Reflecting on my learning and fine-tuning my learning approach
Send a text I look at how Chinese is different from the other languages I speak, and how I was dealing with this difficulty. Also, after the first few weeks of learning Chinese, I noticed that I was m...
12 Sep 202421min
Do we really need to learn explicit grammar rules?
Send a text Children learn their first language without looking up any grammar rules, so why can't adults do the same? In this episode look at how the grammars of the world's languages differ. Having ...
10 Sep 202437min
Finding the right method to learn Chinese
Send a text Once I had decided to learn Chinese, I needed to find the right method to do so. In this episode I describe my thought-process and why started with an app that was entirely in Chinese, wit...
8 Sep 202426min
What is Chinese and is it difficult to learn?
Send a text In this episode I look at what the term 'Chinese' refers to. Mandarin? Cantonese? Why are there so many different terms for Chinese in Chinese itself? I try to investigate whether Chinese ...
6 Sep 202410min
Do age and talent affect language learning?
Send a text Would a 49-year-old even be able to learn a new language? Spoiler alter: yes! But why are people different in their language-learning success? What affects language learning? In this episo...
4 Sep 202422min
Introduction: why I started learning Chinese
Send a text Hi, I’m Jeanette Sakel and I’m a professor of Language and Linguistics. I’m an avid language learner... or at least used to be, until I settled into a permanent teaching post, had a kid an...
2 Sep 202415min
