websites, etc. Which included many exercises, especially focusing on little details between two similar, yet different patterns.
I’d love to have a book like that. Learning grammar would way easier.

By: John

John — Sat, 10 May 2014 16:13:11 +0000

In reply to Lili Woodlight. No one wants grammar indigestion! Ugh. :)

By: John

John — Sat, 10 May 2014 16:12:22 +0000

In reply to Scott Burgan. You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it.

By: Lili Woodlight

Lili Woodlight — Fri, 09 May 2014 21:44:35 +0000

I loved this part of the article, it made me laugh, because it’s so true:

“They say of food that “hunger is the best sauce.” The same is true for grammar. To do otherwise is to invite indigestion.”