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Thread: Reading the novels...

  1. #1
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    Default Reading the novels...

    Anybody got tips for improving one's profiency in chinese?
    I've been meaning to read wuxia for some time now, but my chinese reaaaally blows. I recently purchased Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, I decided to read this first since it was the shortest one and most likely the easiest one( I plan on reading all of the JY novels). I *usually* get what's going on in the book but a good 50% of the words I don't know. And I'm only through the first chapter!
    I go to chinese school, but that's only weekly and they barely teach anything.
    Was wondering if anyone else here had shared my problem?Any tips on improving more?

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    Moderator Noodles's Avatar
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    My tips (well, it worked for me ):

    1) Sing more karoke
    2) Try translating the novel. At the beginning, you'll be going to and back from the dictionary but very soon you'll start to recognise more and more words.
    3) More karoke

    Just keep at it and be patient and soon you'll be able to read chinese to a decent standard.
    Last edited by Noodles; 01-26-04 at 09:26 PM.
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    Originally posted by Noodles
    My tips (well, it worked for me ):

    1) Sing more karoke
    that is what my mom tell me to do.
    big problem for me is that I am vietnamese and like to listen to chinese song in chinese with vietnamese words. the two doesn't match

  4. #4
    Senior Member CC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Reading the novels...

    Originally posted by Wai Shing
    Anybody got tips for improving one's profiency in chinese?
    I've been meaning to read wuxia for some time now, but my chinese reaaaally blows. I recently purchased Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, I decided to read this first since it was the shortest one and most likely the easiest one( I plan on reading all of the JY novels). I *usually* get what's going on in the book but a good 50% of the words I don't know. And I'm only through the first chapter!
    I go to chinese school, but that's only weekly and they barely teach anything.
    Was wondering if anyone else here had shared my problem?Any tips on improving more?
    The beginning is the hardest. You will have to keep using the dictionary.

    Remember to spend some time trying to remember the words you checked up. Don't flip the dictionary, get the meaning and move on. Spend some time memorising the word you just checked.

    You will find that progression is geometric. So just struggle through the start.

    Go for it. Unlike playing computer games or drinking beer, the effort you put in will be translated into a tangible lifelong reward.

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    Don't run before you learn how to walk.

    Start by reading simpler books (instead of going straight to Jin Yong's works!) and newspapers. Watch the news in Chinese (if you can). Find people to practise speaking with. Ensure that this is a daily or regular practice. Have a dictionary handy while you read. It's a bit tedious, but you can always make a note of the difficult words and refer back later.

    Once you're more adept in the language, you can start by reading more "reader-friendly" novels like those of Gu Long. When you get the hang of Gu Long, or at least reading regularly in Chinese, the transition to Jin Yong will be less painful.
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    Personally, I'd say just go for the JY adaptations with sub-titles. If you pick ones that are very faithful to the novel, you can pretty much learn all the dialogues just from watching the show. Then the book itself becomes much easier. Watching the news and other modern stuff might not be as helpful, because the vernacular in wuxia novels is just so different from what you hear on tv. But watching ancient serials in general really helps. Sub-titles are pretty much a must(same concept as the karaokes).

    I really don't recommend that you start with a smaller book. The Chinese isn't any easier, and you won't be familiar enough with the story to get a lot of the things. Start off with your very favorite JY book. If you want, you might even go straight to your favorite parts(hopefully one that's been translated, so you can do some checking). The key is to keep up your interest in the beginning. Because you're most likely to give up then. So picking your favorite scenes in the book provides the incentive to keep reading. After a while, you'll be surprised at how many words start to appear again and again. Eventually, you'll be able to read fairly well.

    Oh, and be sure you have a dictionary to look up. It's easier on the computer, since there are lots of softwares which can instantly translate the Chinese to English.

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    Senior Member philip's Avatar
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    yes, i just read the subtitles of adaptions or any tv series. IF you don't have a problem w/ listening, then use "read-along" witht he subtitles....and it'll help you recognize words. then, you can read most of the novels, and if there are words u don't understand, you can look it up. but usually, you don't need to know every single word to know what's going on...so you can be lazy

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    Smile

    Thanks for all the advice and encouragement guys, I usually try to read a few pages a day...and checking the dictionary for all the words I don't know would take quite a while lol, so I always write down the words I don't know on a paper and I ask my mom or sister to explain each of them to me hehe, I check the dictionary on the spot if there's a word that really bothers me.

    I have a general idea of the storyline of almost every JY novel from the serials so picking for me wasn't too hard, I didn't have a title in mind that I really prefered over the others so kinda randomly picked. And my surname is also Hu . When I'm finished with FFOSM, I think I'll get Xiao Ao Jiang Hu or LoCH.
    Last edited by Wai Shing; 01-28-04 at 02:34 AM.

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    Junior Member la_ primavera's Avatar
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    i'd say keeping on reading.

    hehe...im a new member now.
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    Thumbs up

    I have that problem too, I think talking more in chinese and reading the newspaper helps! I'm decent in my chinese but I really got to read more, thanks for all the great tips

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    Senior Member tinac's Avatar
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    You can try reading comics in Chinese, at least the pictures helps.
    "Most men are of naught more use in their lives but as machines for turning food into shit."

    -- Miles Vorkosigan quoting his grandfather (Lois McMaster Bujold, "Memory")

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    Senior Member trizz251's Avatar
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    where are you suppose to get chinese comics, the ones i see aren't even interesting and the rest are manga in english.

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    You can try ebay or YesAsia, this is the link http://global.yesasia.com/en/Comics.aspx

    They got chinese comics and Manga in Chinese, a lot of Jin Yong's story in comics version could be found there.

    Hope this helps.
    "Most men are of naught more use in their lives but as machines for turning food into shit."

    -- Miles Vorkosigan quoting his grandfather (Lois McMaster Bujold, "Memory")

  14. #14
    Senior Member trizz251's Avatar
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    thx first but if it involves ordering it no thx (no harsh feelings) cause I'm a bit tight on cash.

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