[topmonk]

Ok, but what is your exact technique? Do you periodically pause the tape so you can follow along with it using the book in written form? Or just plain listen?

Also, are you studying Chinese this way or a language more similar to English? With all the different grammar and word order in Chinese, I can't see how I could pick up the meaning without some reference, unless I was extremely familiar with the material.

Edit: Also because there are vocal sounds in English that aren't pronouncable in Chinese, even character names are not the same. “Gandalf” becomes “gan dow foo”, for instance

[romaaeterna]

I've done it or some variation with German, Latin, Japanese, Norwegian, and Russian.

My method is to listen is small chunks (like a paragraph or so), a bunch of times, and gradually expand the length.

> I can't see how I could pick up the meaning without some reference, unless I was extremely familiar with the material.

You would be surprised at how good you are at it. The human brain is built for picking up a language from scratch by listening, and human languages are similarly built for being acquired in this way.

[bayesian_horse]

I'm still a bit confused of how one is supposed to decipher a Language like Japanese or Chinese without any reference. I certainly was never able to do it.

Only after years of studying more theoretically am I able to learn new words from context.

[romaaeterna]

> without any reference

The "reference" comes from knowing the stories in English first. And also the reader's voice acting, etc.

[topmonk]

Well, sounds good, then. I'll give it a shot, thanks.