Language is one of the most complex skills that human beings can acquire. This statement is more accurate about learning the Chinese language for an adult person. Though children have innate abilities, they need social context to learn a language. Adults also can learn a second language quickly with social context and three main actions- […]
Category: Student Learning
Healthy Aging through Learning a New Language in a Better Way
Learning a new language we can reduce the risks of getting some of the most common age-related symptoms and diseases such as memory loss and Alzheimer’s. Even though individuals are living longer it does not mean that they are living with better health and having their needs met. The disease-state of age-related cognitive decline—Alzheimer’s disease […]
New HSK 3.0 is not the perfect guideline for learning Chinese
“Teaching to the test” is a colloquial term for any method of education whose curriculum is heavily focused on preparing students for a standardized test. Teaching to the test is frequently criticized by academics and educators, while its critics argue that students who are simply taught to the test fail to achieve a lasting and […]
Comprehensible Inputs Facilitate Listening and Speaking skills
Language teacher utilize activities that integrate all four skills because they assume that each reinforces the other, and two of them could be facilitated by inputs. These four skills in the following order: Listening: When people are learning a new language they first hear it spoken. Speaking: Eventually, they try to repeat what they hear. […]
Monty’s Algae: How This Simple Analogy Explains the Core Concepts of ALG (Automatic Language Growth)
ALG, short for automatic language growth, might sound like the informal term for a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms called “algae,” but the two have more in common than you might think. Meanwhile, in the TV series “The 100,” Monty’s algae played various roles throughout the seasons, including breeding people in space, repairing hydrofarms in […]
Chinese grammar could be learned without learning
People believe that second language learners need grammar to speak and write, thus almost every language programs have more or less some lectures or training for grammar, and Chinese programs have no exception. That seems a common belief of learning second language. We do not take the position that second language learners need grammar to […]
Learning Chinese Online: Synchronous and Asynchronous
Online learning has changed the way language learners around the world are learning Mandarin. People used to learn Chinese by memorizing and imitating. Nowadays, Chinese learners can learn it at anytime and anywhere. There are two different types of online learning: synchronous and asynchronous. For teachers and student in an asynchronous online mode, teaching and […]
Does Practice Make Perfect? a Chinese Story for learning new languages
“Practice makes perfect.” It would be equal to an Chinese idiom “熟能生巧”, which may be true for piano learners, but is it true for language learners? We don’t see children practice their language, but every one can speak their language(s) in someway. Adult language learners and most of the Asia students in foreign language class […]