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A Collection of Essay(s) about Language Learning

(compiled on 2019_05_07; FREE DISTRIBUTION)

--by tom7yu

<Essay #1>
~~~~~~~One Pattern Can Make Many information(s)~~~~~~
(2018_01_01)

我爱(爸爸), 我也爱(妈妈) I love (father); I also love (mother).

我爱(哥哥), 我也爱(姐姐) I love (elder brothers); I also love (elder sisters).
我爱(弟弟), 我也爱(妹妹) I love (younger brothers); I also love (younger sisters).
我爱(⾳乐), 我也爱(唱歌) I love (music); I also love (singing).
I love (so and so); I also love (so and so).
See, just one pattern offers 4 different informations.
If you can say one of the 4 sentences without thinking, you can make 3 other sentences (You just need more
phrases, or organic units, to put into changing part.)

One more useful pattern:

没有(⽗⺟), 就没有(我) No (parents), no (me).
没有(太阳), 就没有(彩虹) No (sun), No (rainbow).
没有(努⼒), 就没有(成功) No (efforts), No (success).
没有(震动), 就没有(声⾳) No (vibration), No (sounds).

A language Pattern: (...) is called CHANGING part; the rest is called FIXED part.
Taking advantage of Pattern Sense, you can write/talk fast, accurate, and to the point. Why you need to
practice saying 200 useful examples (mostly, a sentence contains a pattern.) without thinking? This way you
can use this base, containing enough useful patterns, to talk or write by reflex (without thinking) in
communication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Build Up Pattern Base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick 5 useful Chinese sentences first, loop playing #1 sentence at least 50 times, then practice saying it until
you can say it without thinking (even in your dreams). Then move on to #2, #3...#5. Then pick next 5, repeat
exactly the same procedure. Now your base is 10, instead of 5; review the 10 until you can you say all the 10
without thinking. In other words, increase by 5 (until your base is 200); your base is getting bigger. Before
you pick the next 5, always review the old base first. If you can say any of the 200 useful Chinese examples
without thinking, you have very strong foundation of speaking and writing. And you can do the weekly review
on all the 200 as your final base. The 200 base can serve you for the rest of your life. Good luck with
learning.

<Essay #2>
~~Take Advantage of TV News to Improve Both Listening and Reading~~
(2018_08_08_2)

1. As a daily habit, LISTEN to TV news without watching for a while, then check on written content (e.g.
headlines) on TV news. Let listening and reading boost each other.

2. In listening to TV news, copy right back what you just heard on TV news: copying any phrases right back
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is a reinforcement / feedback of your listening (Listening is GROUNDWORK in learning any language). Daily
expanding of *your phrase-base is easy to do (the more of common phrases, the better). How big your
phrase-base is, decides roughly your proficiency on understanding TV news.

3. However busy you are, just do this activity for at least 15 minutes daily (Of course, you can have a day or
two free each week for relaxation). As long as you don't stop this learning activity, you're on the way to
keeping top 2,000 words (in frequency) active in your long-term memory. It's just a matter of time for you
enjoying TV news (or as radio news).

4. Keep and enjoy this daily habit. This is the key to keeping top 2K words active and to improving listening
and reading. This approach is language independent, not just on Chinese TV news. The progress on
understanding TV news (or radio news) is going from 'roughly understood' to 'understood in details' at the
growth speed of your phrase-base.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Your phrase-base: the total number of phrases (spoken / written) you can roughly use so far.

* There could be quite a few web links of 24/7 TV news in a language you're learning; please check online;
please don't ask me for recommendation; your choice is your decision.

* Updates on this article are possible.

<Essay #3>
----CLUE BASE, a powerful leverage-----
(20170707_1)

A good strategy in Chinese-reading: take full advantage of your background knowledge.

~If you are a lover of Zen, read more of the books in Chinese on Zen.
~If you love gardening, read more Chinese books on gardening.
~If you are good at calculus, then read a textbook in Chinese on calculus.
~If you are a parent, why not read more of the Chinese books on parenting?
~If you study the Bible, then additionally study Chinese version of the Bible.
You get the point, don't you? Simultaneously, learning Chinese language and getting to know better the field
you are interested in. Interestingly and not surprisingly, the stronger background knowledge you build up, the
more you will like the Chinese language. A simple yet powerful strategy!

Reading, like listening, is a guessing game. The more clues you have, the higher probability in which you can
guess it right and understand it deeper. Your strong background knowledge is your CLUE BASE, a powerful
leverage.
Not many language learners know this. So, develop strong background knowledge with a subject or a topic,
take full advantage of your expertise, and apply it into a language you're learning. Then you don't start from
ZERO.

One important thing to mention. Chinese characters in newspapers are well diversified (top 2000 characters
easily kept in long-term memory) while the above subject-reading usually is not that diversified. However
both are equally wonderful ways to develop useful reading skills.

<Essay #4>
~~~~~~~POWER of PATTERN SENSE~~~~~~~
(2018_02_08_1)

A big percentage of your output base (the total number of examples you can say/write without thinking; e.g.
the 200-example base) is pattern base (the total number of different patterns, also used without thinking).
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Some people's 200-example base could have 50 different patterns; some 30 different patterns; some 40
different patterns, etc. It is you who choose your own 200-example-sentence base; as long as you love those
200 examples and find them useful to you. Can I have the 300-example base? Of course you can. But you
need much more time to do a weekly review on this bigger base of 300 useful examples; so the 300-example
base can serve you in talking/writing for a lifetime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 没有⾜够的(⽃志),我们不可能(战胜).
mei2 you3 zu2 gou4 de5 (dou4 zhi4), wo3 men5 bu4 ke3 neng2 (zhan4 sheng4)
没有 without
⾜够的 enough
⽃志 fighting spirit
我们 we
不可能 impossible
战胜 win the war
English translation: 'Without enough (fighting spirit), it's impossible for us to (win the war)'.

2) 没有⾜够的(⾷物),我们不可能(度过寒冬).
mei2 you3 zu2 gou4 de5 (shi2 wu4), wo3 men5 bu4 ke3 neng2 (du4 guo4 han2 dong4)

3) 没有⾜够的(资⾦),我们不可能(创⽴新公司).
mei2 you3 zu2 gou4 de5 (zi1 jin1), wo3 men5 bu4 ke3 neng2 (chuang4 li4 xin1 gong1 si1)

4) 没有⾜够的(电⼒),我们不可能(发展⼯业).
mei2 you3 zu2 gou4 de5 (dian4 li4), wo3 men5 bu4 ke3 neng2 (fua1 zhan3 dian4 li4)

5) 没有⾜够的(劳动⼈⼝),我们不可能(振兴经济).
mei2 you3 zu2 gou4 de5 (lao2 dong4 ren2 kou3), wo3 men5 bu4 ke3 neng2 (zhen4 xing1 jing1 ji4)

Traditional Chinese:
1) 沒有⾜夠的(⾾志),我們不可能(戰勝).
2) 沒有⾜夠的(⾷物),我們不可能(度過寒冬).
3) 沒有⾜夠的(資⾦),我們不可能(創⽴新公司).
4) 沒有⾜夠的(電⼒),我們不可能(發展⼯業).
5) 沒有⾜夠的(勞動⼈⼝),我們不可能(振興經濟).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
English translation:
1) Without enough (fighting spirit), it's impossible for us to (win the war).
2) Without enough (food), it's impossible for us to (survive the freezing winter).
3) Without enough (money), it's impossible for us to (create a new company).
4) Without enough (electricity), it's impossible for us to (develop the industries).
5) Without enough (labor), it's impossible for us to (revitalize the economy).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above pattern frame is:
<Chinese> 没有⾜够的(...),我们不可能(...)
<English> Without enough (...), It's impossible for us to (...).
(...)s are the changing parts; the rest is the fixed part, the pattern frame.
If you can say, without thinking, just one of the same-pattern examples, you can create other same-pattern
examples without much trouble. All you need to do is to change the content inside the changing parts,

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leaving the fixed part unchanged, right?

* top 2000 words can offer enough resource to fill in the changing part. That's why output base and input
base together function as a SET, or a PACKAGE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 5 examples share the exact same pattern, but offering 5 different informations. Either of Chinese and
English parts has the FIXED part and the CHANGING parts. The concept of PATTERN SENSE, containining
fixed part/changing parts, also applies to other languages. So pattern sense is language indepentant. Most
importantly, pattern sense gives you the power to say/write
FAST (without thinking), ACCURATE (already tested and proven), and TO THE POINT
(correct/clear/concise).

<Essay #5>
〜〜〜"Usefulness" in Communication in Chinese〜〜〜

A phrase learned is better than a single character learned. A sentence learned is better than a phrase
learned. Spend more time on sentences (good ones) than on single characters. People communicate with
each other in sentences, not in characters. Saying so is not implying that single characters are not important.
Now we are talking on "usefulness" in communication.

~~~中⽂沟通的“有⽤性”~~~ 学到短语优于学到单⼀个字。 学到句⼦优于学到短语。 花更多的时间在句⼦（好

的）少花在单个字。 ⼈们以句⼦相互交流，⽽不是单⼀个字。 这样说并不意味着单⼀个字不重要。 现在我们
在談的是︓沟通中的“有⽤性”。

~~~中⽂溝通的“有⽤性”~~~ 學到短語優於學到單⼀個字。 學到句⼦優於學到短語。 花更多的時間在句⼦（好

的）少花在單個字。 ⼈們以句⼦相互交流，⽽不是單⼀個字。 這樣說並不意味著單⼀個字不重要。 現在我們
在談的是︓溝通中的“有⽤性”。

1* CHARACTERS: 看 kan4(see casually) / 读 du2(study) / ⾒ jian4(meet) / 望 wang4(look) / 盯 ding1(stare

at) / 窺 kui1(peep) / 瞪 deng4(glare at) / 瞧 qiao2(take a look)

2* PHRASES: 看报纸 /读书 /看漫画 /看电影/看⻛景/阅读英⽂报纸/⻅到妳/望天空/盯着我看/偷窥/瞪著我/瞧⼀

瞧 (all about seeing someone/something with subtle differences)

3* SENTENCES:
1)__我每天看报纸.wo3 mei3 tian1 kan4 bao4 zhi3./我每天看報紙. I read newspapers every day.
2)__哥哥爱读书.ge1 ge1 ai4 du2 shu1./哥哥愛讀書. My brother loves reading.
3)__妹妹最爱看漫画.mei4 mei4 zui4 ai4 kan4 man4 hua4./妹妹最愛看漫畫. Sister loves to read comics.
4)__我们⼀起去看电影吧!wo3 men5 yi4 qi3 qu4 kan4 dian4 ying3 ba5!/我們⼀起去看電影吧! Let's go to the
movies!
5)__爸爸没事就上⼭看⻛景.ba4 ba4 mei2 shi4 jiu4 shang4 shan1 kan4 feng1 jing3./爸爸沒事就上⼭看⾵景.
Daddy goes to mountains to look at the scenery whenever he is free.
6)__我有阅读英⽂报纸的习惯.wo3 you3 yue4 du2 ying1 wen2 bao4 zhi3 de5 xi2 guan4./我有閱讀英⽂報紙的
習慣. I have the habit of reading English newspapers.
7)__我终于⻅到妳了.wo3 zhong1 yu2 jian4 dao4 ni3 le5./我終於⾒到妳了. I finally met you.
8)__抬頭望天空.tai2 tou2 wang4 tian1 kong1./抬頭望天空. Look up at the sky.
9)__你为什么盯着我看?ni3 wei4 shen2 me5 ding1 zhe5 wo3 kan4?/你為什麼盯著我看? Why are you staring
at me?
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10)__偷窥别⼈的答案是作弊的⾏为.tou1 kui1 bie2 ren2 de5 da2 an4 shi4 zuo4 bi4 de5 xing2 wei2./偷窺別⼈
的答案是作弊的⾏為. Peeping others' answers is cheating.
11)__她⽣⽓瞪着我.ta1 sheng1 qi4 deng4 zhe5 wo3./她⽣氣瞪著我. She glared at me angrily.
12)__过来瞧⼀瞧.guo4 lai2 qiao2 yi4 qiao2./過來瞧⼀瞧. Come and take a look.

Single characters, phrases, and sentences: sentences are the most useful in communication. As a language
learner, please be always SENTENCE-oriented.
(单字，短语，句⼦︓句⼦在沟通中最有⽤。作为语⾔学习者，请始终以句⼦为导向。)
(單字，短語，句⼦︓句⼦在溝通中最有⽤。作為語⾔學習者，請始終以句⼦為導向。)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*****intonated pinyin & numbered pinyin*****

the numbers that follow letters are (1~5) TONE marks.
我的⾐服破了
wǒ de yī fú pò le = wo3 de5 yi1 fu2 po4 le5/le
我学汉语拼⾳的
wǒ xué hàn yǔ pīn yīn de (tone marks very small) = wo3 xue2 han4 yu3 pin1 yin1 de5/de (tone marks clear)
**********************************************

<Essay #6>
〜〜Right-SOUND-Oriented Way Without Phonetic Symbols and Closed Captioning〜〜
(2017_06_28_3)

The 3 characteristics of a Chinese character: image/sound/meaning.（形⾳义/形⾳義） Image-sound（形⾳/

形⾳） conditioning is prior to image-meaning（形义/形義） conditioning.

In many occasions, kids can decode a rough meaning of the group of characters (image) out of context
(surrounding clues). However, it's not easy to get the right sound of a character by context. That's why
image-sound (right sound) conditioning is necessary and goes first. Phonetic symbols, however, is not
absolutely necessary if you already know the right sound (for example, from a native speaker) of that
character. Most of the time, a non-Chinese-speaking beginner still can't sound characters right using a
phonetic symbol system.

Please keep in mind: just don't over-dependent on any of the phonetic symbol systems. It's worth repeating:
image-sound (right sound) conditioning is prior to image-meaning conditioning. It took me less than half a
year to understand Cantonese 90% in videos without any phonetic symbol systems, without hanging out with
Cantonese-speaking people. Just keep listening to hundreds of videos by Cantonese-speaking people. I
learned Japanese language in the same way. Just keep listening to more and more videos in that language
(e.g. at YouTube) without closed captioning. Listening to more videos or audio files "without close
captioning" is the key to language learning. I learn and use 5 languages using the exactly same approach:
right-SOUND-oriented way without phonetic symbols and closed captioning.

Think about how a young kid acquires a natural language without any phonetic symbols. A baby way is, if
not the best, a very competitive way in language learning. Why so? Because babies are using the right-
SOUND-oriented way without phonetic symbols and closed captioning.

One phonetic symbol system found useful, is only when you need to sound out an unfamiliar character by
yourself, when you type, or when you use phonetic symbols to facilitate reading at the "beginning" stage.

Never mind the frustration in listening to the videos without c.c.

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Don't try to understand it. Keep on listening to the sound without c.c.
Play the videos as background music, if possible. It's just a matter of time: you get it more than 50% or 90%.
Of course, reading and listening can help each other.

*This is very very important: LISTEN much more and READ much more.

Keep listening to the voice/sound by native speakers. (e.g. videos without c.c. or audio files) Learn a
language the baby way. Babies are 24/7 listening. They don't try to understand anything when listening.
Understanding things is a GRADUAL process.
No rush. Have fun.

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