What does the seventh Chinese art have in store for us?
BlogLanguagesChineseLearn Thanks to Chinese Cinema: What does the seventh Chinese art have in store for us?
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Is it possible to learn Mandarin with Chinese cinema?
What are the best Chinese movies if you are a beginner?
Top 10 Chinese Movies
“Cinema is an eye open to the world” – Joseph Bédier
Ready to start a trip to China? From Yunnan to the Great Wall of China passing through Sichuan and Xian, discovering China through cinema implies learning about traditional China, independent cinema, but also the economic growth of the country.
Westerners tend to have a false and very contemporary image of China. To better understand modern China, you have to know its past, its wealth, its thinking (linked to Confucius), its wars, its trade with the Silk Road …
This article is not a film review, but rather a guide to help you learn Mandarin through film and to discover Chinese culture as a whole.
Is it possible to learn Mandarin with Chinese cinema?: What does the seventh Chinese art have in store for us?
The cultural differences are quite large between China and Spain, making it even more interesting.
Watching an OV movie with subtitles has been shown to make foreign language learning easier. And also, watching a movie is more motivating than going to long Chinese classes , right? Well, don’t hesitate and improve your Mandarin thanks to Chinese cinema !
Although, of course, this is not a silver bullet. It’s best to have some basics in Chinese before you start, because if not, all you will do is read the subtitles without trying to understand what the actors are saying.
But the process of learning a language is always the same, even with the mother tongue:
Listen without understanding
Listen understanding a little,
Learn to speak a little,
Listen understanding more and more terms,
Build increasingly complex sentences,
Learn to write,
Get along in everyday situations,
Be bilingual.
The listening is the first element to work when you learn a language.
But to be useful, viewing a movie must be done proactively. Do not be passive in front of your screen, otherwise you will not learn anything and it will be simply a moment of relaxation and leisure.
“Seeing someone speak on screen is the closest thing to real conversation,” says Jean-Luc Breton, an English teacher.
You should also be attentive to the way the words are pronounced, to the tones used, to the difference in tonal accent … Thus, it will be easier for you to reproduce the sounds and phonemes of Chinese, sometimes complicated, if you concentrate.
As for vocabulary, have your Chinese-Spanish dictionary handy . If you have not understood a term, even in the context of a sentence, feel free to stop the movie to learn a new Chinese word, which you must write in a notebook to memorize it.
When learning Chinese, it is also important to take an interest in Chinese culture and civilization . Chinese movies often portray moments in the country’s history such as the Cultural Revolution. Some films depict mainland China, take place in the neighborhoods of Beijing or Shanghai, or take you to the Great Wall.
And to watch movies in Chinese, it is very easy. You may:
Participate in the Chinese Film Festival that has been taking place since last year in Barcelona,
Check out the Filmaffinity list for movie-watching ideas,
Visit the Viki website to watch Chinese series.
