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Chinese sign at the Metro station. Can you read it?
Danyo Pang
September 12, 2022
Hi friends, today I'm going to share and break down a very common and real Chinese sign I saw recently at the metro station.
Being able to read signs in Chinese is very useful since these are the same signs that native speakers interact with every single day. If you want to be like native speakers, you have to consume what they consume.
Below is the 4-step method I use for breaking down real Chinese material for improved comprehension and retention.
Step 1: View original text & try to read as much as you can.
This will gauge your current comprehension and identify gaps in knowledge.
Step 2: Study original text with pinyin + translations.
Look up every word you don't understand. View this on your chrome browser so you can turn on pop-up Chinese definitions whenever you hover over characters. Click on the pinyin below to hear the correct audio pronunciation.
Step 3: Read out loud a third time without pinyin.
Most people stop at the second step. This third repetition will help you consolidate your knowledge further using the power of active recall. Did you get your tones right as you read out loud?
小心 月台 間隙 及 車廂 落差小心 月台 间隙 及 车厢 落差
Beware of platform gap and train carriage drop/step
Step 4: Read the original text again without pinyin + translations.
Did you get your tones right? Were you able to understand it without the pinyin and translations?
👍 Yes - Congrats, you've just read a real sign in Chinese!👎 No - No worries, go back to Step 2 and try again.
This is based on the 4-step method that helped me learn conversational Mandarin in 4 months. It works so well because of the power of repetition and active recall. Reading signs like this significantly improved my overall Chinese reading & confidence and is still a method I use regularly as an advanced learner.
If you implement this into your study routine, I'm confident you will retain more of what you learn and be more confident interacting with real Chinese material.
See you again next week for another real example.
Looking for more real Mandarin learning resources?