Friday, April 21, 2017

Learn Chinese with Duolingu Flashcards


Problem
How do you learn Chinese?
Answers
At last Duolingo, from which I have been learning German and Italian, has started Chinese. I just discovered the Duolingo flashcards.

Story
I've been living in Singapore on and off for twenty years but still can't put together a sentence. I really want to start.
What do I know? The easy first three numbers which I learned from a children's placemat. The numbers start like the Roman numerals but horizontal. One is a horizontal line. Two is two parallel hormonal lines. Three is three parallel horizontal lines.

Chinese Numbers
Chinese is similar to Roman numerals which have one as an upright line, two as two parallel upright lines, three as three parallel upright lines. Just imagine the Roman numerals are bowing to the East.

The number ten is also like the Roman ten. The Chinese ten is a cross with a horizontal and a vertical. (The Roman ten has turned the cross slightly clockwise into an X.)

Tips
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/237da03b-f290-4d86-80ac-f50f5d37842d (the page with the Chinese numbers)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, teacher of English and languages.

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