Fifty years ago, I embarked on my journey to study Mandarin Chinese. It took me nine months to reach a level where I could translate newspaper editorials from English to Chinese and vice versa, read novels, and interpret for others. This was in a time before the internet, online dictionaries, language learning apps, MP3 files, and YouTube.
Reflecting on my learning experience, I have identified six key tips that helped me progress faster than my peers. Below, I outline these tips for learning Chinese that you may find beneficial in your own studies.
My Six Tips on How to Learn Chinese:
Listen to Mandarin as Often as Possible
In the initial month or two, focus solely on listening.
Start by listening to Mandarin. Familiarize yourself with the sounds while reading along in a phonetic writing system like Pinyin to better understand what you hear. Avoid diving into characters at the start and instead, build momentum in the language.
It’s challenging to learn characters without a grasp of the words, their sounds, or how they interact. Initially, a new language may sound like noise. The first step is to recognize individual sounds, differentiate words, and have some basic vocabulary echoing in your mind.
My introduction to Mandarin involved listening to Chinese Dialogues, an intermediate text in romanization. Today, Pinyin is the standard romanization system for Mandarin. The rapid speech in Chinese Dialogues initially seemed overwhelming, but it acclimated me to the language’s pace.
Starting with intermediate-level texts featuring repeated vocabulary is advisable when learning a new language. Podcasts, audio books, and resources like Mandarin Chinese mini-stories at LingQ provide ample repetition of common verbs. Fifty years ago, these resources were unavailable to me. Watching Chinese movies and TV shows on platforms like Netflix can also enhance your listening skills. The LingQ Importer tool allows you to access diverse content for learning.
As my interest in the language grew, I became motivated to learn characters corresponding to the words I had been listening to.
Tip number one: Focus on listening and Pinyin in the initial stages.
Devote Time to Memorizing Characters
Learning Chinese characters is a long-term commitment that exposes you to the language and culture of a significant portion of the global population. I strongly recommend incorporating character learning into your Chinese studies.
Once you decide to tackle Chinese characters, dedicate time every day to learning them. Spend at least 30 minutes to an hour on character memorization daily. Utilize any method you prefer but ensure consistent practice. Daily repetition is crucial as you tend to forget characters quickly and need regular reinforcement.
I personally crafted a spaced repetition system using flashcards for the most frequent 1000 characters. This method involved writing characters repeatedly and gradually progressing to learning through reading and writing. Recognizing recurring elements in characters, such as radicals, makes acquiring new characters easier over time.
While explanations on radicals and components may seem overwhelming initially, immersion in the language aids in understanding such intricacies. Teachers’ early emphasis on radicals during my learning journey did not immediately resonate with me, highlighting the importance of gradual exposure in language acquisition.
Only after being exposed to enough content did I begin to notice the components, which accelerated my learning of the characters.
Tip number two emphasizes the importance of dedicating consistent effort to learning characters.
Instead of focusing on complicated grammar rules, tip number three suggests recognizing patterns in the language.
Tip number four advises reading extensively to improve language skills.
To master tones in Mandarin, it is crucial to listen to native speakers and practice speaking.
Consistently listening, even for short periods of five or 10 minutes while waiting somewhere, can significantly increase the time available for learning any language, including Mandarin Chinese.
This opportunity was not available to me 50 years ago. I had to sit in front of my open reel tape recorder with my earphones on. The situation has changed drastically. I had to search bookstores for audio content to listen to on my tape recorder. Today, there is an abundance of material you can find, and you can listen anytime, anywhere.
Take advantage of this and listen whenever you can. That is tip number 5.
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Speak a lot and Don’t Second Guess Yourself
The individual sounds of Mandarin are not difficult for an English speaker to make. The tones are a different story. You will need to practice a lot, both speaking to yourself and speaking to others. Practice imitating what you are listening to. Find texts with audio and listen to a phrase or sentence, then try to imitate the intonation without worrying too much about individual sounds. You may even want to record yourself to compare. If you can catch the rhythm of the language, not only will your control of tones improve, but your choice of words will also become more native-like.
When you speak, don’t second guess yourself on tones or any other aspect of the language. Just let the words and phrases you have heard and practiced flow out, mistakes and all. Every time you use the language, you are practicing and getting used to it. If you enjoy interacting in Chinese, if you enjoy getting in the flow, singing to the rhythm, then your Mandarin will continue to improve.
Don’t worry about mastering pronunciation at the beginning. We cannot pronounce what we don’t hear, nor imitate sounds and intonation that don’t resonate with us. In order to build up the ability to hear the language and feel the music of the language, we simply have to listen to hundreds or even thousands of hours and allow the brain to get used to the new language. You can’t rush this process. Instead, trust that you will gradually and naturally get better. Therefore, whatever stage you are at in Mandarin, just speak without fear and trust your instincts. If you continue your reading and listening activities, and if you continue speaking, your speaking skills will naturally improve.
Here you can read about: The best way to learn a language.
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So my sixth and last tip is just go for it and you’ll get the rhythm.
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Good luck!
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