posted by ken on September 2, 2010 | 6 comments
After a year or so of living in China and studying Chinese on my own (and with Popup Chinese, 当然), I've finally started watching Chinese TV. I went into a DVD store near where I live and told the girl who worked there that I wanted to practice my 听力 with a show that was really popular in China today, which is how I ended up with 一起来看流星雨, which I have since become kind of addicted to, to the embarrassment of all of my Chinese friends.
Anyway, my question is if anybody has any tips for getting the most out of watching Chinese TV as a study tool. At the moment I'm watching it in Chinese with Chinese subtitles and no English subtitles. I get everything that's going on (it's not the world's most nuanced show), and understand most of the dialogue, but whenever someone says something I really don't catch, I pause it and read the subtitles and look it up if I think it seems important or high-frequency. I'm really enjoying watching the show (and am planning to move on to 奋斗 next), but I also want to make sure I'm taking the best advantage of it as a way to improve my Chinese. Any thoughts or tips on how to approach this?
Incidentally, I've tried to do the same sort of thing with popular American DVD movies that just happen to have Chinese subtitles. The advantage there is that I can know the whole plot because it is originally in English, but the problem is that I can't read Chinese that fast. :-) (Notwithstanding, of course, that these are not as culturally authentic as an actual Chinese film.)That said, may I suggest that you consider Pleco on the iPhone, which has (or will soon have) the ability to read and translate Chinese characters via camera? Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7VTo0656Rc This might work nicely along with DVD viewing.Then again, there is obviously no substitute for the diligent use of flash cards, etc. Of course, that goes without saying, anyway.
walid.shaari on September 3, 2010 | reply
every-time i try to watch cctv no matter which cctv channel or program "apart from growing in chinese" i can not real keep up the pace. they are too fast for my listening and character following skills yet. however i have found this chinese movie and programs sites of good quality and they are easy to follow. not that i understand them but at least i can catch some of the words i know easily than cctv
http://www.qiyi.com/
hope you find it useful
Back when I started watching television, it would take me ten to twenty minutes of half-understanding before I'd find myself mostly following along without too much need for subtitles. I don't know if it was just getting familiar with the words and accents, but I think there was something neurological there.
It was the same for radio incidentally. These days I find it much easier to just start listening, which I guess is a sign of progress. I used to get really tired after watching Chinese television too -- be curious if other people have had this experience too, since I've wondered if it was related to learning.
One of my students/friends is using the same method as 安迪 does. 他说非常好 :)
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
walid.shaari on September 4, 2010 | reply
一起来看流星雨
Yī qǐlái kàn liúxīngyǔ
google translate translates it into two words: Meteor shower. is that correct translation how does the word structure breaks in here?
as for the method above, it trains the ears at least to recognize the sounds, and tones. is there any slow reading radio programs similar to BBC4 programs. i am not into rap nor music programs. ;-)
does anyone know where I can find live streaming of CCTV channels online?
thanks!