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One of the most rewarding parts of running this podcast and creating Mandarin-learning content is receiving messages from learners whose lives have been changed in profound ways after taking our learning advice.
Recently this podcast has featured several of these inspiring stories, and today’s episode features another one.
A few weeks ago, Peak Mandarin Co-founder Will Hart and I received an email from a Pharmacy student based in Liverpool called Simon Griffiths.
Simon had just finished reading my eBook, Lessons from a Chinese Learning Phenomenon - in which I unpack Chinese learning phenomenon, Will Hart’s, incredible story of Mandarin mastery - and wanted to get in touch to express his gratitude.
After reading Simon’s email, Will and I immediately reached out to him, asking if he’d be interested in recording a podcast in Chinese about his inspiring story.
So on today’s episode, we hear Simon tell his story in his own Mandarin words, including his advice on how to get hooked on Chinese learning.
As usual, if you like this podcast please don’t forget to hit the subscribe button on your favoured podcast provider. And if you’re interested in recording your own podcast in Chinese please get in touch by emailing info@peakmandarin.com and I’ll be happy to support you through the process.
Chinese Transcript
大家好，我是塞恩，英文名字叫Simon，我来自威尔士的一个小城市叫Holyhead，我今年二十一岁 然后我在利物浦读书，我的专业是药学，我学中文也学了快两年。
我学习中文的原因，主要是因为有一天，我跟我家人在散步的时候 我们遇到了我妈妈
的朋友。我看到她的儿子在那里跟他的中国朋友说中文。那时候我就觉得能够说一门
外语真的非常厉害，不仅如此，这还可以让我们跟处在不同的文化中的人交流。所以
从那以后我就决定了要学中文。
现在，我想跟大家分享一下我学习中文最棒的诀窍。对于我来说，如果你想很快进步
的话，你可以先学习怎么喜欢上学习中文。为什么呢？以我的经验来看，如果学习一
门外语这件事是被迫的话 ，可能我们会觉得学习这个语言算是一个任务，这样的话，
我们经常会逃避学习这个语言，对吧。
举个例子，在威尔士，从小学到高中我们都必须学习威尔士语。虽然我学了这么久，但是我直到现在还不会讲流利的威尔士语。这是因为在学校里，我就讨厌学威尔士语，而且我觉得它很无聊。所以除了在学校里，我基本上不怎么花什么时间去学它。
那我们到底怎么样才能喜欢上学习中文呢？首先你可以下载几个外语交流的软件来结
交一些中国朋友，比如说HelloTalk或者Tandem，因为你交到的朋友可以让你有更多动力去学习中文，他们也可以教你非常多有关中文和中国的东西。
而且你可以多看中文的媒体，比如中文电视剧啊、歌曲啊、电影啊、播客啊。你还可以下载中国的社交软件，比如说小红书或者bilibili。因为这个方法，我每次学中文的时候，会感觉它是一个娱乐项目。
除了让自己喜欢上学习中文，我个人觉得最有用的方法是用Anki积累例句。我刚刚开
始学中文的时候，我每天都跟HelloTalk的语伴发消息，然后如果我看不懂，我就会把
这个句子或汉字加到我的备忘录里去。可是，过了一段时间，我就忘了很多词汇。这
是因为我没有花足够多的时间去复习这些生词。所以开始用Anki之后，就发现我进步
变快了，因为这个软件能够更好地帮助我进行复习。所以如果能够掌握这个方法的话
，你的进步一定会很快。
对我来说，我学习中文最好的收获是，有一天，我在逛公园的时候，偶然遇到了一个
会说中文的人。之后他跟我一起出去玩儿，然后那天一整天我们都在说中文。那时候
我只学了中文大概十个月，却能够跟他用中文聊天。那时我明明不会说非常流利的中
文，但是我却已经可以表达自己所有的看法，并且能够听懂百分之九十左右。
在我学习中文的过程中，遇到最难的方面肯定是声调。第一次跟我的中国朋友见面去
练习口语的时候，她根本听不懂我在说什么，我也让她非常的困惑。她听不懂的原因
是因为，那个时候我的声调真的是一塌糊涂。那我是怎么克服这个困难的呢？
是因为从那以后我发现了一个叫“何威”Will Hart的油管频道，然后就用了他所有的学习方法，比如说怎么练习声调和发音。我强烈推荐大家去看看何威的频道，因为这些学习方法对大家肯定有帮助。
好，这个播客就到这儿了，如果大家有什么问题， 你可以在imlearningmandarin.com上留言，下次再见。
Chinese Transcript
Hello everyone, I’m Sion, my English name is Simon. I come from a small town in Wales called Holyhead. I am 21 years old and studying Pharmacy in Liverpool. I have been learning Chinese for almost two years now.
The main reason I started learning Chinese is that one day, while I was walking with my family, we met a friend of my mom. I saw her son speaking Chinese with his Chinese friend. At that moment, I thought being able to speak a foreign language is really impressive. Moreover, it allows us to communicate with people from different cultures. So from that moment, I decided to learn Chinese.
Now, I would like to share with you my best tips for learning Chinese. For me, if you want to improve quickly, you should first learn how to enjoy studying Chinese. Why? From my experience, if learning a foreign language feels like a chore, we often avoid studying it.
For example, in Wales, we are required to learn Welsh from primary school to high school. Although I studied it for so long, I still can’t speak fluent Welsh. This is because I hated learning Welsh in school and found it boring. So, outside of school, I hardly spent any time on it.
So how can we learn to enjoy studying Chinese? Firstly, you can download some language exchange apps to make Chinese friends, such as HelloTalk or Tandem. Making friends can give you more motivation to study Chinese, and they can teach you a lot about the language and culture.
Additionally, you can consume more Chinese media, like TV shows, songs, movies, and podcasts. You can also download Chinese social media apps like Xiaohongshu or Bilibili. Using this method, every time I study Chinese, it feels like entertainment.
Apart from finding joy in learning Chinese, I personally find using Anki to accumulate example sentences very effective. When I first started learning Chinese, I used to send messages to my language partners on HelloTalk daily. If I didn’t understand something, I would add the sentence or character to my notes.
However, after some time, I forgot many words because I didn’t spend enough time reviewing them. After starting to use Anki, I noticed my progress sped up because the app helps me review better. If you can master this method, your progress will be fast.
For me, the best reward from learning Chinese was one day when I was walking in a park and I met a Chinese-speaking person. We hung out together and spoke Chinese the whole day. At that time, I had only studied Chinese for about ten months, yet I could chat with him in Chinese. Although I wasn’t very fluent, I could express all my thoughts and understand about 90% of what he said.
The most challenging aspect of learning Chinese for me has definitely been the tones. The first time I met my Chinese friend to practice speaking, she couldn’t understand what I was saying at all and was very confused. The reason she couldn’t understand was that my tones were a complete mess. How did I overcome this difficulty?
I found a YouTube channel called “Will Hart,” and I used all his learning methods, like how to practice tones and pronunciation. I highly recommend everyone check out Will Hart’s channel because these methods will definitely help.
Alright, that’s the end of this podcast. If you have any questions, you can leave a message on imlearningmandarin.com. See you next time.