Mandarin I ALESN Class Summary, Insights, Homework: SORRY FOR MY EXTREME DELAY IN UPDATING YOUR BLOG SECTION!

Hi Gang,

I want to apologize sincerely for my extreme delay in updating your blog section this past week. Busy time for me, and I should have stopped what I was doing and typed this entry last weekend. I realize that our next class is tonight, so I am very sorry for my delay.

I will keep this entry brief and to the point...

SUMMARY AND INSIGHTS:

Last week, we reviewed Lesson 2 Dialogue 1's vocabulary and dialogue. We also covered the grammar points and then everyone in class had a chance to break up into "happy happy groups" to do the Language Practice section on pages 48 and 49.

Here is what we covered:

• Vocabulary for the lesson: 21 words, including a proper name. MEMORIZE THESE.
• The dialogue: this is a short dialogue and the vocabulary is excellent for beginning to describe family members, as well as to point out who people are when someone asks you, "Who is that [man, woman, child, etc.]?"
• Grammar Point 1: the possessive particle DE. We covered this during our previous class as well as in my last blog entry. Please review if you need to.
• Grammar Point 2: Measure Words. I pointed out again that the concept of measure words is a very important one to wrap your head around, even if we have so far only learned the one measure word GE for people. Please make sure that you understand THE CONCEPT of measure words. If the idea of what a measure word is and how or why it is used in Chinese is too vague or confusing to you, please review the textbook and google the term, or even better, find a Yo Yo Chinese or other Youtube video explaining measure words and watch one or more times until you understand the purpose of measure words and when they are used. This will be very important for your Mandarin learning process going forward!
• Grammar Point 3: Question Pronouns. We spent a long time discussing THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCY AND PARALLEL STRUCTURE AND WORD ORDER/USAGE BETWEEN ANY "QUESTION WORD QUESTION" (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW, HOW MUCH/HOW MANY) AND ITS MOST LOGICAL ANSWER IN THE FORM OF A COMPLETE STATEMENT CONTAINING ALL OF THE SAME INFORMATION AS THE QUESTION.  

I went on and on about this, and your ability to understand this concept as well as internalize it at the most basic level will allow you to begin to have basic conversations with Chinese speakers without feeling like you are at a loss for words when responding to various questions that your conversation partner might ask you.

 Excerpted from my Cantonese column in this same blog:

...[T]he concept of equivalency and parallel structure/ parallel word order for any Cantonese question and its most logical corresponding answer...

I explained that many beginning students get confused or panic and are at a loss for words when faced with even the most basic [Mandarin] question early on in their studies.  

Oh my god -- how do I answer this?!

Well, there is no reason to be panicked or confused; all you need to do is:

1. Take the exact word order and sentence structure of the question.
2. Make sure you understand the vocabulary of the question, so you know what is being asked of you.
3. Isolate the question word, remove it from the sentence, and replace it with the answer word or words, being sure to keep everything else in the question the same (same exact word order and same exact WORDS).
4. Remove any question sentence final particle and replace it with the appropriate answer sentence final particle, if applicable [more applicable to Cantonese, but occasionally applicable to Mandarin].
5. Change any pronouns as appropriate. (If I ask YOU a question about yourself, you will reply, "I blah blah blah").

• Grammar Point 4: YOU3 in its first usage that we have encountered: the verb TO HAVE. Remember that in Mandarin, you3 is NOT negated with bu4; it is ALWAYS negated with MEI2. YOU3 = to have; MEI2 YOU3 = to not have. MEMORIZE THIS. DO NOT GET IT WRONG AND USE BU4 TO NEGATE YOU3!!!
• LANGUAGE PRACTICE on pages 48-49: Esther was absent last week, so I walked around class, doing my best to answer questions and provide insights during the remainder of class.

We will pick up tonight with a quick review of the material covered last week and then we will start Lesson 2 Dialogue 2: Asking [further questions] about someone's family.

HOMEWORK:

I kind of missed the ball on this one; sorry! If you are reading this before class, please review the material covered last week and please preview Lesson 2 Dialogue 2's vocabulary.

See everyone tonight. Again, sorry for the delay with this blog entry!