Chinese Tuition in Singapore: Why Listening Comprehension Is Crucial in Learning Chinese

For someone who does not speak Chinese, the lack of exposure to the tonal system can definitely make things a bit more challenging. The same unfamiliarity can be applied to the character-based writing system in terms of difficulty to learn. For children of Chinese descent or foreigners learning Chinese, the tone usage alongside the character-based writing system is significantly hard.

Out of the language skills, which include speaking, writing, listening, and reading, listening is one of the most ignored skills but is important when communication takes place. In addition, good listening skills help in the recognition of proper speech, increase the chances of natural internalisation of grammar, and improve the overall communication ability of the learner.  In this post, we aim to discuss why comprehension is important for listening in the Chinese language and provide tips on how to improve it.  

Why Chinese Language Comprehension Should Be A Priority Issue  

1. The Requisite of Listening Skills in Tone and Pronunciation Recognition  

A Chinese person will understand “mama” very differently depending on how it is said; their intonation will determine its meaning. Without deep listening skills, learners may struggle to differentiate between mā (妈 – mother), má (麻 – hemp), mǎ (马 – horse), and mà (骂 – scold). Words of the same syllable are interpreted based solely on the syllable’s tone. Chinese is known to be a tonal language. Learners without the proper listening skills will have difficulty differentiating some terms. Tone recognition is imperative in speaking and understanding language, and this can be made possible by good listening capabilities.

2. Constructing Natural Sentence Patterns

Learners of Chinese can utilise listening in order to digest the sentence patterns of the language by paying attention to native speakers. In contrast to English, Chinese has rules concerning the sequence of words and clauses as well as the omission of certain words and clauses. Exposed learners of Chinese are able to soak in the language through our secondary school programme, which helps them use the correct grammatical structures when speaking or writing Chinese.  

3. Increasing Retention of Vocabulary  

Context reinforces phrases and terms, which helps learn new vocabulary in our primary school curriculum. Listening comprehension makes retention easier because instead of having to memorise words in silos, learners can use words in context. Learners can retain the language more easily with frequent use of idioms and other informal expressions.  

4. Developing Communication Competences

Comprehension of listening is necessary for conversation. Even possessing adequate vocabulary and grammar skills will not help poorly developed listening skills when engaging in dialogue. Understanding spoken Chinese brings about a feeling of confidence during interactions with native speakers.

Aspects of Improving Listening Comprehension of the Chinese Language

1. Make it a Habit to Listen to Native Chinese Audio on a Daily Basis

When it comes to improving one’s skills in Chinese, consistency is key. Allocate time to expose your child to the language every day through the following options:

• Chinese Songs & Nursery Rhymes – Young children’s vocabulary pronunciation can be enhanced by listening to simple songs. 
• Chinese Audiobooks & Storytelling Apps – Young learners can find engaging stories on YouTube as well as on Ximalaya FM. 
• Chinese Cartoons & Animated Shows – Children can enjoy cartoons like Peppa Pig Chinese version with subtitles or Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. 
• Educational YouTube Channels – For young learners, Learn Chinese with Emma and Little Fox Chinese create engaging interactive content.

Even passive listening, which is listening to Chinese audio while working on other things, assists in getting your child’s ears attuned to the intonation and flow of the language being spoken.

2. Active Listening with the Use of Transcripts Enhances Higher Chinese Skills

Active listening entails engaging with the audio by listening to it keenly and following closely with a transcript. Several methods include:

• Listening to the audio once without the transcript to test how much your child understand
• Reading the transcript while the audio plays to verify understanding is essential in our small class sizes.
• Listening to the audio again while repeating key phrases to hone in on your child’s pronunciation

3. Incorporate Shadowing Techniques in Your Child’s Practice for Advanced Speech Courses  

Shadowing refers to a learner-centred technique when a learner reproduces speech immediately as they hear it. This technique:

• Enhances pronunciation and modulation
• Helps with fluency and rhythm of speech in our best Chinese tuition programme.
• Strengthens the recognition of the words
• Start with slowing dialogues and ease into them as listening gets better.

4. Start Speaking with Real People

The best practice for improving listening skills is through discussions. When your child converse with a native speaker, it helps them understand the language and respond correctly within a short period. Some practice options are: 

• Language exchange partners 
• Chinese teachers on iTalki or Preply
• Joining forums or groups that converse in Chinese

5. Read Subtitled Chinese Movies and Shows

Reinforcing the meanings of words and sentence structures should be done with a mix of Chinese and English subtitles. As they progress, switch to Chinese-only subtitles or, better yet, no subtitles for an even bigger challenge. 

6. Hear Chinese Through Dictation  

Exercises in dictation train the ears to hear tones and pronunciation differences, crucial for mastering Chinese culture. They also improve their comprehension skills and the recognition of Chinese characters. Here is how: 

• Choose a short audio clip
• Help your child to focus their attention on the clip and write all of the audio content
• Find the transcript and note the differences with their hearing accounts 

This method improves both listening skills and the ability to recognise Chinese characters.

7. Put Pinyin on Top of the Characters

Beginners might find recognising a character by sound difficult. Start with pinyin, as this will help learners concentrate on the sounds of words before moving on to the characters. Slowly, try to challenge them by using less pinyin and focusing on hanzi in our Chinese tuition class. 

8. Do Not Give Up, And Continue To Practice  

Improving your child’s listening skills is a gradual process. Do not give up hope if, at first, they do not understand. Continue to immerse them in the tongue, and eventually, they will be able to pick up phrases, words, and tones easily. 

Connected Learning Chinese Tuition: The Best Way to Master the Chinese Language in Singapore

Learning Chinese for whatever reason – personal or academic – is an important skill to develop. Mastering Chinese is not an easy task. It requires proper guidance, immersive learning, and a lot of practice. Connected Learning is a premier Chinese tuition centre in Singapore with the best facilities designed for students to master Chinese, be it even for basic vocabulary or an advanced level of Chinese fluency.

Why Connected Learning Chinese Tuition Programmes?

Connected Learning has a team of native and bilingual Chinese tutors with the best qualifications. Our experience guarantees the students learn the right Chinese pronunciation, tones, and sentence structures most appealingly. After years of teaching, these tutors have developed systems that make learning Chinese easy by breaking down challenging concepts of Chinese.

Each learner is unique and has individual goals, which makes it necessary for Connected Learning to provide a specially tailored approach to each student learning Chinese. It does not matter if a student has just started learning Pinyin or is working towards higher conversational fluency. The lessons are best facilitated at the student’s pace and comfort.

Learning Chinese can be pretty fulfilling and indulging, and at Connected Learning’s Chinese enrichment class, we offer the proper assistance to ensure students achieve their goals in higher Chinese. Student’s strong Chinese skills, confidence, and academic performance are positively affected thanks to the comprehensive, hands-on approach provided by our expert tutors through a specially designed curriculum.