Making sense of the chaos
09/20/24 • 21 min
Chinese has many homophones: words that sound the same. And when you are only just entering the intermediate stage and are still not very confident when it comes to the different 'tones', there are even more such homophones. What can the learner do to make sense of the chaos? And, what even is a word in Chinese?
Chinese has many homophones: words that sound the same. And when you are only just entering the intermediate stage and are still not very confident when it comes to the different 'tones', there are even more such homophones. What can the learner do to make sense of the chaos? And, what even is a word in Chinese?
Previous Episode
Chinese, my escape from reality
In this episode I describe how learning Chinese became my treasured escape from reality. I wanted to tell everyone about my new language and also start speaking Chinese with real people, but I was still not very proficient, despite my efforts. Also, I was reluctant to use the language in a professional setting, reflecting on my experience as an exchange student in Denmark when I was learning Danish and Greenlandic (Kalaallisut). Would I be judged speaking a very basic 'baby language' in a professional setting?
Next Episode
The Chinese writing system
In this episode I'm looking at the history of the Chinese writing system and why it is so successful that it is still used today. In my own learning, once I knew enough characters and had built up a basic understanding of how the system worked, I was suddenly able to decipher the words (and characters) I came across for the first time.
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