Pitfalls of Studying Similar Words
Every learner at one point is going to ask, “what is the difference between these two words?” This is a great question and enables an adult learner to make full use of one of her key advantages over child learners: mature analytical ability. BUT, there are still right and wrong times to really dig into comparing and contrasting similar words, grammar points, or characters. We’ll cover the rationale behind the key principles we abide by here at AllSet Learning, then give some specific examples of how we apply them.
Principles of Comparing
No matter what you’re comparing (words, grammar, characters, etc.), the learner should first be familiar with the items being compared. This is because learning two new items AND comparing them is just too much. The result will usually be that neither item is learned well, and neither is the difference. Even when one item is familiar and one is not, jumping straight into a comparison after learning the unfamiliar one is not likely to yield good results. It just won’t stick.
The best approach is to learn each item separately, for clear, limited contexts. Then, after each item has become familiar in its own use cases, gradually expand their scopes of use until the overlap becomes an issue. Ideally, the learner herself will become aware of the overlap and ask, “hey, what’s the difference between these two in this situation? Which is correct?”
THAT’S the right time to jump into the comparison.
Similar Words
Just to drive the point home, here is an example of the WRONG WAY to teach how to say “to know” in Chinese:
Do you know how to say, “to know” in Chinese? No? Actually there are two ways.
知道 (zhīdào) means “to know” a fact.
认识 (rènshi) is used to say “to know” a person.
Easy, right? Now let’s practice!
This will not work well. Learning two words all at once is too much.
The much better approach is to first learn 知道 (zhīdào) and practice using it. After it becomes more familiar, learn 认识 (rènshi) specifically for “knowing a person,” but don’t go into a fuller explanation of the difference between the two words. (It won’t help.)
Later, after both 知道 (zhīdào) and 认识 (rènshi) have both been learned, it will make sense to do a more detailed comparison of the two.
Note that there is a progression here:
Learn 知道 (zhīdào) first. It’s the easier and more useful of the two, and will be especially useful in communicating directly with the teacher in Chinese during lessons.
Learn 认识 (zhīdào) next. Although clearly useful, it is less urgent and can wait until conversations naturally expand more to include other people.
Compare 知道 (zhīdào) and 认识 (rènshi) last. And don’t do it right away, either. Both words should be quite familiar and the learner should have encountered both in lots of natural contexts.
The same concept applies to any two words. So if one is easy (A1) and one is intermediate (B1), you’re not going to want to compare the two until upper intermediate (B2) or late intermediate (B1+) at the very earliest.
Similar Grammar Points
Grammar points often require even more exposure and practice to be mastered, so we pay special attention to this principle on the Chinese Grammar Wiki.
Here’s an example with 不 (bù) and 没 (méi):
Standard negation with "bu" (early A1)
Negation of "you" with "mei" (mid-A1)
Although the grammar points are presented as independent modules, there is often an optimal order within one level in which to learn them. This is something we pay special attention to in our grammar courses, and any learner or teacher should also be aware of this fact. For the case of 不 (bù) and 没 (méi), the grammar point structure section for 没 (méi) immediately mentions standard negation with 不 (bù), which is a clear indicator of this fact.
Similar Characters
An important element of learning characters is learning the building blocks (character components) and structural patterns. Sometimes teachers or learners may jump the gun and try to learn too many characters at once just because they share similar components or structures. Don’t do this! It’s too much, and won’t sink in.
Here’s an example of what NOT TO DO:
So, you’ve learned the character 其 (qí) as in 其他 (qítā).
Great! Now let’s learn all these other characters just because we can:
期 (qī), 旗 (qí), 棋 (qí), 欺 (qī), 基 (jī), etc.
Yes, use your knowledge of characters components and structures to help you learn new characters, by all means. But don’t learn new characters just because parts of them are familiar. You’ll waste a lot of time learning characters that are impractical or too high for your level that way.
A good character course will balance practicality (what you can use right away) with systematicity (building on what you already know, logically).
Please note that this is still true even if you know all the parts of the unfamiliar characters. Not useful is not useful! Your brain won’t like it. This doesn’t mean you can’t browse these characters in your dictionary. That can be a fun way to learn. Just don’t make it a part of your central approach to acquiring new characters. Focus on meaning instead.
Similar Sounds
Are the sounds of the language the exception to the rule? IF all the tones sound the same to me, does that mean I shouldn’t learn them at the same time?
Sadly, there is no way around learning all four tones. Definitely do that, and do it early.
And if you’re having trouble distinguishing between tough sounds like “x / q / j” and “sh / ch / zh”, you can’t just avoid it. Learning the sounds of pinyin in the beginning is essential.
BUT, you can and should avoid doing things like:
Learn all of the words of a particular syllable (e.g. “qi”)
Learn all of the words that sound similar to you (e.g., “cong,” “song,” “tong,” and al of their tones, etc.)
When similar sounds are regularly becoming obstacles to communication, then YES, by all means, focus on them and overcome those obstacles. But when similar syllables are not an obstacle at all, don’t give them undue focus.
All pronunciation practice will move you forward in your spoken communications, and by de-prioritizing the difficulties that are not currently a big problem, you’re maximizing your overall progress.
Not Just Theory
These principles are not just theory. They should be applied to any course of study in Mandarin Chinese. To ignore these issues is to needlessly embrace frustration and slower progress, to the detriment of meaningful communication.
All of AllSet Learning’s courses are designed with these principles in mind, so if you’d like to see the difference they make, do get in touch.