5 Key Steps to Start Learning Chinese Today

How to Start Learning Chinese Today - 5 Critical Steps

This article contains the first 5 key steps all new learners to Chinese Mandarin should consider when they first start learning to speak Chinese.

This article is written from my own experience of learning Chinese through primarily self teaching. I hope through this article to share my experiences and the advice I would offer to anyone looking to start learning the beautiful language of Chinese Mandarin.

Whilst brief and informative, you can find a much more detailed analysis of each of these points on the following article from Explore Chinese.

1. Tones

Chinese Mandarin is a tonal language, which differs from most Western languages. At first it can be an intimidating part of learning to speak Chinese but once practise and broken down, you can be speaking in perfect tones in no time.

So what are tones? Tones simply represent the way that a word is said. There are 4 tones to master, with the addition also of “no tone”.

Tones are a critical concept for Chinese learners to understand as using the wrong tone can drastically change the meaning of the word.

Be sure to learn about the tones and practise them with a native speaker or teacher to make sure you understand them when you start your Chinese learning journey.

2. The Characters and Pinyin

The second step is to meet the Chinese characters and Pinyin. Chinese words are represented with characters rather than letters, making it quite different from most European languages.

Luckily for us learning Chinese as a foreign language, Pinyin was introduced to make the learning process easier. Pinyin is the romanisation of Chinese characters, providing both the pronunciation and the tone, using the English alphabet.

Chinese characters are quite possibly the biggest concern of new learners starting to learn to read the Chinese language, but don't fret about it too much. The characters themselves are not totally random and they consist of a logical structure in most cases. Be sure to check out the Radicals that make up the characters to get a better understanding of the origins of the character.

3. Key Phrases

Key phrases should be one of the first things any new learner learns of any language. Phrases like “hello”, “thank you” and “good bye” form the basis of how you can start to use the language from the very first day.

It may seem a little peculiar and a little obvious at first, but I’m a firm believer that new Chinese learners should try to use Chinese from their very first lesson, taking from these key phrases. It has multiple benefits, including building confidence, giving you an output from your study and helping build familiarity with speaking the language.

I personally made this mistake in my own learning journey and waited too long before I started to speak with native Chinese speakers. The secret is that you will never be perfect until you start practising, and we all start from somewhere. The bonus is that most Chinese native speakers will be thrilled that you’re using Chinese Mandarin and be very supportive, so give it a go.

4. Build Vocabulary

Building vocabulary is important in all languages, but due to the Chinese characters adding a layer of complexity, it’s important to approach this in the right way.

I believe the right way is the use of spaced repetition apps. There are plenty of free apps on the app store today that can make learning Chinese vocabulary far more enjoyable than simply writing characters endlessly. I recommend either Pleco or Skritter.

The key use of these apps is to teach you, then test you at spaced intervals to ensure that the word or phrase is memorised. It is important to be able to recognise Chinese characters as well as remember the tone and how to say them, and these apps can go a long way in helping you do that.

5. Immersion

The last point on this list is immersion. This can take many different forms depending on each learner's situation, but it can be achieved in many ways thanks to the internet.

For me, an important step was making Chinese friends through apps like HelloTalk or Tandem. Being able to practise with a native really made a difference to my learning progress. You can also consider TV series and films, as well as music, all available on platforms like Youtube.

The benefit of native immersion is that you get the experience of how people actually speak Chinese with each other. Exams can be great and they have their place in learning, but the subsequent textbooks and curriculums usually have out-dated or unhelpful lessons that no one really uses anymore. This is even more extreme in today’s rapidly moving social climate.

Conclusion

So those are the 5 points on how you can start to learn Chinese today. Remember that it’s a long term goal. Define your personal reason for learning, set an achievable plan and you can learn to speak Chinese.