Mandarin Chinese

Take a look at teacher Luc’s Mandarin Chinese Sentence Building project!

The book is going to be available for download here very soon! But read on for some free resources you can use now. It’s one of the most effective ways you’ll find ANYWHERE to rapidly start forming sentences in Mandarin while mastering the vocabulary as well! Especially suitable for beginners and pre-intermediate learners.

Introduction to the method
Mandarin Chinese Sentence Building enables rapid progress in listening, speaking and reading. It is based on some of the same principles as the famous Michel Thomas method in that new words and characters are learned one-by-one and are incorporated into meaningful sentences with optimal repetition for memory. In addition, we keep our focus on phrases, words and characters which are the most commonly used (high frequency) or most useful for language learners. Along the way, you’ll also pick up vital knowledge about Chinese culture and language. The sentences incorporate previously learned words only so it’s essential that you do not skip any sections.

Mandarin Building flashcards on Quizlet

If you don’t yet have the paper book no worries, for now you can use Quizlet!
Quizlet is a digital flashcards app and website (www.quizlet.com). Every Chinese word and sentence in the Mandarin Building book is on Quizlet as a flashcard but it doesn’t include all the cultural knowledge and notes from the book. On the Quizlet website enter ‘Mandarin Chinese Sentence Building’ in the search box, click ‘classes’, select the class and then click ‘request to join’. Otherwise use this join link: https://quizlet.com/join/8E4qsKPDu
The Quizlet sets are numbered in the recommended order of learning -so start from set 1 and work your way up. Some flashcard sets are to practice listening and speaking (step 1), and some are to practice character reading (step 2).
Step 1: Listening & speaking
Sets are named: Mandarin Building, section number & letter, En – (Pr)Ch
Side 1 English
Side 2 (Pronunciation) Characters
Suggested use
Flashcards mode: with audio on and shuffle off, show English
first, recall the Mandarin pronunciations, then flip card to see and
listen (perhaps repeat out loud). Focus on linking English
meanings to Mandarin pronunciations reading the phonetic
spellings (known as ‘pinyin’). Don’t worry about the characters –
they are just ‘decorative’ for now. Star any cards you wish to
review later or if on the app swipe left (not recalled) to make it
reappear later on or swipe right (recalled) to make it dissappear.
Follow with passive learning: in flashcards mode play the whole
set in the background while you do other things, listen again and
again to absorb the sounds.
Step 2: Reading characters
Sets are named: Mandarin Building, section number & letter,
Characters
Side 1 Characters
Side 2 (Pronunciations) English
Suggested use
Flashcards mode: with both audio and shuffle turned off show the
characters, recall the pronunciations (or even write the phonetics
on paper), click audio symbol to listen (perhaps repeat out loud).
Flip card to see the phonetics (pinyin). Star or swipe left any cards
for later review.
WORDS ONLY SETS
Any sets with (WORDS ONLY) in the title do not include
sentences. Use these in the same way as full sentence sets. The
match game is particularly fun and effective!