{"id":12024,"date":"2019-09-07T05:53:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-07T05:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/?p=12024"},"modified":"2024-05-12T09:51:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T09:51:55","slug":"how-chinese-tv-can-become-your-chinese-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/how-chinese-tv-can-become-your-chinese-teacher.html","title":{"rendered":"Learning Through the Screen: How Chinese TV can Become Your Chinese Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No matter how much I love learning Chinese, studying from a textbook can start to get boring after awhile. While the textbook\u2019s explanations are clear, sometimes I just need to see a word used in a different context to gain a clear understanding of it. One thing that helps me to overcome these difficulties while continuing to improve my Chinese is watching Chinese TV shows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Picture taken from Unsplash.com, woman sitting on bed with Macbook on lap, Victoria Heath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of\ncourse, this idea isn\u2019t completely unheard of and is actually a relatively\ncommon practice amongst many language learners. Coming from someone\nwho enjoyed watching Chinese TV shows in her free time, it isn\u2019t as simple as\njust watching TV. There is a bit of planning and work that must happen for it\nto actually improve your Chinese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis best to choose the right TV show – one that uses vocabulary that is\nappropriate for your level – and to use the right method, depending on what you\nwant to achieve. Chinese TV shows can help improve your Chinese listening,\nspeaking, reading and vocabulary if used appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis article, we introduce how you can use Chinese TV shows to improve\ndifferent areas of your Chinese learning.<\/p>\n\n\n

Listening<\/h2>\n\n\n

Practicing listening can be quite\ndifficult, especially considering the many dialects and accents that you can\nencounter when talking to native Chinese speaker. When practicing listening\nwith strictly audio-based content, speed, accent, and lack of vocabulary all\nbecome obstacles to understanding and render the whole process inefficient and\nboring. The added visual aspect of TV shows helps to solve this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\npractice listening while watching TV shows, there are just a few things that\nyou need to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First<\/strong>, I would recommend using a TV show\nthat you have already seen and understood, or at the very least, one that you\nare familiar with. When you already understand what is happening, it makes it\neasier to concentrate on what you are hearing and infer what the characters are\nsaying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second<\/strong>, I recommend excluding any kind of\nsubtitles from the show when you are watching it. While Chinese subtitles may\nseem helpful, they become a crutch for practicing your listening. It is\nimportant for you to get used to only relying on your ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last<\/strong>, make sure to stay focused. When\nre-watching a TV show, it can become easy to lose focus and stop paying full\nattention to the audio. So, make sure to pay consistent attention, even when\nthe characters may be saying things you don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfact that TV shows are an audio-visual resource makes them more conducive to\nbuilding your auditory capabilities. As humans, we have a natural ability to\ngain meaning from body movements and facial expressions, so having those added\nhints while practicing makes for a more natural and enjoyable process.<\/p>\n\n\n

Speaking and Pronunciation<\/h2>\n\n\n

The optimal way to improve one\u2019s\nChinese speaking ability is to speak to a native Chinese speaker, but that does\nnot mean there\u2019s no way for you to practice by yourself. Using TV shows, you\ncan practice your speaking and pronunciation without any added pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\npractice speaking, it is very important to use a TV show that contains\nvocabulary that is at your level. I would also recommend watching with Chinese\nsubtitles on since that would make it easier to be sure of what is being said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practicing speaking and pronunciation with TV shows is very easy. You simply watch the show and when you hear a sentence you understand, repeat that sentence out loud. Be sure to mimic the character\u2019s speech and intonation as best as you can. It may feel silly to do this at first, but as you keep doing it, you will become more familiar with Chinese speech patterns and tones<\/a>, and they will come out more naturally the next time you actually speak. It goes without saying that this practice should be done in a place where you will not disturb others and will feel comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep\nin mind that this is not a replacement for your conversation practice, it is\nsimply a way for you to improve your pronunciation and get more familiar with\nspeaking in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n

Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n

Similar to speaking, reading is\nbetter practiced with more appropriate resources like books, articles and other\nsuch materials. The language that can be read from Chinese TV shows is\ngenerally colloquial spoken language, which differs from that used in written\nresources. However, using TV shows to practice reading can help you get better\nat recognizing Chinese characters at a faster rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\npractice reading with Chinese TV shows, you must simply watch a show with\nChinese subtitles which shouldn\u2019t be too difficult since practically all\nChinese audio-visual media include subtitles. As you are watching, be sure to\nread the subtitles while paying attention to the audio. This will train your\nbrain to associate the sound and meaning of the characters with their\nappearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practicing\nreading with simpler more stimulating material like TV shows allows the\ntransition into reading longer written texts to be much smoother.<\/p>\n\n\n

Vocabulary<\/h2>\n\n\n

Acting as the building blocks of\nlanguage, vocabulary can be acquired via practically every language resource.\nOf course, this also includes TV programs, but I would argue that TV media is one\nof the best resources to acquire vocabulary from. The audio-visual properties\nof the medium allow learners to receive visual, auditory and contextual\nreferences for every word they encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nwatching a TV show in Chinese, you are likely to come across many unknown words.\nThere are a variety of practical ways to deal with such an abundance of\nvocabulary. I would like to offer a disclaimer that the method written below is\none that I personally use and is not the only way to learn vocabulary from\nChinese shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First<\/strong>, have a pen\/pencil and notepad with\nyou as you watch the show. Make sure that you have chosen a show that is\nappropriate for your level and only contains Chinese subtitles that you have\nalready seen. This allows for maximum clarity with minimal distraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then<\/strong>, enjoy the show while looking out\nfor sentences where you understand all but one or two words. When you encounter\nsuch a sentence, write it down and look up the words you don\u2019t understand.\nDoing it this way ensures that you understand the meaning of the context in and\nthe usage of the new words, and increases the likelihood that you\u2019ll remember them.\nIt also allows you to enjoy the experience more rather than pausing the video\nat every second to write down words that you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\nthe end of an episode, you\u2019ll surely have a whole list of new words and example\nsentences noted down. Whether you choose to further study those words is\ncompletely up to you, but the process alone is already a good way to expand\nyour vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, having taken all of\nthis in, I\u2019m sure that your approach to watching Chinese audio-visual media\nwill be at least a little bit different. While Chinese TV shows may be a\nversatile and practical tool for your Chinese learning journey, it\u2019s important\nto keep in mind that the key point of using them for language learning is to\nhave fun in the process. The methods listed above should be taken as\ninformative guidelines of how a Chinese show can help you to improve your\nChinese skills rather than strict rules to follow whenever you sit down to\nenjoy your favourite show. Just remember to have fun as you explore Chinese\nlanguage and culture through television!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a list of suggestions of Chinese TV shows (click here<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many other Chinese learning resources (click here<\/a>) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter how much I love learning Chinese, studying from a textbook can start to get boring after awhile. While the textbook\u2019s explanations are clear, sometimes I just need to see a word used in a different context to gain a clear understanding of it. 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