Savvy Chat Chinese 20 Questions to Basic Fluency 20 Questions to Basic Fluency: Guide to Basic Conversational Mandarin by Matt Sikora First Edition, 2012 Editor: Seraph Ching Contact Information: Savvy Chat Chinese: 20 Questions to Basic Fluency by Matt Sikora is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http:/creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. Savvy Chat Chinese 20 Questions to Basic Fluency How to use this book Conversation is the heart of language learning. Talking with someone in another language develops your listening skills while giving you the speaking practice that you need. But conversing in another language can be hard to manage when you are first starting out. Savvy Chat Chinese 20 Questions to Basic Fluency is homebase for developing your Mandarin Chinese communication skills. It is not only a guide for you, but it is also a guide for your language partner. Conversation is all about improvising within the linguistic and cultural rules of the language. This book allows you improvise with a manageable number of high frequency questions and answer and it gives your language partner a guide as to how to help you so that you can both make the most of your time. Below are some suggestions on how to use Savvy Chat Chinese 20 Questions to Basic Fluency: 1. Read the book Read the book all the way through. It gives you a unique perspective on the grammar at work behind the patterns and characters used in the questions and answers. 2. Personalize the book Take some time to personalize the questions and answers in this book with your own information. If someone asks you one of these questions it is important for you to be able to come up with a response with your own information. Write out your answers (or your likely answers) to each of the 20 questions and keep that list handy. 3. Chat Whether you are face to face or texting - communicating with real people is still the best way to learn a language. You need to use the questions and answers in this book as often as you can. You dont need to be perfect. In fact, you absolutely have to make mistakes in order to learn languages. No one, native speaker or foreigner, young or old, has ever learned Mandarin without going through the same thing that you are going through right now. If you have a language partner, let the person know that you are focusing on these 20 questions and answers and give the person a copy of them so he or she can help you. You will be able to make the most of your time if both of you are using these questions and answers in your conversations. Enriching your studies The fastest way to learn Mandarin is to go live where Mandarin is spoken for a year or more. Be sure to only use Mandarin and stay away from anyone that speaks to you in any other language. If you are in a position in your life to do this, stop reading right now and get going. You wont regret it. But chances are that your learning experience has been and will be a bit more fragmented than what was described above. This book is great for learning how to start communicating with people in Mandarin, but it is not enough. You need to immerse yourself in the language as much as you can and no book can ever take the place of living your life in the Chinese language and culture. There are two simple rules for learning languages that you should try to keep in mind: 1. There is no substitute for repetition. 2. Never let yourself get bored. You cant possibly use the 20 questions and answers in this book too much. They make up the basis of daily conversation and even after you have mastered them you will still use them all the time. But if the only thing you do is use these 20 questions and answers youll probably become bored with it and lose your motivation before you master them. Be sure to seek out things that interest you and allow yourself to get distracted every so often. Follow your bliss and youll be a much happier Mandarin learner. Come back to the 20 Questions to Basic Fluency whenever you need them, but dont put on the blinders to what else is out there. Happy chatting! Background Savvy Chat Chinese 20 Questions to Basic Fluency was developed and written as a communication guide for Mandarin language learners who are ready to put their language skills to use. The questions cover some of the most high frequency grammar patterns, vocabulary and communication situations that you will need to know at the basic level. This book is designed to guide your communication skills to the Novice-High Proficiency Level on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. (ACTFL American Council on Teaching F