Start learning Chinese from scratch-comprehensible input is the KEY!

[@daniellaNicole0]

finally found a teacher who may use this method. I recently watched How to acquire a language not learn it posted by poly-glot-a-lot and I really loved this method.

[@billbloggs6363]

Probably one of the best videos on KZbin that all Chinese learners should see first. After learning Mandarin for the past six months I absolutely agree with everything you say!

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

hahaha, thank you. These are not my theories. I'm not that smart. What I shared here are research-based conclusions. As an English language learner, I believe in them too.

[@twoblocksdown5464]

I know the teacher is good when the Title of the video has "comprehensible input" in it. That's 100% true I know it from myself cuz that's the way I've been learning English

[@murphy903]

Dr. Krashen and Steve Kaufman both recommend that you practice with content that is 70-90% comprehensible. Of course, you should look up words that you don't know which, in effect, will be 100% comprehensible (as you learn the 10-30% that you don't know yet. The 'plus one' practice is essential to continue to grow your vocabulary and understanding. Great video!! Spectacular job! I learned several very useful things.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

yes!!! i understand their plus one technique!!!

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

▼About me▼ I’m a certified Chinese language teacher in the United States. I hold Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado teacher certificates. I taught Chinese in middle schools, high schools, Confucius institute and the US military before. I specialize in teaching Chinese through the Comprehensible Input (AKA TPRS) method. This means •I used 90% of the target language since the first lesson •I target most high frequency vocabulary so you can use them daily •I help you internalized the content through personalized questions and answers •I provide meaningful, fun and culturally related input ▼Private online lessons with me▼ [e-mail]

[@JohnMorrisonmindsmart]

I'm happy to see them more and more people are starting to teach this method

[@williamprucha3472]

Hsieh-hsieh mi. Very helpful video to understand your background in education and teaching approach. I will follow up on your videos.

[@liliankimani9524]

Extremely useful guidelines I have come across so far. Great tips.

[@XxsonicfanxX60]

Thank you so much for this video! I recently decided that I wanted to learn Chinese because I find the culture interesting, and the language is valuable to know as an Engineer. Also, the thought of gaining the ability to talk to over a billion additional people is very exciting! I'm starting from the very beginning. I plan on using these channels for self study: 1.) Yoyo Chinese - for learning pinyin, pronunciation and characters 2.) Learnchinesewithemma - for learning elementary words and phrases 3.) Unconventional Chinese with Keren - for fun listening exercises and engaging comprehensible input Keren, do you have any other self-study tips/suggestions and/or other good channels that may help as well? Thanks!

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Good luck and tons of best wishes!

[@samsworld1770]

if you haven't learned a lot of chinese yet i would strongly recommend to check out the channel of mattvs japan and to watch his video on youtube immersion. Do that with chinese and look at videos. Comprehensible input is all in youtube videos. Just do it. You won't regret it.

[@williamprucha3472]

I am so glad I got to see this video. I learned so much from this. I hope you are still actively teaching.

[@paulotrajano83]

First of all, I'd like to say your video is excellent, really. And you have apply the teachings of Professor Kracher very well. That approach never fails 😊. I'm a Brazilian Spanish teacher since 2015. I first met CI in 2019, but only when I met TPRS, in the late 2021, I really understand what CI means. Today, I can't imagine me teaching any language with another method. Thank you and congrats.

[@luizapaes1305]

Keren, you made my day with this video! I am an English teacher and I've been learning Mandarin with a text book and have been struggling terribly for years. I keep asking my teachers to speak Mandarin instead of Spanish (I live in Argentina) with no luck. I can write and read but my listening and speaking are really not too good. I feel like I've been learning things upside down... I agree 100% with everything you said. It was sooo enlightening! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Try watch fun Chinese KZbin videos. You will see tremendous progress over time. Your teacher didn’t understand this concept: you can’t learn a language, you can only acquire a language.

[@Luizatango]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren Absolutely! Thanks again!!!!

[@cicimandarinchinese9133]

Comprehensible input is definitely the way to go. Good job! I wish there were more teachers using this method.

[@tamerebel]

I agree with nearly everything except for the pronunciation part. From my experience as a teacher and linguist, the muscles are not used to certain movements and showing tongue or mouth position can be very useful as an additional step depending on the origin of the language learner. Some people are not that good at picking up auditive cues. I'll definitely continue my Mandarin learning with your channel, you gave great tips :)

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

I'm glad you think so! Please don't hesitate to share your opinions as a linguist!!!

[@krisadamvids]

You are correct, I wish you were my teacher. I will watch your videos thank you !

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

If you want private online lessons with me, please email me at [e-mail]

[@ozymandias9680]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren How much do you charge for the private lessons?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

@@ozymandias9680 www.unconventionalchinese.com/packages-1 take a look on my business web :)

[@ozymandias9680]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren Thank you!

[@brendon2462]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkerenYou teach Standard Chinese ?

[@ALGMandarin]

I can't agree with you more. The comprehensible input is really the key for learners to start.

[@MichaelMiller-qm1nl]

Very good teacher.

[@SirDude555]

Great video! She explained this in simple and clear steps. All the other “experts” I’ve watched get all geek’ed out with science talk etc. I wish I came across this information in 2010 when I started learning Mandarin. 😷👍

[@joniputr4]

Thank you. Your video is inspiring.

[@mariaesperanzacelebre2043]

The third way! (TPRS) Yeah, that's why I listen to your unconventional videos and lots of Chinese songs! Feichang hao! -Hope Zhang

[@cbysmith]

I just found this. I see it's from five years ago. I've yet to listen to this but I just wanted to comment on how very pretty you are here. Ty.

[@timjordanLA]

Wow I've never heard this method before. But I mean if you think about it (I'm talking to myself here) it makes perfect sense. That's kinda why I liked pimsleur method. Anyway, this was kind of a light bulb moment for me to understand how we actually learn

[@josephganetakos2043]

Respect for your straight shooting it at 06:20

[@투익스]

dearly teacher your English and Chinese all perfect, it's real envy you♡

[@mxiastate5629]

If you listen to recordings you need context to give life to the sound being produced... which is where identification of context to words come from. You are correct.. This is how I learned English. I learned by hearing it and experiencing it whether I wanted to or not. Many embarrassing moments☺️☺️

[@allthecommonsense]

This was very well done. Looking forward to connecting more soon.

[@ChineseZHplus]

Keren, 你太好了. I'm available to advanced students for remote conversation practice. Native in English, near-native in Mandarin. BA, MA in Linguistics.

[@ricardoshillyshally1741]

I'm a new comer but.... I'm all ears, Keren.

[@Missisippy]

I've started learning Mandarin for 6 months now. Listening - reading (story podcast) - writing (my favorite part also to memorize the character) - I recorded my own voice while reading the story that I listen before. Pretty helpfull for self-learning Mandarin. PS. Pinyin foundation is important before jumping to other steps.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

recording yourself is a really good way to self correct! keep the hard work :)

[@Missisippy]

Thanks, really appreciate your replied! Will keep coming back for unconditional content this channel provided.

[@vikkiroxx_]

Muchas gracias! Y si te contara que por ejemplo algunos debemos hacer un doble esfuerzo siendo hispanohablantes, 1: comprender el ingles y 2: el chino. En mi caso me esfuerzo el doble porque amo el idioma chino y lo quiero aprender (igual entiendo bastante el inglés). Ojalá hagas mas material y videos "comprensibles." Nos ayudas mucho! Muchusimas gracuas nuevanente! Me suscribo! 🇨🇳🇦🇷☺️

[@muhammadadib3387]

I really agree about the right learning order starting from listening to writing. Besides learning Chinese, i want to sound like chinese guy even though my mother tounge is malay. And the first way to communicate is to speak. So, it's ideal to listen and speak rather than learn how to read and write because you're not going to go to some random Chinese guy and ask for direction by writing down words, it's a little bit weird. Essentially, speaking is the first true way if you really want to communicate. But one of the hardest thing for me in learning Chinese is the pinyin because i feel it's hard to sound it and i feel like all the four tones is sounded similar especially if someone speak fastly. Anyway, it's not gonna be problem for me because i love to learn it. Hope you can make more videos to help us learning Chinese, Keren. 😊.

[@ValleyData]

Beautiful & Great lesson..

[@paoyogapao9993]

How great your video is! Thank you so much! Besides duolingo i used hellochinese it helps me a lto to improve my pronunciation. It is diffult to find native speakers that helps that repeat the words in context. For us to learn easily us you said.so I always listen to music and drama movies to help me a little. Thank you agian for sharing. I would like you live in argentina to be your student. 😊💫

[@MsTranthihai71]

Thanks

[@santiagoarce5672]

Not learning Chinese, but thanks for promoting input-based learning!

[@johnroekoek12345]

I observed this video with my eyes, ears, mouth, nose and hair. Haha. Great tips.

[@loveandservetaiwan]

This was GREAT! Thanks Keren

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

thanks :)

[@kevintravelPH]

this video is a GEM

[@psanmuk]

Thank you

[@vichofernandez1453]

Ill come back to you when I finish french

[@全澳洲最抑郁的中文教]

This is awesome. I hope every school could adopt the TPRS method. It should become the norm, the mainstream method! The fact that this channel is labelled "unconventional" speaks volumes about how bad language teaching in schools currently is, how out of touch the traditional grammar translation method is with reality in the 21st century, and how little those traditional teachers understand about the theory of language acquisition.

[@faraway4096]

这带着京腔的英语，听着舒服👍

[@rmvhell]

Thanks! Great video and tips

[@teocantsleep4611]

I am so excited about learning with this method! +1! :)

[@spartan.falbion2761]

The comprehensible input decoded your sentences.

[@tylermacdonald8924]

I love this so much, this is perfect

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

nihao tyler, im glad you found CI helpful!!! Let me know if I can help in any way :)

[@tylermacdonald8924]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren Xia Xia!

[@jellysalsa]

Actually the 2nd way for me because I knew those words but slower was better for me. However comprehensible input is the best way to go. Passive listening is bullshit, just like you said.

[@threecoinsinthefount]

I've learned a lot from you because you are funny and very natural and you speak Chinese very clearly. Out of all the Chinese online teachers you are the one I understand most because you speak with a lot of stress and emphasis and are naturally funny. I don't agree with you only on one thing -that is the order of learning and comprehensive input. I learn on my own so there is no chance of first listening. With Chinese as well as other languages it has always been textbooks first. Of course my listening ability suffers as a result but my reading is fine. With you there is no problem understanding what you say. One question , in your videos do you speak at your natural speed ?????? Are you speaking slow for our benefit?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

No. I slowed dow at least 5 time than natural speed.

[@ijab1107]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren中華文化有南懷瑾,錢穆先生😂😂

[@evertspies3345]

I am glad I came across your channel. I notice that listening is right on top of your list. Although I recognize words by spelling in pinyin and can read most words I still cannot hear the words when spoken. Some words I recognize but many words in Chinese mean different things when not heard in context. Possibly my learning method has been incorrect and I should start over again.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Hi Evert, that's exactly why reading is just as important :)

[@evertspies3345]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren Thank you for your reply. Yes I have been quite success in reading and recognizing the Chinese characters but pronunciation and listening is still not easy.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

@@evertspies3345 considering immerse yourself in Chinese videos and get a CI style tutor. you will see results in 3 months.

[@suptho808]

This is very very helpful thank you

[@rosesmith6208]

number 3 i love pleco I paid for some of the stuff, love the reading character feature, and they have flash cards too.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Pleco could be your own dictionary or even notebook. I agree it's very useful.

[@ronlugbill1400]

TPRS = Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.

[@11kwright]

It's not the fact that some of us just don't want to pay because let's face it if one could afford to pay then I know I'd invest in the best. It's a case that one cannot afford to pay but yet strongly wants to learn Mandarin. So anyone out there that can afford to pay then you are very lucky. My sole reason for learning Mandarin is not because I want a freebie language is because I want to be able to communicate with that culture. I can communicate to a basic level, say HSK2 but can't seem to progress beyond this stage, I've started reading to. However, your video appears interesting and I'm going to give it a go among others.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

no offense, HSK will not take you to a practical language proficiency level. the way they designed these tests is based on a very traditional( grammar translation ) teaching method. I personally don't think HSK shows students' true language proficiency.

[@adrianhdragon718]

Am Learning Chinese For World Peace ! Thanks ! Ur beautiful btw !

[@tyclvn]

TPRS: Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Story Telling.

[@user-iven]

❤

[@Aethelbeorn]

It takes me an average of 38 times to hear someone's name to remember it. :(

[@MichaelMiller-qm1nl]

Me ---156

[@jesusangelsanchez4135]

Gracias, guapa.

[@QQ-xx7mo]

Awesome thank you !

[@QQ-xx7mo]

It's strange to say but I feel like a baby that learn its first words ahah, very effective :)

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

you are welcome!

[@a-sam8151]

谢谢Keren老师 all your tips really make sense. I'd love to be one of your students but I don't think I can afford your rate right now 嘿嘿

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Sorry to hear about that Sam!!! But I will try to teach live lessons as much as possible. I will teach 2 lessons tonight on my youtube, come join us :)

[@a-sam8151]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren will definitely watch it!I'm a fan love all your videos. 谢谢

[@khadija8451]

谢谢您可人老师🙏🙏

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

不客气！

[@TulekBehar]

38 times to interact with a word, hear it read it say it write it. forgetting happens everyday.

[@dahsing-cc]

老天呀，开启自动翻译成中文，看着中文字幕听博主讲的英文，居然 居然能听个七七八八。天啦，没有字幕可是一句听不懂的呀。。。。。。。

[@maduhafanai2607]

very good

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

谢谢~

[@greenwhiskey7]

In one of your videos I believe you said you taught the U.S. Military Mandarin. What branch did you teach Mandarin to. How long did you teach them for.

[@wulin2198]

Thank you >

[@fruitlessbeast]

Late to the party but this is very helpful

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

never too late :)

[@JBfan88]

我听到comprehensible input这两个字我就hi起来！！！！

[@lookits_fran]

I haven't finished the video so idk if it's gonna be said but how do you find all of this comprehensive input on the internet if you don't have a teacher? I think it's really difficult to find..

[@jianfeixie2621]

Hello Karen, thank you for sharing this amazing method. I am teaching chinese in highschool. I would like to use this method of teaching. Could you tell me where should I get started? Like what books I need to buy ? Where can I get short stories suitable for their level ? Thanks again! 🌹

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Ni hao Jianfei, there are a lot of CI/TPRS workshops in the US. Right now with the pandemic they are all online, so it's probably the best timing. Recourse 1: www.tprsbooks.com/workshops/. Resource 2: Lu Haiyun's website www.ignitechinese.org/. Resource 3: Annick Chen's world language games wlangames.net/AnnickChen.php

[@jianfeixie2621]

Thank you so much Keren ! I will definitely go to one of the workshops online. It would be great also to meet together and discuss face to face in the future !

[@dealerofgame]

Baddie confirmed

[@elSrBest]

Isn't TPRS teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling and not just regular TPR with storytelling added at the end?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

you gotta pay to see the story asking&story telling part. for free videos, i end here.

[@dannyjeuris5884]

What about rosseta stone , to start? ( not free official but pirated is) Finding a tutor and or teacher that uses tprs is as good as negative in Europe.

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

1. I checked their demo lesson. Unfortunately they did not give much information, it was just flash cards. So I cannot give you an objective suggestion. 2. I'm kinda old school and stubborn when it comes to online program. I believe they can never beat a real life teacher because language is all about communication and interaction. But if any e-learning platform helps you hear and read the target vocabulary/grammar structures IN CONTENT over and over again, I will say it is close to the core philosophy of tprs. 3.There are online tprs Chinese teachers, for example 杜雁子 laoshi. 4. Also you are welcome to subscribe to my channel, I will continue posting tprs Chinese content, like move talk, story asking, etc.

[@shilasamuquela9991]

What is that app for the characters? please

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

pleco

[@flashlife8256]

Hi, I have a question. I'm already about intermediate but I still cant understand movies which i feel is really holding me back in my learning. I really don't know how to start understanding. Do i need to make lists of the movies vocab?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

According to ACTFL can-do statement, I think most movies are at least Advanced-mid to Advanced-high level. If you cannot understand the movies, it is simply because the Chinese input you have gained are not sufficient for the movies. You may start with shows that are more Intermediate levels such as 爸爸去那儿了，开讲啦，非诚勿扰，世界青年说

[@flashlife8256]

​@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren 老師多謝你！ 我会這些影片们看一下。 你的建议很有用。

[@mikeyao8502]

我看你的节目来学英语 ， 可以吗？

[@henbane2247]

I tried to learn Chinese by Duolingo and it didn't help at all, except for the word 'teacher'

[@charmingbeauty6300]

你的视频很好，但是我能听懂的不多😂😂😂

[@garyxiong6771]

很实用我也是这样学英文口语的

[@mxiastate5629]

This gives me anxiety ...😰😰🥵 I don’t know what it says but it looks like a lot of information 🙂

[@warker6186]

what's that? tata?:'v 03:13 i love when u say what the hack is it. u don't have to say it:v

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

da da de: big

[@warker6186]

oh it's means big?

[@JBfan88]

I thought TPRS stands for "teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling"?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Haha!! that, too!!! Different names, same idea. I'm glad you believe in TPRS too

[@jvu2ilj26]

omg... This girl is so beautiful... I'm not even interested in the topic and I watched the whole video.......

[@TulekBehar]

听说 看写

[@hicassie1463]

结果评论里没有一个人说汉语哈哈

[@kevintran8176]

Have you ever heard of Steve Kaufman and his app “Lingq”?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

not really. do you recommend it?

[@kevintran8176]

@@unconventionalchinesewithkeren I recommend it because you and Steve Kaufman are a huge believer of Steven Krashen. His app "Lingq" is created for the purpose of lots of reading and listening, which helps with the comprehensional input theory. You can watch his videos at: kzbin.info - I learned a lot from him about everything about language learning. He also had a discussion with Steven Krashen in two of his videos if you search both of their names. You can see a demonstration of Lingq on: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHPdoJxvrbVnnJI - Although Lingq is $10/month, it is better than Rosetta Stone in terms of price. Lingq provides numerous amounts of content for listening and reading practice, which can help link the way the sounds are made that you talked about in your video. It's better to try it because it's hard to explain why I think Lingq is amazing. I recommend you watch videos about demonstration about Lingq. I think you will enjoy it because you believe in lots of listening and reading.

[@パトリック-j9t]

Thanks for the tips! By the way, you're so cute :D

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

Thanks!!

[@brandonstone7887]

刘老师，你有沉鱼落雁之容！五二零 一三一四 :) -石岚

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

班长你太好笑了

[@TulekBehar]

Understand 100 percent is not that realistic.

[@SokuzanBobBrown]

Thank you Laoshi, may I correct your English? You mispronounce the word pronunciation. It is not pronounciation. Most asians make this error.

[@jannellol]

some native english speakers say pronounciation. like me.

[@cleciosouza2537]

Lies lies lies! I learn by listening without understanding nothing at the begining

[@white7shadow777]

Facts it is bullsh!t

[@JamesSmith-ix5jd]

nothing in Chinese is comprehensible to an indo-european language speaker, it's like trying to decipher weird symbols on an alien spaceship, not saying it's impossible, but it surely takes a very, very, very long time. -- also speaking should be last, preferably with native speaker who can fix your mistakes, otherwise you can form lots of bad habits without even knowing it. yes babies learn it differently, but we are not babies anymore.

[@torstenottermann2549]

I find your comparison with the baby very good. But you forgot something. The baby does not have to translate the Chinese language into the actual mother tongue in the head. For example, I have to translate this into German. Really not that easy. Because people tend to translate the Chinese language 1: 1 into German. I know.... . German is horrible and the grammar is a catastrophe. :) My girlfriend has already given up teaching me chinese. Because But i give not up!. Hey..... I give all. :) :) The other problem is ... Even if I have learned some Chinese words, I do not correctly recognize these words, when a chinese person says these words. Why it's so ?

[@unconventionalchinesewithkeren]

1. you are not supposed to translate them in your brain. but it's normal that you want to translate them into your first language, especially for beginning learners. 2. if you can't recognize the word when you hear it, it is because you didn't have enough input. that's the only reason. a lot of people learn a word or sentence by say it over and over again, but that's wrong. we should learn a word or a sentence by hearing it over and over again. when you hear it enough, you can recognize it, memorize it, and say it correctly and naturally. Input is the KEY!

[@senorsmile]

Your pronunciation of acquire is barely understandable. See forvo.com/search/acquire/en_usa/.

[@senorsmile]

Comprehensible input is not also called TPRS. TPRS is one strategy to teach via comprehensible input. TPR and TPRS are 2 separate strategies. You are mixing them up.