Ebook How to Learn Chinese

[zhouhaochen]

The FREE Ebook "The Ultimate Guidebook to Learning Mandarin Chinese" is out. Advice from 10 Chinese language learners on how to learn Mandarin. Not surprisingly, there is no magic way to learn Chinese "within a few months" (Benny Lewis is one of the authors though) but how you learn it makes a big difference on how fast you get to fluency. From how to tackle tones, learn Grammar to immersion advice and tips on how to have fun while learning the language, it gives you first hand experiences from people who actually did.

It is most suitable for beginners to beginner-intermediate level students who want to start learning Chinese faster.

The Ebook has so far been very well reviewed on the internet, but if anyone feels like writing on their experiences/thoughts on the Ebook on here too that would most welcome.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Wanda Kaishin
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[Wanda Kaishin]

I won't give this a full review as I'm not fond of products that endorse Benny Lewis.

All I read was the first section, on tones. I found his description on how to use a pinyin table to get familiar with pinyin helpful. The other information didn't seem as useful. The verbal description of tones was poor, and the whole treatment of tones was very shallow imo.

[takibari]

Hello! Sorry, first time to hear about Benny Lewis. Who is he? Perhaps there are other people out here who wish to learn Mandarin and might be curious as well. Of course, his name is just a google away. But I think an opinion from forum members will be more enlightening (haha, sorry - I'm sensing there's an opinion waiting to come out somewhere (why to stay away from his products?).. OR I could be wrong. in which case, just ignore this reply. Promise, I won't get offended if this is ignored, hehe..

 

[Wanda Kaishin]

Hello! Sorry, first time to hear about Benny Lewis. Who is he? Perhaps there are other people out here who wish to learn Mandarin and might be curious as well. Of course, his name is just a google away. But I think an opinion from forum members will be more enlightening (haha, sorry - I'm sensing there's an opinion waiting to come out somewhere (why to stay away from his products?).. OR I could be wrong. in which case, just ignore this reply. Promise, I won't get offended if this is ignored, hehe..

 

You're in luck! Anna started a thread about him here.

[takibari]

All right, thanks. I'll go check it out. I just sense that he's a name to watch out for or should I say stay clear from.

[zhouhaochen]

I won't give this a full review as I'm not fond of products that endorse Benny Lewis.

All I read was the first section, on tones. I found his description on how to use a pinyin table to get familiar with pinyin helpful. The other information didn't seem as useful. The verbal description of tones was poor, and the whole treatment of tones was very shallow imo.

There are a lot of different opinions about Benny Lewis, but while you might have different opinions about how he markets himself on the internet, he is actually quite a serious language learner who did pretty well with learning Chinese.

Thanks for the praise for the pinyin tables. The aim of the book is to explain how to learn Chinese (not a text book that explains grammar, tones etc.) from the perspective and experiences of different people who have done it. It is not an endorsement of any specific person, though everyone who contributed to it has a lot of experience learning languages in general, Chinese in particular and in the editors opinion (that would be me) valid and useful thoughts about the how to learn Chinese (as Benny Lewis does).

[Wanda Kaishin]

There are a lot of different opinions about Benny Lewis, but while you might have different opinions about how he markets himself on the internet, he is actually quite a serious language learner who did pretty well with learning Chinese.

Is A2 in 900 hours pretty well?

[zhouhaochen]

Not sure how many hours he studied but I spoke with him in Chinese just after he finished his 3 months course and he could hold a normal conversation, had good tones and felt clearly at ease communicating in Chinese. Obviously not fluent (but higher than A2 - I would say between B1 and B2 probably) but for 3 months not a bad result.

[Wanda Kaishin]

he could hold a normal conversation, had good tones and felt clearly at ease communicating in Chinese

So much better than his videos then? 

Edited November 23, 2015 by Wanda Kaishin

[zhouhaochen]

I didn't watch any of his videos, so cant compare, but we did speak in Mandarin for more than an hour. For sure better than A2.

That was a few years ago though, so probably he is at a lower level by now.

[Wanda Kaishin]

I didn't watch any of his videos, so cant compare, but we did speak in Mandarin for more than an hour. For sure better than A2.

That was a few years ago though, so probably he is at a lower level by now.

I'll take your word for it.

Here's what my opinion is based on. His videos show he's at A2 with bad tones imo. I was surprised that his teacher rated him at B1 with good tones; but she did qualify it by saying he could pass the HSK3 spoken test. I'm not familiar with the test, but I've heard many say that it's not B1. 

Anyway, he claimed to be studying 10 hours a day, so I think even reaching B1 in that amount of time isn't unusual. At least not for a world famous polyglot who claims his methods are superior. In fact I would say that his level after 3 months was pretty good, but for 900 hours it was below average. As I've said before, if you are a beginner who isn't familiar with language learning, or if you need encouragement, then you might find Benny useful. For others, not so much.

[zhouhaochen]

Yes, HSK 3 is not really B1. The Chinese government says it is, but that is more propaganda than reality and aimed at showing that there are more proficient Chinese learners than there really are.

I have seen some students go further than him in three months, but only in complete immersion programs and especially with people studying at Chinese universities, many people will take more than a year to go to the same level (which is to be expected, with classes of 15 people, foreign and Chinese students systematically separated to avoid mingling and a rote memorization focused teaching approach). So he didn't do anything unheard of or unique, but he did pretty well (in some areas very well) in Chinese when resources and time are considered and combined with his experiences of learning other languages he is a person who's advice on how to learn Chinese I would (and do) take seriously.

Anyways, he is just one of 10 authors in the how to learn Chinese Ebook , so there is a variety of opinions, most of it from people who learned Mandarin up to fluency. There is no "one true way" to learn Chinese (or any other language), it has to fit each persons situation, time, resources etc. and the Ebook is an attempt (and I think quite a good one) to combine and show different approaches suitable for different people in different situations.

[BWL]

I've met Benny personally and I must say that despite whatever criticism that may be levelled against him as a person, his methods seem to work, at least for some language learners. I do agree that while his methods are good for acquiring new vocabulary (and that the pinyin table is a good learners' guide) but his description of Mandarin pronunciation and tones is indeed lacking especially for new learners who are completely unfamiliar with Chinese dialects.