phz
秀才
Hey pleco family. This is one of my very few posts, so first of all a few words about myself. Right after that I will describe my idea and form open questions to the community.
I am learning (simplified) Chinese alongside my engineering studies and have started about three years ago. My learning curve was very, very flat at first (enthusiastic mother tongue teacher from northern China but I felt lost since he had no sense for my learning problems). Now I do have a very skilled and patient teacher and I couldn't think of a better one for my needs!! We are focusing on spoken language, are using the swiss book Discover China 1 (in german: China entdecken 1) and write regular vocabulary tests at the end of each unit. I do sort the most important vocabulary (80%) and store these in flashcards. As additional references I have just bought "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar" and do use pleco products for about 100 dollars (most notably Tuttle C-E with lots of explanations and examples as well as the new Outlier Mini with great additions for etymology). My vocabulary size is just about 250 words yet.
Right after waking up this friday an idea came flashing to my mind (which was probably wandering in my subconscious for some weeks). And I have learned to not throw away thoughts like this.
I would like to try a mind-map based approach to re-view already learned vocabulary. I recognize some radicals and patterns regularly but the connection is missing to already learned stuff. I definitely am a visual learner and I see great potential for my personal learning curve.
Has anyone tried mind-maps for re-viewing vocabulary yet? I have thought of (1) a story/word based mind map and especially (2) a radical based mind map. I do have some experience with data analysis and typography but really do want to hear your thoughts first about the concept before taking the efforts! Is radical based learning outdated or could it really help me in my case? Do you maybe have some further tips?
Thank you in advance!
I am learning (simplified) Chinese alongside my engineering studies and have started about three years ago. My learning curve was very, very flat at first (enthusiastic mother tongue teacher from northern China but I felt lost since he had no sense for my learning problems). Now I do have a very skilled and patient teacher and I couldn't think of a better one for my needs!! We are focusing on spoken language, are using the swiss book Discover China 1 (in german: China entdecken 1) and write regular vocabulary tests at the end of each unit. I do sort the most important vocabulary (80%) and store these in flashcards. As additional references I have just bought "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar" and do use pleco products for about 100 dollars (most notably Tuttle C-E with lots of explanations and examples as well as the new Outlier Mini with great additions for etymology). My vocabulary size is just about 250 words yet.
Right after waking up this friday an idea came flashing to my mind (which was probably wandering in my subconscious for some weeks). And I have learned to not throw away thoughts like this.
I would like to try a mind-map based approach to re-view already learned vocabulary. I recognize some radicals and patterns regularly but the connection is missing to already learned stuff. I definitely am a visual learner and I see great potential for my personal learning curve.
Has anyone tried mind-maps for re-viewing vocabulary yet? I have thought of (1) a story/word based mind map and especially (2) a radical based mind map. I do have some experience with data analysis and typography but really do want to hear your thoughts first about the concept before taking the efforts! Is radical based learning outdated or could it really help me in my case? Do you maybe have some further tips?
Thank you in advance!
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