I’m working through the https://refold.la/roadmap, after probably a few years of duolingo.
I got an anki deck with 40k cards, ordered by most used words, and I’m using gpt to get more context and uses about the words I don’t fully understand.
Something like:
I’ll type in mandarin words I don’t know, please give me a short explanation, a few examples in different structures where it is commonly used, some alternatives and synonyms, antonyms, and common mistakes to avoid when using it.
This added context helps just so much!
Still got a long way to go to be able to listen, but I know my brain works well with written vocabulary first. An then lots of reading. So I’m trying to get to a reasonable reading level.
Anyway! What’s interesting on your learning setup?!
Could you explain how you use gpt in more detail?
I use:
- www.coursera.org HSK courses.
- Ankidroid for anki decks.
- https://chinese.littlefox.com/ for a lot of children’s stories and exercises
- http://www.thepurelanguage.com/freepinyintranslation.aspx Good for looking up words phonetically if I hear something and can get the tones right.
Start a new chat and prompt:
I’ll type in mandarin words I don’t know, please give me a short explanation, a few examples in different structures where it is commonly used, some alternatives and synonyms, antonyms, common mistakes to avoid when using it, and a short summary of the individual characters, when more than a single character is present.
It will confirm and wait for words. Then when I get something I don’t know in anki, I type it in. So just a single message with 里, for example.
I find the answer useful:
Word: 里 (lǐ)
Explanation: "里" can have multiple meanings depending on the context. It commonly means "inside" or "within." It is also used as a unit of distance (approximately half a kilometer) in the Chinese system. Examples: Location: 我们家离公司很近，只有五里路。(Wǒmen jiā lí gōngsī hěn jìn, zhǐ yǒu wǔ lǐ lù.) - Our house is very close to the company, only five li (distance). Inside: 请把钥匙放里面。(Qǐng bǎ yàoshi fàng lǐmiàn.) - Please put the keys inside. Common Structures: 里 + [Location/Distance] 在里面 (zài lǐmiàn) - inside Alternatives/Synonyms: 内部 (nèibù) - interior 内面 (nèimiàn) - inside Antonyms: 外面 (wàimiàn) - outside 外部 (wàibù) - exterior Common Mistakes: Confusing with other meanings, like the unit of distance. Summary of Characters: 里 is composed of two characters: 田 (tián) meaning "field" and 里 (lǐ) meaning "village" or "inside." So, you can think of 里 as representing a village within a field, indicating an enclosed space or inside a certain area.That’s handy. Is there a way of knowing whether it makes mistakes?
For example, at the bottom it says 里 = 田 + 里
That seems wrong to me (maybe I’m missing something). If so, how do you spot the errors that aren’t clear (through logic)?
That section specifically works much better for two characters, like 这里. For composite characters it is mostly nonsense, but feels generally easy to spot, just like you did.
Oh, and I also use pleco, the dictionary app to crosscheck when I didn’t fully trust it. But I feel gpt gives me the most “common” uses, instead of a full precise definition.