Have you ever wished there was a perfect resource to learn Chinese pronunciation, listening, and reading comprehension all at once while still staying engaged and not bored out of your mind?
While watching kid's shows is a great way to practice- admittedly, the 20 minutes of childish content is not always the most bearable to sit through. Reading would be great... if only I could recognize all of the Chinese characters. Why not combine both aspects in a fun and understandable manner?
Introducing: audiobooks.
Before I provide all the benefits of using audiobooks as a resource, let me provide some context. Recently, after sitting through another intolerable 20-minute episode of Octonaughts in Chinese, I resolved to switch to a different alternative. Naturally, I was led back to my childhood classic- Harry Potter. Due to copyright claims, the quest for finding the full movie in Chinese online ended up in failure.
What I did come across, however, was a YouTube Channel called Easy Mandarin with Li who posted an audiobook of Harry Potter chapter 1. And this is where things really set off.
Why use audiobooks?
I'm a big advocate for learning languages engagingly and enjoyably- after all, there's no benefit in trudging through a language drill that you simply can't put your mind to. Stories are by far the
The channel I used showed Chinese and English text on the screen while the audio played in the back. Not all channels will provide this, so I think it would be great to pair the audiobook with the published text so you can follow along while the words are being read. In that way, you can both see the words while hearing them read aloud.
This is not only a great exercise for listening comprehension and hearing the proper pronunciation of words, but you can pick up on many idiomatic phrases as well
While, of course, this would be more suitable for advanced learners since the vocabulary is quite dense, there are many simple novels to follow along with and elementary-level stories.
Links to resources
Happy studying!
~Claire
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