Comments on: Role-playing to learn more Chinese and avoid frustration https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/ A better way of learning Mandarin Tue, 09 Apr 2024 22:05:45 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Student Q&A, April 2024: Learning chengyu, listening to yourself and using role-playing games to learn Chinese | Hacking Chinese | Hacking Chinese https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-118934 Tue, 09 Apr 2024 22:05:45 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-118934 […] Role-playing to learn more Chinese and avoid frustration […]

]]> By: george https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2713 Sun, 15 Dec 2013 16:02:24 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2713 As usual, I will be tangential. My best Chinese mentors are kids from about 4 years old to 10 years old.

They don’t have the intellectual agenda of an adult, so they just tell me directly if I don’t make sense, are very patient at correcting my pronunciation, and have a lot of fun with absurd topics.

I learned this one day when I was repairing my broken Vesa in a parking lot and three kids sat down and began to ask me what I was doing. It was my first really interesting conversation in Chinese.

Teachers can get too far into format, text, theory, and a lesson plan in a classroom setting. And one-on-one practise can be vapid if you have the wrong partner.

]]> By: Klaoshi https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2712 Sat, 14 Dec 2013 15:36:02 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2712 I try to encourage students to create a second language identity–one that allows them not to inhibited by who they “truly” are in their first language–this, of course, can get deep into discussions about what personality is very quickly–but the point that learning a new language means becoming a child again is very apt. I know that one of the reasons Chinese study and living in China felt so freeing to me was because I was unencumbered by all that I “knew” and had experienced about myself in English. Just because you are reticent in English does not mean you have to be in Chinese–this can be both motivating (a new you) and incredibly useful as a language learning trait (leading one to speak more and more fearlessly). This article starts to get at that idea. Thanks!

]]> By: haggis mcbaozi https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2711 Sat, 14 Dec 2013 14:15:09 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2711 Brilliant article!
Agree with your point re ‘perfectionism is usually not good for you’ – i have a class who wants to be perfect at all cost and getting them to talk is like pulling teeth!
on the other hand, my younger learners, well can you shut them up?! They turn everything you give them into a laugh! Great fun!
agree with sara k. – i find the sublime and ridiculous approach useful. Question – am i a mouse (lao shu)? ha! ha!ha! answer: ni shi lao shi, bu shi lao she. cheeky ones will tell me, ni shi da lao she

ps: your advice for teachers, noted!
re role play – i find that if pupils are given a clear context/ scenario and if you can, allow them to take on a character – i found Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes a great one to use when talking about family relationships

]]> By: Sara K. https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2710 Fri, 13 Dec 2013 13:42:21 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2710 When teaching English to Taiwanese students, one thing I’ve found useful is modelling by answering the questions in ridiculous and obviously false ways (an example would be Question: Do you think money is important? Answer: Yes, because money is more beautiful than Anne Hathaway.) This has the benefit of being entertaining, but it also gets students to stop worrying about telling truthful answers. If I’m answering the questions in silly ways, they can answer the questions in silly ways too.

]]> By: Laura https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2709 Fri, 13 Dec 2013 08:13:49 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2709 Thank you, I found this very useful, why? because it’s true feeling frustrated when you cannot express yourself, I find myself wanting to say something more complex than I can actually say, sometimes it’s depressing, anyway, thanks, and 慢慢来，there’s no other way in Chinese.

]]> By: Herbert Mushangwe https://www.hackingchinese.com/role-playing-to-learn-more-chinese-and-avoid-frustration/#comment-2708 Fri, 13 Dec 2013 04:55:40 +0000 http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=3092#comment-2708 very true, some Chinese language teachers ask frustrating questions.

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