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Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Make sure you get my best language tips free by email... Please go and click the activation link in the email I sent you!! LEARN CHINESE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS Have you always wanted to learn Chinese? Or have you started learning it but found yourself running into a brick wall? If so, then this article is for you! Unfortunately, learning Mandarin Chinese has a reputation for being exceptionally difficult... But the truth is, it's not as hard as you think! In this article, I’ll show you how to: Learn Chinese the smart way Avoid common errors made by others ...and provide you with the exact steps I suggest you take when starting to learn the language.

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Page 1: How To Learn Chinese From Scratch: The Ultimate …To+Learn+Chinese+From+Scratch.pdfbest way to learn Chinese quickly. Learning Chinese requires a lot of hard work, but if you stick

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

Make sure you get my best language tips

free by email...

Please go and click the activation link in

the email I sent you!!

LEARN CHINESE: THE ULTIMATE

GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS

Have you always wanted to learn Chinese? Or have you started learning it but

found yourself running into a brick wall?

If so, then this article is for you!

Unfortunately, learning Mandarin Chinese has a reputation for being

exceptionally difficult...

But the truth is, it's not as hard as you think!

In this article, I’ll show you how to:

Learn Chinese the smart way

Avoid common errors made by others

...and provide you with the exact steps I suggest you take when starting to learn

the language.

Page 2: How To Learn Chinese From Scratch: The Ultimate …To+Learn+Chinese+From+Scratch.pdfbest way to learn Chinese quickly. Learning Chinese requires a lot of hard work, but if you stick

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All Rights Reserved.

Although there are a number of dialects of Chinese, the focus of this article will be

on Mandarin Chinese - the official dialect used in China. (It is also an official

language of Taiwan and Singapore.)

Here’s what we’ll cover in this article...

If you’ve ever asked yourself any of the following questions, then this article is for

you.

Why Should I Learn Chinese?

What Are The Key Features Of Chinese?

What Do I Need to Know About Chinese Culture?

Is Chinese Hard To Learn?

How Can I Get To Grips With The Chinese Writing System?

What Pitfalls Do I Need To Avoid As A Beginner Chinese Learner?

What’s The Best Way To Learn Chinese?

What Are The Best Resources For Learning Chinese?

I’ll start by telling you about the fundamental aspects of the Chinese language and

its culture. Then I'll look at one of the major challenges faced by all beginner

Chinese learners - the writing system. Finally, I’ll finish with my recommended

action steps to so you know the best way to learn Chinese quickly.

Learning Chinese requires a lot of hard work, but if you stick with it and practice

regularly, it's an amazing tool that will become an invaluable part of your life.

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WHY SHOULD I LEARN CHINESE?

With so many interesting foreign languages to learn, why choose Chinese? Let's

consider some of the main reasons you might choose to learn Chinese and the

benefits it brings.

1. Mandarin Is One Of The Most Widely Spoken Languages In

The World

You probably know that China has the world’s largest population, but did you

realise that over 15% of the people in the world speak Mandarin Chinese?

With roughly 1.2 billion speakers, Chinese is one of the world's most widely

spoken languages. It’s no exaggeration to say that as a Chinese learner, you’ll be

able to find people to practice speaking with anywhere and everywhere.

While most Chinese speakers reside in China, you can also find native speakers in

Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. And since there are millions of Chinese people

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living all over the world, you may even find native speakers in your local

community.

Linda, a reader from Canada (and a fluent Chinese speaker), recently wrote to me

about an experience she had when she was backpacking in eastern Germany

which highlights this:

On my first day, I found myself stranded at a train station.

I only knew beginner German and was relying on English as my main source of

communication (because who doesn’t know English these days?) But I soon

discovered most locals only spoke either Russian or German.

It was getting late, my Airbnb host wasn’t picking up the phone, and the old lady

at the information desk waved me away because she didn’t want to deal with me

in English.

I ended up finding a young Chinese student who I was able to ask for help in

Chinese!

Apparently, there are so many Chinese expats around the world nowadays that

you can find them anywhere, including small, obscure, eastern German towns.

Linda's story highlights that because there are so many Chinese speakers all over

the world, you'll discover that you can use the language almost anywhere and it's

quite easy to find people to practice speaking with.

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2. Chinese Is In High Demand Amongst Employers

From investment banks and technology giants to retail stores in popular tourist

destinations, companies everywhere are hiring employees who can speak

Chinese to cater to the growing number of Chinese consumers and tourists.

This is because, in the past decade, China has grown to become an economic

powerhouse. Its GDP reached a staggering 11.2 trillion USD in 2016, and there are

now more billionaires in China than in the United States!

The knock on effect is that an expanding Chinese middle class are going on

vacations abroad every year to relax, spend money, and experience new parts of

the world.

As an English speaker with fluent Chinese on your CV, the prospects of finding

interesting, well-paid work are limitless.

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3. You Can Use Chinese To Make More Meaningful

Connections With People

The career benefits of learning Chinese are enormous, but sometimes, it may not

be the work benefits that attract you to start learning a foreign language!

You learn because it is always an amazing feeling when you meet someone

abroad (or in your own community) with whom you share a common language. It

gives you a basis to form close friendships and an opportunity to learn about new

cultures, perspectives, and different ways of life.

Chinese is a language that will open doors for you and allow you to connect with

Chinese people and their culture on a much more personal and meaningful level.

4. Learning Mandarin Gives You Access To Authentic Chinese

Culture

Chinese history dates back over 5000 years and has a rich culture of art, music

and poetry.

These things can be enjoyed much more authentically when you understand the

Chinese language. Not only will you be able to better appreciate these works of

art themselves, you'll also have access to texts written about them in Chinese

which are not always translated into English.

And besides, the Chinese characters themselves are works of art and apart from

reading them, it can be a very satisfying feeling just learning to write them with

your own hand.

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5. Enjoy An Abundance Of Chinese TV Shows In Their Original

Language, Without Subtitles

Can’t wait for the next episode of the Game of Thrones? Why not consider

watching some Chinese historical dramas instead?

China has a reputation for entertaining, high-quality TV shows and by learning the

language you can enjoy these too.

The 2015 drama, Nirvana In Fire is the latest show to capture the attention of the

Chinese audience. The show is an epic tale about a young man seeking revenge

for a conspiracy that labelled his family as traitors and has been hailed as the

Chinese Game of Thrones.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

ABOUT CHINESE CULTURE

China is a vast country stretching from eastern Asia to the Middle East. As a result,

the Chinese culture as a collective is actually made up of cultural elements from

various different regional groups, each with their own cultures and customs.

As you set out to learn the Chinese language, it's vital to be familiar with the most

important elements of Chinese culture.

Knowing how, and why, certain things happen in China will only help you acquire

the language.

Chinese Cuisine

There is no national cuisine in China, nor is there a representative dish or recipe,

mainly because the country is so large! Instead, different regions have their own

styles of cooking.

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Perhaps the most commonly known cuisine outside of China is Cantonese cuisine.

Famous for its abundance of seafood and rice, as well as strong, sweet flavours, it

is the native cuisine of Hong Kong and Guangdong province in southern China.

Another popular style of Chinese cuisine is Sichuan, originating from the Sichuan

province in southwest China. This cuisine can be identified by its hot and spicy

tastes and the use of peppercorn that is found throughout the region.

If you have a favourite Chinese restaurant, knowing Chinese can help you

understand and appreciate what you are eating a little more. Believe it or not,

some famous dishes have poetic-sounding Chinese names, which lose their

meaning when translated into English.

For example, a famous dish in Sichuan cuisine is 鱼香肉丝 (yú xiāng ròu sī). This

name incorporates classic Chinese idioms which make the dish sound highly

appetizing to Chinese speakers.

However, when translated into English, the name of the dish becomes ‘fish-

flavoured pork’, which hardly sounds enticing!

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Chinese Holidays

Like many cultures with a long history, the Chinese have their own unique

calendar which dates back many thousands of years. The calendar itself is based

on phases of the moon, and each year is represented by a different animal of the

Chinese zodiac.

In fact, in China, the first day of the Gregorian calendar (January 1st) is not

celebrated as much as the first day of the Chinese calendar. The date of the

Chinese new year can fall anywhere from January 22 to February 19 on our

Gregorian calendar depending on the year.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated over a two-week period where everyone

travels back to their hometowns to be with their families.

Some common traditions include reunion dinners, visits to family and friends, and

the giving out of red envelopes to the children of the family. These envelopes

normally contain a small amount of money. The red colour of the envelope

represents good luck and is a symbol to ward off evil spirits.

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Another popular Chinese holiday is 清明 (qīng míng), which is known as Tomb-

Sweeping Day in English. It usually falls at the beginning of April and is a day for

honouring one’s ancestors by offering them paper money and food.

Knowing Chinese will help you appreciate the meaning and ritual of these Chinese

holidays, as well as what they mean for the people who celebrate them.

You’ll also learn a lot about the names of the holidays because in Chinese they are

often named with special characters that are poetic and use beautiful visual

imagery. As with the names of famous Chinese dishes, this beauty often gets lost

in translation.

For example, 清明 (qīng míng) literally translates into ‘pure and bright morning’,

and does not mean tomb-sweeping day at all.

Chinese Literature

Reading translated texts will never be the same as reading a work in its original

language. This is because when you read translated texts, you are no longer

getting a first-hand version of the story from the author. Instead, you are reading

the story through the lens of the translator.

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Mastering Chinese will unlock a whole new world of literature to you - you’ll no

longer have to rely on translations and you can appreciate these works in their

original form.

One collection of books many Chinese learners aspire to read are the Four Great

Classical Novels of Chinese Literature - 四大名著 (sì dà míngzhù).

These literary classics, beloved throughout China, are works of historical fiction

which are not only entertaining but will give you an interesting glimpse into

different periods of Chinese history:

三国演义 (Sānguó Yǎnyì) - Romance of the Three Kingdoms is historical fiction

based on the events around the end of the Han dynasty. It focuses on the lives of

the rulers of the three rival kingdoms who constantly fought for superiority.

水浒传 (Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn) - Water Margin is another work of historical fiction, this

time loosely based on the events during the end of the Song Dynasty. It features a

large cast of characters and details their efforts fighting against their Mongol

overlords.

西游记 (Xī Yóu Jì) - Journey to the West is perhaps the most popular of these

novels. Loved by both adults and children alike and has been widely adapted into

cartoons and live action movies for Chinese television. Set during the time of the

Silk Road, it features four interesting characters, on a mission to head west

towards India.

红楼梦 (Hónglóu Mèng) - Dream of the Red Chamber is the fourth classic of

Chinese literature. It centres on the lives of a prominent Chinese clan during the

Qing Dynasty. This novel is more drama than action and features a complex cast

of characters who actually lived during the era and are historically accurate.

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IS CHINESE HARD TO LEARN?

Chinese has the unfortunate reputation for being one of the hardest foreign

languages to learn.

However, thanks to modern technology and simplification of the characters,

learning Chinese is not as hard as you might think.

A lot of what makes Chinese intimidating for learners is that it uses a different

writing system and has less common vocabulary than most European languages.

But that doesn’t necessarily make it harder; just different.

In fact, you only need to learn around 2000 characters for basic fluency. Let’s say

you were to memorize 20 characters per week. You’d have mastered all the

characters you need for basic fluency within two years.

That doesn't sound quite so intimidating, does it?

Let’s look at some common myths about learning Chinese that are simply not true

to see why this beautiful language is easier to learn than it seems.

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Myth #1: Chinese Requires A Lot Of Rote Memorization

Of, course, learning Chinese requires some memorization - but you don’t actually

need to memorise as much as you might think. And when you do, there are much

more effective and enjoyable memory techniques you can use than the rote

memorization method you used in school.

Because Chinese has so many different characters, mastering written Chinese can

seem like an impossible task.

However, you’ll find that a lot of Chinese characters are actually ‘built’ from a set

of around 200 simpler characters.

For example, let’s consider the character for wood:

木 (mù)

If you know this character, it’s not difficult to learn the word for ‘forest’:

森林 (sēn lín)

As you can see, the first character in 'forest' is ‘森’ (sēn), which is simply three ‘木

(mù)' characters stacked together. The second character - 林 (lín) - is made up of

two more 木 (mù) characters standing side by side.

In this case, the 'forest' is quite literally made up of a bunch of 'trees'.

This connection makes it easy to memorise the word and you can use a simple

phrase like 'five trees make a forest' to remind yourself that 森林 (sēn lín) is made

up of five ‘木 (mù)' characters.

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As you can see, once you have learned one character, in this case, 木 (mù), it

becomes the building block for more characters that can be easily added to your

vocabulary.

This is a common occurrence in Chinese and it means that learning new

vocabulary is not quite as difficult as it may seem at the outset.

You don’t need to learn new characters every time you learn a new word. Once

you’ve learned about 150 of the most commonly used characters, you’ll find that

you can then use them as “building blocks” for many other words.

Myth #2: Typing In Chinese Is Extremely Difficult To Learn

Nowadays, learning a new language also means having to type in that language.

After all, sooner or later you’re probably going to want to chat online, search for

Chinese terms on google or even do work in Chinese. All of this is going require a

computer, or at least a smartphone.

Now you’re probably wondering: "If Chinese has thousands of characters, how on

earth do they all fit on a keyboard?"

Well, actually, they don’t.

Because there are so many characters in Chinese, there are simply not enough

keys on the keyboard to fit all of them. Instead, Chinese is typed using the

standard Qwerty keyboard via a romanization system called pinyin.

Today, pinyin is favoured in China over other romanization systems due to its

simplicity. As a beginner Chinese learner, you’re probably already familiar with

this system.

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So, for example, if you want to type the word ‘forest’ - 森林 (sēn lín) - into a

computer, you would simply type the pronunciation for forest using

the pinyin system - ‘senlin’.

Then, you can choose the correct characters from a drop down list of homonyms

that will appear on your screen.

Not so tricky, right?

If you have ever studied languages that use an entirely different alphabet, such as

Russian or Japanese, you’ll know that typing in a foreign language requires

practice. Often, this is because you have to relearn the entire keyboard layout

which is different from the standard QWERTY that you are used to.

However, the fact that Chinese uses the QWERTY keyboard with

the pinyin systems means that once you have a good grasp of the language,

learning to type it requires very little extra effort.

Myth #3: Chinese Is Difficult To Learn Because It Is Very

Different From European Languages

Although this is partially true, there are also many similarities between Chinese

and English in terms of the sentence structure and grammar.

For example, a simple sentence in Chinese consists of a subject, a verb, and an

object one after the other, just like in English as we saw earlier in this example:

我去学校 (wǒ qù xué xiào)

我 (I) 去 (go to) 学校 (school)

In fact, the Chinese language has no conjugations, verb tenses, or prefixes at all

and very few grammar rules.

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Characters stay the same no matter where they are used and there are no

singular/plural, feminine/masculine variations of words to remember.

Myth #4: Learning Chinese Is A Waste Of Time Because You’ll

Never Need It

For native English speakers in a world where everyone is striving for fluency in

English, spending time on Chinese may not seem like a wise choice.

Combined with the perception of Chinese as a difficult language that takes a long

time to learn, this puts many people off learning it.

However, this line of thinking greatly underestimates the value Chinese has in

both a business and cultural sense in the modern world.

Due to the rise of China as a global marketplace, having even a basic knowledge

of Chinese can open the door for amazing opportunities in your career.

And if you are planning on travelling to China anytime soon, you’ll find that

speaking Chinese will allow you to have a much more enjoyable and meaningful

experience.

This is because showing the locals that you have made an effort to learn their

language is a sign of respect. As you gain an understanding of their customs and

culture, you’ll find yourself rewarded for putting in the effort.

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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE

CHINESE WRITING SYSTEM

If you’re focused on speaking, you could easily spend quite a lot of time learning

Chinese without dipping a toe into the world of written Chinese.

However, you’ll probably realize sooner or later, that learning how to write

Chinese is inevitable if you want to truly master the language.

Before you start learning the Chinese writing system, you should know the two

types of systems that exist.

Traditional Chinese (正体字; zhèngtǐzì)

Simplified Chinese (简化字; jiǎnhuàzì)

Today, Simplified Chinese is the standard writing system used throughout

mainland China. However, the traditional writing system is still used in regions

outside the influence of communist leadership, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and

Singapore.

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Background of Simplified Chinese

The history of Simplified Chinese is closely related to the political climate during

the communist revolutions in China. In fact, it was adapted from the traditional

Chinese writing system by communist officials.

In the 1950s, as the communism was gaining popularity, the literacy rate in China

was a mere 20 percent. This is because only the upper class could afford to invest

in education and take the time to learn the difficult Chinese writing system.

To solve this problem, the communist leaders took drastic steps to modernize

China through the introduction of sweeping changes across the country.

One of these major changes was the simplification of the traditional writing

system into something that is commonly used throughout mainland China today.

In fact, this newly simplified writing system helped raise the literacy rate of

modern China to an all-time high of 96 percent.

Traditional or Simplified?

If you are planning on learning how to write in Chinese, you’ll have to choose

which writing system you want to learn.

The most common and logical step for foreigners learning the language is to start

with the simplified system, although there are pros and cons to each system that

should be taken into consideration.

Simplified Chinese is easier to learn and remember, as it uses fewer strokes

compared to its traditional counterpart. For example, the character for ‘horse’ - 马

(mǎ) - is written with three strokes in Simplified Chinese, while its traditional

counterpart, 馬 (mǎ) requires ten strokes.

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Critics of the simplified Chinese writing system argue that it is not aesthetically

pleasing compared to the traditional writing system. Although this is true to some

degree, new learners of the Chinese characters will find the simplified system less

time consuming to write and a lot easier to learn.

In this article, I have used the simplified writing system in all of the examples as it

is the standard form used in China nowadays.

You can look up the traditional counterparts of any of the examples by copying

and pasting the characters into google translate, and changing the setting from

Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese.

It is also worth noting that not all characters have a simplified version. For

example, one character that is written the same way in both systems is 我 (wǒ), or

me, which contains seven strokes.

Keep in mind that by choosing to learn the simplified system, you are not learning

the traditional Chinese characters that have been passed down over thousands of

years. However, the benefit of learning the simplified system is that it makes the

learning process a lot simpler and allows you to start reading and writing in

Chinese much more quickly.

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Radicals and Phonetics

No matter which system you choose to learn, traditional or simplified, the essence

of written Chinese is still the same.

This is because both the traditional and simplified Chinese writing systems are

composed of a set of radical characters that can be combined with one or more

phonetic portions to make compound characters.

The character for wood - 木 (mù) - is an example of a radical.

These radicals are core characters which can then be used to build other related

words. So any compound characters you see that contain ‘木‘ (mù) as their radical

have a meaning that is related to wood.

An obvious example would be the character for ‘tree’, or 树 (shù), which is

composed of the radical 木 (mù) followed by the compound characters 又 (yòu)

and 寸 (cùn).

Another example is the word 森林 (sēn lín), meaning forest.

From these examples, you can see that complicated Chinese characters are

actually made up of combinations of simpler characters.

If you master these simple characters at the beginning, they become the

foundation for learning more characters, which makes your journey into written

Chinese a lot smoother.

There is a kind of a snowball effect with each new character you learn making

other new characters easier to pick up.

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How To Learn The Chinese Writing System

Besides learning the radicals from the beginning, there are also a few other things

that can help you master written Chinese a lot more quickly and easily.

For a start, using flashcards is a great way to learn new characters. Repetition is

an essential part of the memorization process and I am a big believer in having

a reliable repetition system to help me practice. Flashcards are ideal for this since

they allow you to learn and review words anytime, anywhere.

You may find that reviewing your flashcards regularly is enough to get the

characters to stick in your mind. However, it’s also a good idea to practice writing

out the characters on paper in order to cement them in your long term memory.

When doing this it’s good to learn the order of the strokes as well, since they are

the foundation for organization systems used in Chinese dictionaries.

You can master the stroke orders by looking the characters up online or following

the exact orders given in your textbooks.

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Most importantly, start by learning the basic 150 characters that are commonly

used to form more complicated characters. Some examples of these include:

木 (mù) - wood

小 (xiǎo) - little

女 (nǚ) - female

大 (dà) - big

天 (tiān) - sky

Learn these base characters first and you’ll not only give yourself a strong

foundation in written Chinese, you’ll also be able to learn additional characters

much more quickly and easily.

For a deeper look at the Chinese writing system, read this post.

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5 PITFALLS TO WATCH OUT FOR AS

A BEGINNER CHINESE LEARNER

When you first start learning Chinese, it may be hard to know where to start.

After all, the hardest foreign language you’ll ever learn is your first one.

Once you know how to learn a language, it becomes a lot easier to make

consistent progress.

If your goal is to learn Chinese and quickly and efficiently as possible, these tips

will help you avoid some of the most common mistakes that many new language

learners make:

1. Don’t Ignore Chinese Tones

Tones are probably the most important aspect of learning Chinese.

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As a beginner, it’s easy to gloss over tones and not give them the attention they

deserve. But if you do, you’ll struggle to understand people and be understood.

Without them, the Chinese language becomes meaningless.

To illustrate this point, let’s look at the syllable ‘ma’.

Spoken with the first tone this word means ‘mother’, whereas when spoken with

the third tone it means ‘horse’:

妈 (mā)

马 (mǎ)

As a result, mixing these two tones up can have drastic results when you are

speaking, as a sentence about your mother can suddenly sound like a sentence

about your horse!

Now there’s a mistake that could land you in hot water fast!

2. Don’t Memorize Random Chinese Vocabulary Lists

This is a common pitfall that I always emphasize to those trying to learn a foreign

language.

It’s a waste of time to aimlessly memorize vocab lists, especially as they tend to be

lists of obscure words that are often not relevant to you.

Instead, focus on identifying the topics you want to be able to talk about and

learning the most important vocabulary you need to do so. This way you will learn

useful words and speak in a more natural way.

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3. Don’t Forget To Practice A Little Every Day

With Chinese, as with any other skill, you have to be committed to your end goal

and be diligent every day in your practice.

It may not seem like it sometimes, but every effort (no matter how small) adds up

in the long run.

To illustrate this, let’s say you start by sitting down for thirty minutes each day to

learn new characters. By the end of the week, you’ll have spent three and a half

hours studying Chinese - quite an accomplishment if you are working or studying

full-time!

By practising for even just a few minutes each day, you’ll see faster results than if

you’re haphazard in your learning.

You can make studying Chinese a daily habit through goal setting and by tracking

your daily progress. You can also talk about your goals and plans with a study

partner or friend who can keep you on the right track.

4. Don’t Neglect The Power Of Repetition

This is a common mistake for learners and it’s completely understandable. It’s

much more exciting to move onto something new than repeat things you’ve

already studied.

But repetition is an important part of learning any language. Without it, you may

move on to the advanced material faster, but it’s like building a house on sand.

Without the strong foundation you build by repeating and mastering the basics,

you won’t be able to get very far with more difficult material.

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The extra time you spend repeating vocabulary is what will help it really stick in

your memory so you don’t end up tongue-tied when it’s time to speak.

FIVE STEPS TO LEARN CHINESE

FOR BEGINNERS Perhaps you’re feeling excited and ready to start learning Chinese but are unsure

how or where to start.

Let’s look what you should be doing as a beginner to take your first steps.

If you’re wondering how to learn beginner’s Chinese from scratch, here’s exactly

what I would recommend you do:

1. Get A Good Chinese Textbook

Getting a good textbook is key to unlocking the powers of a new foreign language.

You can find one by going to your local bookstore, borrowing from your local

library, or ordering one online.

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I personally find it helpful to go to my local library and borrow as many language

textbooks as I can to go through at home before I commit to buying a particular

one.

Not only do I save money this way, I can also research what types of books are

out there and choose which style best suits my needs.

Choose a book with plenty of dialogues and audio, so you can spend as much

time as possible listening to spoken Chinese.

Try and find something that gets you excited. The more motivated you are to sit

down and learn the better.

2. Learn Chinese Fundamentals First

It’s important to have a strong foundation in the basics of the language before

you try to tackle more difficult material.

In Chinese, tones are perhaps the most fundamental part of mastering the

language. If you are a native English speaker, chances are you won’t have come

across tones before, so it will take you some time to get the hang of them.

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You should start by focusing on tones and really mastering each one. This is best

done through lots of exposure to the language combined with practice speaking.

Chinese is very different to English, so you've got to spend tonnes of time simply

listening and reading in order to get used to the language.

Give yourself a few months of broad exposure to the language, so the sounds and

systems of Chinese can start to bed down in your brain and become familiar.

3. Memorise Key Chinese Phrases

Another important language building fundamental is building your vocabulary.

The more words and phrases you know, the easier it becomes to understand the

language as words and phrases are the building blocks of communication.

Learning key phrases means mastering those structures commonly used in

everyday life, such as ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, and ‘how are you?”.

These phrases are the key to opening up new conversations with potential

language partners because they allow you to make basic introductions about

yourself.

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To get you started, I have created a guide with expertly selected phrases to

master the basics of survival mandarin. You can find it in the resources section of

this post.

As you learn more of these phrases, you can start to string them into longer

sentences so you can participate in conversations with other speakers you meet.

4. Focus On Building Your Vocabulary Above All Else

In order to speak and understand Chinese you're going to need words - and lots

of them!

Focusing too much on grammar or learning characters can paralyze you during

your early attempts to speak the language. This is why I am a big advocate for

really focusing on learning useful vocabulary and putting these words or phrases

you have learned into conversation practice.

By putting your focus on building vocabulary above all else, you learn to express

your thoughts as best you can, and feel less feel self-conscious about making

mistakes.

Thankfully, with Chinese, there's very little grammar to learn since the language

does not have many grammar rules, to begin with.

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This makes it easy to focus on building your vocabulary from the very beginning

because you don't have to spend hours figuring out rules for how to use the new

words you learn.

5. Find Chinese People To Speak With

The final and most important step in learning any language is that you

must practise using it.

This is obviously the key to improving your spoken Chinese but it’s also important

if you want to better your pronunciation and listening skills.

You might not want to speak right at the start, but don't wait too long. Sooner or

later you're going to need to put what you're learning into practice. Here's how...

You can search online for language meet-up events or look for conversation

partners on sites like conversationexchange.com (I find face to face language

exchanges tend to be more serious and last longer).

You may also be able to find native Chinese speakers in your local community by

joining a local language exchange group or looking for cultural events.

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Or, if you prefer, you can always use a site like italki to hire a private Chinese tutor

for an affordable hourly fee.

No matter what you do, choosing to practice with a native Chinese speaker will

greatly improve your own Chinese speaking skills and allow you to start having

real, life-changing experiences in the language.

RESOURCES TO LEARN CHINESE

ONLINE AND OFFLINE

There is a very wide variety of materials available for helping English speakers

learn Chinese.

To close out this article, I’m going to provide you with recommendations for some

of the best materials I've come across for learning Chinese. Whether you plan to

learn Chinese online, or you prefer to use traditional materials, I'm confident

you'll find some great resources here to help you get started.

Starting Out With Chinese

Survive in Chinese - Travelling to China or Taiwan? With my popular guide, you'll

learn survival Chinese in 2 weeks or less - guaranteed! This is the perfect guide for

beginner's who want to get started in the language or travellers who need to

learn the basics fast.

Chinese Podcasts

ChineseClass101 - A comprehensive online Chinese course, with lots of great

dialogues and other material to help you learn natural Chinese. My favourite part

is the "line-by-line clickable dialogues" which are great for learning to understand

fast spoken Chinese.

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Learn How To Speak Chinese

italki - This is my favourite website for finding teachers and affordable tutors to

help practise my Chinese. I use italki literally every day to get that all-important

speaking practice that helps me stay fluent.

Chinese Audio For Listening Practice

Conversations - Do you struggle to understand fast, spoken Mandarin Chinese?

Conversations helps you understand real Chinese & transform your listening skills

in less than 90 days.

Glossika - Glossika Mass Sentences is an incredible resource for serious Japanese

learners who want to learn to understand and speak their new language quickly. I

use Glossika with every new language I learn, and it helps me get used to all the

different sounds and grammatical structures of the language.

FluentU - FluentU is an extensive library of Chinese videos, with interactive bi-

lingual subtitles, looping functionality, a hover-dictionary ... and much more! If you

love watching Chinese TV and movies, you'll love FluentU.

Learn & Practice The Chinese Writing System

Skritter - The app used by the experts to learn to write Chinese characters. The

Skritter app is so addictive, you won't want to stop practising. You'll learn to

master the stroke order and soon be comfortable writing hundreds of Chinese

characters.

HelloTalk - HelloTalk is one of the few language learning apps I actually use and

recommend! With a user base of millions of people, you can quickly find friends to

start practising with! It's worth upgrading to the paid version of the app to get

access to all the cool translation features.

Chinese Dictionary

Pleco - The world's best Chinese Dictionary App. Look up words on the go or

during your Chinese conversations with this handy and comprehensive Chinese

dictionary.

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NOW YOU ARE READY TO START

LEARNING CHINESE!

Chinese is a very rewarding language to learn, and it’s a lot easier than you may

realize.

Not only is learning Chinese is a rewarding process that opens doors for your

career, it also enables you to make meaningful connections with the people

around you - be it on your travels in China or in your local community at home.

When you learn Chinese, you’re learning more than just a new language.

You’re learning about a unique culture - different from your own.

You’re gaining an insight into an ancient country that’s becoming a modern global

power.

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And you’re opening yourself up to communicate in a meaningful way with millions

of people across the globe who speak the Chinese language.

All your hard work and determination will pay off big time when you’re having

real, life-altering conversations with Chinese people you could never have

communicated with before.

So what are you waiting for? There is no better time than now to get started!

I hope you’ve found this post helpful!

If you have a friend learning Chinese, please take a moment to share this post

with them, it would mean a lot to me! (You can click here to send a Tweet!)