Adventures in Classical Chinese
Oct. 18th, 2021 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ladybusinessA few years ago, I got into watching Chinese dramas, and that has led me to learning more about Chinese culture and history. First it was reading various books about Chinese history with focus on material culture, such as textiles and pottery; and then I was getting really into tea; and most recently I’ve started studying Classical Chinese.
I have an auditory processing disorder, and I always thought that was an insurmountable barrier to learning a second language. A lot of people I know through Chinese drama fandom have been studying Mandarin, but I never seriously considered it. When a friend mentioned a book called Classical Chinese for Everyone I was interested. I love reading about history and the thought of being able to read Chinese historical documents myself was enticing. So I bought a copy of the book and started slowly working my way through it, and on the way I started to pick up a bit of Mandarin.
It has been extremely fun, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Language study involves learning lots of small things and connecting them into a greater whole, a process that I’ve always enjoyed in other areas like, studying ecology or piecing together world-building as I’m reading a book. I love it when I’m able to connect things and see a larger picture. Classical Chinese is especially good for this because it has a whole writing system where small units are used to create bigger units. Each character is made up of strokes, and then there are radicals, which are generally characters on their own, but are also used to make up more complex characters. The characters can be combined to make words. I also enjoy geeking out about this stuff with friends who are studying Mandarin. The languages are similar enough that a lot of what I’m learning applies to both.
Self directed study is extremely flexible, especially with the various apps that are available now. I can go at my own pace and focus on the things that interest me. For example, I’m working on learning forms of address that are common in historical dramas. I can also make allowances for my auditory processing disorder in a way I never could in a standard class with a set pace. There are times when I get stuck and wish I had another person to ask questions and I sometimes struggle with pacing the various tasks, such as writing practice versus learning more grammar. But for me, the advantages hugely outweigh the disadvantages.
I want to talk briefly about some of the books and apps I’ve been studying with. As I mentioned I have many fandom friends who are studying Mandarin and I found out about all of these resources through recommendations:
Classical Chinese for Everyone: A Guide for Absolute Beginners by Bryan W. Van Norden: the book that started it all! One thing I really like about this book is that all of the readings are actually texts, mostly Analects. I always feel very accomplished when I read them. I enjoy that each chapter also has supplementary material that discuss the philosophical ideas in the reading, various different translations, and bits of historical context. I’m also finding the explanations of the vocabulary and grammar clear and succinct.
Learn to Write Chinese Characters by Johan Björkstén: To help me learn and remember the characters and vocabulary that I’m learning I started writing out each character multiple times. It turns out that I really enjoy writing Chinese characters, and writing the same ones over and over is very soothing. I shared some pictures of my writing on Twitter and friends recommended this book to help me write better. The explanations of how each stroke is made are incredibly helpful. I’ve been slowly working through the exercises in this and my handwriting is improving bit by bit.
Pleco: This app is an English/Mandarin dictionary that I love. You can input in a number of ways pinyin, by writing a character, by typing an English word. Pleco will define words, and pronounce them. It has the stroke order, and will show you the component pieces of a word or character. I use it to look up words I encounter, but also sometimes I just use the browse feature and look at random words for fun
Skritter: This app is focused on learning to read and write Chinese characters. Unlike Pleco, it's not free, but I find it really helpful. It’s like a set of very fancy flash cards, including ones where it shows you the definition and then you write the character on the screen. It will also say each character every time, something that paper flash cards can’t do, that I find very helpful since I have extra trouble associating symbols and sounds. Skritter automatically does spaced repetition which is a learning technique based on recalling things at longer and longer intervals. The app will show the user cards at intervals based on this technique.
Studying Classical Chinese has been a wonderful experience. I never expected studying a second language to be so fun, and I wish I had known how much I would enjoy it earlier instead of being scared off by my auditory issues. Though the tools available for language self study have really improved in the last couple of years and this would have been a lot more difficult for me if I had tried earlier. It’s also wonderful to be part of a community of language learners. Even if we aren’t studying the same things, I can share resources, fun facts, and "I recognized that!" moments with friends. I'm very glad that I decided to try learning a new language despite my fears, and I’m looking forward to learning so much more.
I have an auditory processing disorder, and I always thought that was an insurmountable barrier to learning a second language. A lot of people I know through Chinese drama fandom have been studying Mandarin, but I never seriously considered it. When a friend mentioned a book called Classical Chinese for Everyone I was interested. I love reading about history and the thought of being able to read Chinese historical documents myself was enticing. So I bought a copy of the book and started slowly working my way through it, and on the way I started to pick up a bit of Mandarin.
It has been extremely fun, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Language study involves learning lots of small things and connecting them into a greater whole, a process that I’ve always enjoyed in other areas like, studying ecology or piecing together world-building as I’m reading a book. I love it when I’m able to connect things and see a larger picture. Classical Chinese is especially good for this because it has a whole writing system where small units are used to create bigger units. Each character is made up of strokes, and then there are radicals, which are generally characters on their own, but are also used to make up more complex characters. The characters can be combined to make words. I also enjoy geeking out about this stuff with friends who are studying Mandarin. The languages are similar enough that a lot of what I’m learning applies to both.
Self directed study is extremely flexible, especially with the various apps that are available now. I can go at my own pace and focus on the things that interest me. For example, I’m working on learning forms of address that are common in historical dramas. I can also make allowances for my auditory processing disorder in a way I never could in a standard class with a set pace. There are times when I get stuck and wish I had another person to ask questions and I sometimes struggle with pacing the various tasks, such as writing practice versus learning more grammar. But for me, the advantages hugely outweigh the disadvantages.
I want to talk briefly about some of the books and apps I’ve been studying with. As I mentioned I have many fandom friends who are studying Mandarin and I found out about all of these resources through recommendations:
Classical Chinese for Everyone: A Guide for Absolute Beginners by Bryan W. Van Norden: the book that started it all! One thing I really like about this book is that all of the readings are actually texts, mostly Analects. I always feel very accomplished when I read them. I enjoy that each chapter also has supplementary material that discuss the philosophical ideas in the reading, various different translations, and bits of historical context. I’m also finding the explanations of the vocabulary and grammar clear and succinct.
Learn to Write Chinese Characters by Johan Björkstén: To help me learn and remember the characters and vocabulary that I’m learning I started writing out each character multiple times. It turns out that I really enjoy writing Chinese characters, and writing the same ones over and over is very soothing. I shared some pictures of my writing on Twitter and friends recommended this book to help me write better. The explanations of how each stroke is made are incredibly helpful. I’ve been slowly working through the exercises in this and my handwriting is improving bit by bit.
Pleco: This app is an English/Mandarin dictionary that I love. You can input in a number of ways pinyin, by writing a character, by typing an English word. Pleco will define words, and pronounce them. It has the stroke order, and will show you the component pieces of a word or character. I use it to look up words I encounter, but also sometimes I just use the browse feature and look at random words for fun
Skritter: This app is focused on learning to read and write Chinese characters. Unlike Pleco, it's not free, but I find it really helpful. It’s like a set of very fancy flash cards, including ones where it shows you the definition and then you write the character on the screen. It will also say each character every time, something that paper flash cards can’t do, that I find very helpful since I have extra trouble associating symbols and sounds. Skritter automatically does spaced repetition which is a learning technique based on recalling things at longer and longer intervals. The app will show the user cards at intervals based on this technique.
Studying Classical Chinese has been a wonderful experience. I never expected studying a second language to be so fun, and I wish I had known how much I would enjoy it earlier instead of being scared off by my auditory issues. Though the tools available for language self study have really improved in the last couple of years and this would have been a lot more difficult for me if I had tried earlier. It’s also wonderful to be part of a community of language learners. Even if we aren’t studying the same things, I can share resources, fun facts, and "I recognized that!" moments with friends. I'm very glad that I decided to try learning a new language despite my fears, and I’m looking forward to learning so much more.
★forestofglory.
Thanks!
Date: 2021-10-20 03:07 pm (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2021-10-20 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-20 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-25 03:56 pm (UTC)It's surprisingly hard to write about my auditory processing disorder sometimes. It's difficult to disentangle what's ADP and what's not.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-09 06:05 pm (UTC)This observation is so interesting, and I very much relate! My mind works this way too -- it's something I enjoy -- but I never consciously pinpointed that that's part of what I like about language learning. It's like, every little bit you learn matters, eventually, somehow, and I really like that.
Pleco and Skritter are great. I have always been a perfectionist/completionist when studying, and tend to over-study, so spaced repetition allows me to sort of "let go" and study more efficiently.
As always, it's really interesting to hear about how your auditory processing affects things! I'm also enjoying self-directed study much more than I ever enjoyed studying languages in classes, and I'm glad there are so many tools/courses/self-study tools now that let people learn in a less rigid fashion.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-15 04:59 pm (UTC)I wasn't sure if Skritter would work for you since it still involves a lot of hand motion but I'm really glad it does!
The flexibility if self study is so great!