Chinese sentence mining in 5 basic steps

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April 03, 2025

Prerequisites

To understand this note, these notes may help:

Sentence mining is a method for learning Mandarin by collecting entire sentences from native speakers rather than focusing solely on vocabulary.
Building a large vocabulary can be misleading; fluency often comes from using a smaller, well-mastered set of sentences.
The first step in sentence mining is to find reliable sources, or "goldmines," such as podcasts, videos, and conversations with native speakers.
When mining sentences, prioritize those that are relevant and useful for your own communication needs.
A systematic approach to storing collected sentences is crucial; options include using spaced repetition systems like Anki or organizing them in documents.
Regular review of mined sentences is essential, ideally incorporating audio repetition to reinforce learning.
Activation of learned sentences is the goal, enabling them to become part of your active vocabulary for spontaneous use in conversation.
Practicing with mined sentences helps develop a natural sense of the language (语感), allowing for flexible sentence creation.
The process of sentence mining encourages learners to focus on authentic expressions used by native speakers, improving overall fluency.
Engaging with native speakers and receiving corrections enhances the learning experience and provides practical examples of language use.