Why You Shouldn’t Just Memorize Words When You Learn Mandarin

When most of us think about learning a language, especially one as difficult and complex as Mandarin, we rely on “traditional” language learning techniques. When it comes to learning new words, unfortunately, memorization is the route that most of us traverse.

The problem is memorization is a terrible way to learn Mandarin.

There are problems with this approach that I’d like to explain:

1) You won’t remember.

Words without context will not be remembered. Trying to remember a single word off of a list is like trying to memorize a meaningless string of numbers. If you want to learn Mandarin words effectively, you will have to avoid using this antiquated method.  A long list of words simply won’t be retained in your memory because it lacks context. Ideas that lack context, lack meaning.

2) You only have one form of input.

By learning a word only through its writing you are skipping out on using multiple modalities to learn Mandarin more effectively. The writing will not stay in your brain as well as an image or sound. The brain has a much larger area devoted to images and visual memory.  When you don’t incorporate an image into your learning it will be much harder to learn Mandarin.

3) You are trying to learn too many words.

You will not memorize 300 words from a list. It simply won’t happen and even if you attempt to learn 300 Mandarin words through sheer brute force you won’t remember them.  Your recall will be terrible and you will effectively waste all of your time.  Giant lists of words don’t work. I’ve seen it time and time again with people trying to learn Chinese. The teacher gives you a list of words and expects you to learn them.

How Can I Learn Mandarin More Effectively? Use Flashcards.

Flashcards allow you to take the boring task of memorizing and turn it into a trivia-like game.  Using software like ANKI (a free flashcard program available on Mac and Android), you can learn much more effectively and in a way that ensure you will be able to remember most words. By using flashcards you can avoid all of the three problems I explained above.

• You will remember the words as you are occasionally tested on them.
• You have will have multiple inputs for each Chinese word making it a lot easier to learn Mandarin.
• You can actually try to learn too many Mandarin words by having multiple decks and not getting burnt out.

So the next time your teacher gives you a giant list of words to study, input them into a flashcard program and let your computer assist you in developing an awesome vocabulary.

Why Mistakes Help You Learn Mandarin

Language learning is grueling. It requires hundreds of hours of hard work, diligent practice and even more importantly - accepting your mistakes.  This last part, accepting your mistakes, is something that is pretty difficult for most language learners to do.

We have been taught since childhood to focus on the outcome not the process. In school, teachers and parents emphasize the final grade. Children become myopically focused on that idea and forget that it’s the process that builds mastery; and the process is all about making mistakes.

When it comes to language learning there is one simple formula - more mistakes = more learning opportunities.  This is true for all languages, but especially in learning Mandarin.

Mandarin is a tonal language and if you want to learn Mandarin, you will need to put your ego aside, find a great teacher and start getting corrected every time you open your mouth.

Today I want to share a couple of methods that you can use to learn Mandarin faster by using each mistake as a learning opportunity.

Write Everything Down

Do you honestly think you can remember all your mistakes?

If you say yes, then you are quite adept at deceiving yourself.

The fact is you will make an incredible amount of mistakes while speaking Mandarin; potentially half of the words you start off saying will be imperfect or totally wrong.  If you don’t write your mistakes down, you will forget them and worse - not learn from them.  You have two options for doing this:

•    Enter mistakes in an app called ANKI (flashcard program), it will store a digital “deck” of whatever cards you enter. I have a mistake deck, where I enter in every word I say wrong during lessons. This can be added before or during the lesson.

•    Get a “mistake notepad”. This is a notebook that you use solely for mistakes, not for any other purpose. Keep it small because you’ll want to carry it around with you.

I highly suggest the first option, using ANKI, as it’s both convenient and reliable.  Remember, writing down your mistakes is the first step.
Have the correct attitude

If you want to learn Mandarin, you’ll need the correct attitude when being corrected.  I’ve been a teacher for eight years and I can attest to the fact that most people, regardless of how intelligent they are, hate being corrected.  They may say that they don’t mind; however their body language indicates differently. You will need an open mind and a strong will to be corrected day-in and day-out.

Like I said before, when you start to learn Mandarin almost every word you say will be wrong.  You will have to swallow your pride and accept those mistakes.

Here are a couple of things that will help you:

• Accept every mistake as a learning opportunity
• Don’t say “I understand” when you don’t. Don’t be stupid – ask.
• Let the teacher finish correcting you. Don’t finish their sentence for them.
• Don’t say, “I know, I know”. You made a mistake, accept it.
• Don’t argue with your teacher telling him or her that you did, in fact, use the correct word/pronunciation.

Find a Good Teacher

You won’t be able to learn Mandarin without a good teacher. Learning Chinese isn’t easy and you’ll need a teacher who is both qualified and highly willing to correct every single mistake. This is incredibly important, I can’t stress this enough.  A shy, timid teacher will hurt your language learning. You want one who will absolutely not hesitate to tell you you’re wrong fifteen or twenty times in a lesson.

This can be assessed during the first meeting. If he or she doesn’t correct you multiple times and interrupt your speaking to indicate a mistake, then you should find another teacher.

Remember you are paying him or her to help you learn Mandarin, not simply listen to you use terrible pronunciation and stumble through your reading, writing and speaking.

The Right Attitude Will Help You Learn Mandarin 100X Faster

Having the right attitude and knowing that every mistake is a learning opportunity in disguise is a sure-fire way to hack your language learning career.  This applies not only for learning Mandarin but also for any other language as well. 

Let’s review:

Write everything down. Each unwritten mistake you pass by will be waiting for you in the future. You are undermining your own learning by not addressing these errors immediately.

Have the right attitude.  Let your teacher correct you, be diligent and acknowledge that you made a mistake. Swallow your pride and accept the criticism.

Find a great teacher. There are too many Chinese teachers that simply won’t correct your mistakes. If you want to learn Mandarin and have great pronunciation you will need to find one who will.

For more helpful info, come check me out at www.learnmandarintoday.com