Tuttle-style custom flash card with Usr field filled in

[Steve Hunter]

Hi,

I've been using the Tuttle book 'learn 800 characters HSK 1-3' in conjunction with Pleco, and they make a great pairing.

I'm getting to the point where I need plan what happens when I go beyond 800 characters (HSK3+), and it dawned on me that I could combine the 'Tuttle-style' mnemonic recall with Pleco, by filling in the Usr field in the custom flash card.

I haven't found a Tuttle-style book for HSK3+ (I've emailed Tuttle publishing to ask), and I thought, 'what-the-hey, Chinese is so incredibly (rewardingly!) hard, why not start my own flash cards'?

Here's an example.

A thought occurred to me to approach creating flash cards in a more 'collaborative' way - sort of 'open source' it, so no one person is doing all the work.

I work in IT, and set up collaboration spaces; the concept here would be a common place to put the flash card export, interested users (me being the first) check-out the file, update, then check it back in.

I'm not sure if this is technical the best way to manage the flash card file.

Interested to hear the thoughts of those much further along their Chinese journey and well better versed in using Pleco and flashcards!

Steve

 

[Shun]

Hi Steve,

I think this is a good idea, and I consider collaboration a good thing. However, I feel that with flashcards, each learner has their own learning style, be it using mnemonics, sentences from context, learning character components, or just learning the word without mnemonics. So it's hard to construct a collaboration project that would serve most users without overloading the flashcards. But among those users working with mnemonics, it may still be worthwhile to form a group.

Regards, Shun

 

[pdwalker]

Steve, It's a good idea, unfortunately, I've only started the first Tuttle book and have not purchased the second one yet. You may be alone until someone else joins you at the HSK3+ level.

 

[Steve Hunter]

Well, I found what I was looking for ... I ended up contacting Tuttle publishing, and they recommended this book:
Reading and Writing Chinese: Third Edition, HSK All Levels (2,349 Chinese Characters and 5,000+ Compounds) Third Edition Edition
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Writing-Chinese-Characters-Compounds/dp/080484299X

It covers up to level 6, and carries on the mnemonic-style with decomposition that has really worked for me.

Interesting fact: I read in the intro to the book about who 'Tuttle' was:

The Tuttle Story: “Books to Span the East and West”

Most people are surprised to learn that the world’s largest publisher of books on Asia had its humble beginnings in the tiny American state of Vermont. The company’s founder, Charles E. Tuttle, belonged to a New England family steeped in publishing. And his first love was naturally books—especially old and rare editions.

Immediately after WW II, serving in Tokyo under General Douglas MacArthur, Tuttle was tasked with reviving the Japanese publishing industry. He later founded the Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Company, which thrives today as one of the world’s leading independent publishers.

Though a westerner, Tuttle was hugely instrumental in bringing a knowledge of Japan and Asia to a world hungry for information about the East. By the time of his death in 1993, Tuttle had published over 6,000 books on Asian culture, history and art—a legacy honored by the Japanese emperor with the “Order of the Sacred Treasure,” the highest tribute Japan can bestow upon a non-Japanese.

With a backlist of 1,500 titles, Tuttle Publishing is more active today than at any time in its past—inspired by Charles Tuttle’s core mission to publish fine books to span the East and West and provide a greater understanding of each.​

I'll report back on how I go! I've also started TutorMing and night classes with the local Confucius Institute (located at University of Melbourne). I have my HSK2 exam tomorrow, I am just passing according to the mock exams I'm doing. I learned that in HSK3, there is no Pinyin, so my character recognition (and writing!) will need to improve.