A Step-By-Step Guide to Starting a Mandarin Class

Learning Mandarin Chinese is a skill that can be useful in many jobs, especially for those who do business with China, Taiwan, and Singapore. It can also be helpful for personal growth and cultural understanding.

Start by learning greetings and common words and phrases in a Mandarin Class or on your own. Then, get to work memorizing characters and building a vocabulary.

Get a Good Tutor

Your Mandarin tutor is the backbone of your learning experience, so you’ll want to take some time to find one that genuinely jives with you. Make sure that you can speak with them quickly and that you feel comfortable asking them questions. Ask them about their teaching philosophy and how they work with students of different ages.

It’s also essential that your Mandarin tutor can help you understand and pronounce the tones in Chinese. This vital language aspect can make or break your communication skills.

You’ll also want to find a tutor who is knowledgeable about Chinese culture and literature so that you can learn more about the country and its people. This will help to make the lessons more exciting and give you a more well-rounded understanding of the language.

A great site to find a Mandarin tutor, with an easy-to-use interface and many tutors. However, their customer support could be faster and have a lower hourly rate than other sites.

Get a Good Book

One of the most popular books in the market, this is an excellent guide for beginners. It covers everything from introducing yourself, ordering food, and traveling around the country. It also provides many idioms, which are only sometimes emphasized in other resources.

This textbook uses visual prompts and online audio clips to cover all the essential core language skills, including listening, reading, and writing. It introduces a simplified pinyin system, so it can be a good choice for those new to Chinese who want to spend less time on characters and the alphabet.

This book helps learners understand the basic patterns of Chinese grammar, which often need to be clarified for international students. It also encourages extensive reading, a powerful way to learn Mandarin, just like attending Mandarin class in Seattle. Many studies have shown that learners who engage in extensive reading can double their vocabulary acquisition. They see words in different contexts, making them more familiar and meaningful. It is also the best way to learn grammar and idioms.

Get a Good App

Your teacher will likely introduce a new weekly lesson in a traditional classroom setting. But when you learn Chinese independently, it’s up to you to remember and practice every day.

Thankfully, there are plenty of great apps available that can help you get ahead. For example, ChinesePod uses native audio and an innovative repetition system to build your speaking skills. It includes various language activities like dictation, listening practice, flashcards, and fill-in-the-blank exercises.

Pimsleur is another highly effective app that focuses on pronunciation. It breaks down each sound in Mandarin, teaches you how to use your mouth, tongue, and facial muscles to get it right, and helps tone out your foreign accent.

Other useful apps include Pleco, a mobile dictionary-in-your-pocket that offers simplified and traditional Chinese text and an extensive library of characters. Zizzle is a fun and engaging app with eye-catching graphics to help you digest new Mandarin characters through captivating storylines. It’s best suited for beginners to intermediate learners.

Get a Good Website

While some schools of learning encourage learners to start speaking from day one, most agree that you should begin by building your listening and reading comprehension. Listening to podcasts is a great way to do this. They offer lessons for newbies to advanced learners, and their mobile app lets you hear on the go!

Practicing your tones is also essential. As a tonal language, Mandarin has fewer sounds than English and relies on the pitch of each syllable to convey different ideas. A website has a tone drill that lets you practice the tones in various words, which helps you internalize them rather than just memorizing them as separate syllables.

Another helpful tool is the website, which collects all the necessary resources to learn Chinese. It features a range of resources for all levels, including a Chinese course channel with lessons from various teachers and websites. If you’re serious about learning, this is a must-have! Another unique resource is a patented algorithm that trains conversational fluency. 

Get a Good Class

Getting started on the right foot is crucial in learning a foreign language. The best way to do this is to be consistent and diligent in your daily practice. Unlike other languages, Chinese requires a lot of repetition to become fluent, and it’s easy to get discouraged if you don’t see immediate progress. To avoid this, start by learning a structured curriculum to allow you to review what you know each day.

This will help you develop your listening comprehension and improve your character recognition. Also, listen to Chinese podcasts geared towards your interests, as this will expose you to a broader range of vocabulary. You can also use an SRS app like Anki or Skritter to review and build on your learning.

In addition, try to spend at least two hours a day studying and practicing Chinese. This will give you the best chance of advancing quickly. If you are committed to these tips, you will soon see that the road to Mandarin Chinese literacy is within reach.