Learn Chinese Through TV and News.. - How to Improve Your Chinese Listening Skills.

After I get back, I'll definitely explain the situation clearly to your father. Hi everyone, I'm Lala. Welcome to Lala's Chinese Class. In today's video, I'd like to talk about, Can watching Chinese TV dramas, movies, and listening to news help you learn Chinese? Well, it really depends on the situation. How many new words do you need to learn in order to understand Chinese TV dramas and movies? Today's video is in Chinese, which you can also use as a listening practice. Alright, then let's get started! Some people really enjoy watching historical dramas. Because in historical dramas, their costumes are very beautiful, and the stories are also very interesting. However, if you are a beginner or intermediate student, You must never learn Chinese from ancient costume dramas. Let's look at an example to compare them. How does classical Chinese in historical dramas differ from everyday spoken Chinese in real life? I actually don't want to drink tea. If you fear me, We'll just chat across the screen. After returning, I will certainly explain the circumstances to your esteemed father. After I get back, I'll definitely explain the situation clearly to your father. My uncle is always a bit of a joker and never takes anything seriously. That makes perfect sense. Still, there's quite a bit of truth in this statement. In historical dramas, to convey an ancient atmosphere and a sense of history, The dialogue contains many vocabulary items and sentence structures from classical Chinese. These words and sentence structures are no longer in use in everyday communication today. If you learn Chinese through classical costume dramas, When you chat with Chinese people, they might find your way of speaking strange. Imagine what it would feel like to chat with someone using English from a Shakespearean play. If you watch Chinese TV dramas because those stories are very interesting, Or in order to understand Chinese culture, You can look at anything you want. However, if you want to learn Chinese through TV dramas and films, I have some important suggestions to give you. First, let's take a look at the difficulty levels of television dramas across different genres. I've found some modern-themed TV dramas. I selected 12 episodes and estimated the vocabulary size of each. Of course, this estimate is still not accurate enough, But overall, a modern-themed television drama episode, The vocabulary size is between 1,200 and 2,000 words. If the theme is a love story, family life, school life, and so on, The vocabulary is easier and more everyday. When it comes to highly specialized topics such as medicine or crime, The vocabulary is much more difficult. Of course, it also depends on the TV drama's speaking speed and whether it includes dialects. But if you're watching a modern urban drama, Most of the time, what you hear is standard Mandarin. Among the TV dramas I have statistically analyzed, the vocabulary size is relatively small. It's easier to compare vocabulary in places with wind and hidden corners. Especially going to a place with wind, The vocabulary is very everyday, and the speaking pace is not fast. Although *The Hidden Corner* is a mystery thriller, However, the vocabulary is more everyday, and the speaking pace is not fast. Moreover, this TV series is truly very good. If you don't understand Chinese TV dramas and movies, 80% of the reason is that your vocabulary is still insufficient. Generally, you need a vocabulary of about 3,000 to 5,000 words. Talent under conditions with subtitles Watch Chinese TV dramas and movies with ease and fluency. Another reason is that you're not accustomed to natural speaking pace. You know, Chinese teachers often speak more slowly. Moreover, the Chinese teacher's pronunciation is very clear. Does that mean my vocabulary isn't that large yet? Watching movies and TV dramas doesn't help either, does it? It depends on the situation. If your level of Chinese is elementary, Or rather, your vocabulary is less than 600 words. Listening to movies and TV shows isn't really a good way for you to practice your listening skills. Because possibly every sentence contains some unfamiliar words you don't know, You haven't learned most of the content. You couldn't possibly understand it either. You'd better listen more to the lessons you've already learned. Or rather, you should often listen to content you can understand. The content you have learned. Listening to the same content over and over again, You'll immediately know what it means as soon as you hear it. If you can persist, This will be of great help to your Chinese. If your level of Chinese is intermediate, Or rather, your vocabulary has reached 1,000 words. You've completed all the basic grammar. I think you should watch more modern lifestyle-themed TV dramas and films. Why is that? First of all, vocabulary, From beginner to intermediate, You need to master at least 1,000 vocabulary words. But from intermediate to advanced, 2,000 words are far from enough. You need to master a large number of new words. In modern life-themed television dramas and films, These are all the common vocabulary you need. Another reason is that, Sometimes you don't understand what Chinese people are saying, It's because you learn from textbooks, You don't understand the real-life interactions of Chinese people. Give an example, If a Chinese person says thank you to you, What will you say? If a Chinese person says sorry to you, What will you say? In television dramas and films, You will find that Chinese people in their daily lives, This might be something you won't learn from textbooks. If your level of Chinese has reached an advanced proficiency, You can watch any genre. You can also watch some historical dramas, To learn more idioms and classical Chinese poetry. But you should pay attention to this, Chinese people in their daily lives, They wouldn't use so many idioms. Listen to the news, watch the news, Can I help you learn Chinese? It depends on the situation. First of all, the Mandarin in the news is naturally very standard. However, for Chinese news, You need to understand two points. First, journalistic language is written language. The language we use in our daily communication is spoken language. In Chinese, The difference between written and spoken language can sometimes be quite great. Let's look at an example. Recently, a man has fallen victim to a series of scams. Subsequently lost over one hundred thousand yuan What on earth is going on here? Recently, a man ran into a scam. I've been deceived several times in a row. Lost over a hundred thousand dollars back and forth. What on earth is going on here? If you use a lot of written language in everyday communication, It sounds like a high-ranking official delivering a speech. That's very strange too. The second is speaking speed. Generally speaking, in everyday communication, Chinese people speak between 180 and 200 Chinese characters per minute. The speed of news reporting is approximately 300 Chinese characters per minute. That's why news is so hard to understand. It's fast, and the language is even more concise. That is to say, You need to understand more information in a short amount of time. Of course, it's very difficult. If you're learning Chinese in order to chat with Chinese people, It's for traveling to and living in China, Then you shouldn't use news to learn Chinese. If your level of Chinese has reached an advanced proficiency, You can often practice your listening skills by listening to the news. Expand your vocabulary. Although watching TV dramas and movies can be helpful for learning Chinese, It can also improve your listening skills. But if your attention is entirely drawn to the story's content, You haven't actively learned. That wouldn't help much either. How can one proactively engage in learning? Below is my suggestion. First of all, you must make sure you fully understand it. So you can watch the subtitles. Also, set a goal for yourself. For example, each episode of a television series, You must learn at least three sentences. When you see a sentence that is useful to you, Pause, read it aloud. Then replay and imitate the character's pronunciation, Say it again. You can replay it twice and imitate him four or five times. You're right, that makes sense. That makes sense. He is right. You're right, that makes sense. You're right, that makes sense. Then, either screen capture or take a photo to save. This way, it will be convenient for you to do it when you have free time. Take a look at your phone's photo album to review. Then, can you start watching the next episode? No, no, no, I think every episode, You should read it once and listen to it twice. The next day, while you're exercising, While driving, or while cooking, Listen to the TV drama I watched yesterday two more times. Since you have already understood the content of the story, Now you would feel, It has become much easier to understand what they are saying. If you watched a movie, You can do it within a week's time, Listen to it every day. You'll immediately know what they're talking about as soon as you hear it. When we watch movies and television series, You can choose different speeds. But I suggest you shouldn't always listen to very slow Chinese. For example, 0.5x speed has already disrupted the natural rhythm of speech. Actually, it might not necessarily help you understand either. You can imitate while doing it, At 0.8x or 0.75x speed, Listen to the pronunciation of each word, Then just listen at a normal speed. That concludes today's entire content. Finally, I'm going to test you. You're right; that makes sense. What does this sentence mean? Actually, in today's video, You've already heard this sentence eight times. Therefore, to improve your listening skills, Repeating listening is very important. Not only listening repeatedly within a single day, You must try your best to do it within a week, Within a month, Give yourself multiple opportunities to repeatedly listen to the same content. If you can persist for three months, You will then be able to see obvious progress. You can also watch today's video As a listening practice, Listen to it several times. Finally, thank you for watching this video. I hope it helps you. Then, see you next time. Thank you, bye-bye.