Welcome to this blog, a journey in one person's attempts to master a new language. My name is Mark Pentleton and I have set myself a challenge: to learn Mandarin Chinese. My language-learning career began in 1983 when, as an 11 year-old I started French at secondary school. Since then I've formally studied Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, and in later life picked up some German, Norwegian, Catalan and most recently Japanese.
I work in the west of Scotland as the coordinator of the PiE project, a modern languages and technology project running currently in 29 secondary schools. Through this project and in my previous life as a teacher in the south side of Glasgow I've seen more and more possibilities develop for language-learning using online resources.
So... I've decided to make this a linguistic and technical challenge: I'm actually challenging myself to learn Mandarin Chinese only using technology-based resources. That means no books, no audio cds, no teacher or class. Only what I can find online!
Maybe I should be a bit more specific. And I should also admit to having bought one book: the Oxford Chinese Minidictionary which is quite a nice wee dictionary! But as far as course books etc. are concerned, there won't be any Teach Yourself Chinese or anything like that for me. I'll be relying on the various materials I can find via the internet, etc. I may permit myself to download some audio from the iTunes Music Store, but other than that I think I can probably find everything I need on the various websites I've already come across.
Of course, learning a language requires someone to speak to! So, if you're a native Mandarin speaker, or indeed a learner like me, then get in touch via the comments on this blog. Most of all, if you want to learn along with me then let me know. I'll be posting various things I prepare for myself on this blog, eg. virtual flashcards for my iPod I prepare to help me get to grips with learning Chinese characters, and maybe even some podcasts so that someone out there in this virtual world can help me with my pronunciation! One of the main tools I'll be using is the ChinesePod podcast, and that's certainly where I'm starting.
I'll also post reviews of websites, podcasts, and other materials I come across, and hopefully these will be of interest to other learners out there.
So, in advance I'll say 谢谢, or xiè xie, which I've already learned is "thank you". Incidentally, if you can't read the Chinese characters, or indeed the extended Roman alphabet characters to mark the tones of Chinese then I've found that wikipedia does a good job of explaining how to set up your computer to do just that.
I'll do my best to keep posting regularly - it's not always possible cos things are very busy. Please do give me some feedback and feel free to join with me and learn a bit of Mandarin Chinese!
well done,Mark.It's a very good start to learn Mandarin.I'm pleased you found out an effective and practical way to learn Mandarin. Speaking of Greeting in Chinese, there are many ways of greeting. The most common one is 你好 Nǐ hǎo!And in China, people will start with their conversation in 你吃过了吗？（Nǐ chī guò le ma?)have you eaten? not very often use Nǐ hǎo ma? between Chinese.
BTW, I like your blog, I will be happy to leave comments when visiting. Keep going, Mark, you did excellent work!
Fan
Posted by: 林凡 FAN LIN | Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 02:40 PM
I think you are setting yourself some strange restrictions, a bit like the guy who tried to survive for a month starting with an empty house, a phone and a credit card, just to prove a point. To me, pure e-learning is pointless, but Blended Learning is very valuable, but good luck. Get some books!
Posted by: Matt Whyndham | Monday, May 22, 2006 at 02:21 PM
Fair comment, Matt, and I have admitted elsewhere to having bought a dictionary. The thing is, in my own job I'm committed to the promotion of language learning through innovative methods, many including the use of ICT, and although this project is a personal challenge, in a sense it's also a professional investigation too. More info about the project I run can be found at http://www.pie.org.uk/whatispie.asp if you're interested.
My ultimate goal is to develop my confidence in Chinese, and as I'm going to be involved in running Chinese classes for my students next term I'll be taking advantage of any opportunity which comes my way. In the meantime i'll see how I get on.
Posted by: mpentleton | Monday, May 22, 2006 at 08:27 PM
Hi Mark,
My aims are very similar, although I happy to use other resources if I come across them, my main focus is online.
Key points for me being that I take no formal lessons, have no teacher and a follow no strict syallbus. Mostly because of time, money and opportunity restrictions. Good luck!
Posted by: Chris | Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:37 PM
I think tones of mandarin pronunciation is the most difficult part for me. My teacher in Beijing Chinese School spent about 1 week explaining to me. After almost 2 months, I finally can pronounce correctly many words. To learn Chinese and mandarin, grammar is so easy. I always watch CLTV to practice listening and practice oral Chinese with volunteers on Voice Connecting China. I Love Chinese is also a good magazine to learn Chinese culture.
Posted by: Teeya Door | Sunday, July 01, 2007 at 09:08 AM
I am also learning Chinese language by a special and innovative service in Beijing Chinese School ( http://www.hellomandarin.com ) . If you have any questions about learning Chinese, you can get a private study adviser ( http://www.hellomandarin.com/program/program.html )
Posted by: Teeya Door | Sunday, July 01, 2007 at 09:09 AM
你好！
hi，I'm a Chinese girl. I just search the word "你好" on the internet. And then I find your blog. It is so interesting.
What about your Chinese-language-learning? Well, learning a foreign language is not a easy thing. We chinese students began to learn English when we were 10 or 11. But not everyone can master it well.I'm so admir you after reading your blog. Keep going! 加油哦！坚持就是胜利！
（Forgive my poor English~）
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