It's less than twenty years since we purchased our first computer, and I did not start using email until 1996. I acquired computer literacy slowly and painfully, and only because I needed digital technology to function as an academic. I still take notes with a ballpoint pen, and for years, I taught with a chalk board, until I saw how well students responded to powerpoint. I do not consider myself "techy" though I work with a spreadsheet and post to a blog.
Therefore, I did not think I would need electronic media to learn Chinese. I have some books, and Chinese is all around me. But my progress was often slow. It takes so much time to write characters, or even to use Chinese software. Then, today Joe showed me some Chinese learning software he'd found on CRI (China Radio International). It is inguistically excellent, engaging, entertaining and complete. Check it out:
I made a lot of progress at my Chinese lesson today, and the experience gave me pause. For if I, who was raised in an era of pens and notebooks find it so much easier to learn with digital technology, it must be even more important to kids growing up now. Yet schools are notoriously low tech places.
Above: A dragon. Learning Chinese is like taming one.
3 comments:
There was an advertisement on TV yesterday for Rosetta Stone. It touted the way you could learn Chinese so quickly and effectively. The guy in the commercial was wearing headphones to listen to the correct pronunciation of the words and such. When I went out to eat, I talked to "E" or "Yee." She is the college student that came to Sunday School but now works 7 days per week at the China Buffet. She told me that the number 8 was so lucky that they are starting the Olympics on 8-8-8 at 8 O'Clock, 8 minutes. I asked her why 8 was so lucky and she said that 8 made you rich. I enjoyed my conversation with her and asked her back to Sunday School.
I bought my first computer in 1981.. have been hooked on digital ever since...
I'm too tight to invest in Rosetta Stone, Bo. Honestly, the free programs available online are excellent, at least for Chinese. Actually, though, I don't think languages are learned from computer programs. You learn them from people.
If you see Yi again, tell her I said "Hi."
Post a Comment