Besides Arabic, Polish, and Russian, Chinese Mandarin becomes one of the most difficult languages to learn. Though knowing this language is not easy, many people still decide and willing to learn it. One of many reasons is because Mandarin is among the most spoken language. While learning a new language is a long journey, we’ve compiled the do’s and don’ts during your Mandarin class that will be very helpful for you, especially beginners.
Do Get a Teacher
The teacher will give you a great curriculum, correct you when you are wrong, and discipline you. That is why, even if you are planning to take an online Mandarin class, get yourself an online teacher. Many words in Chinese Mandarin have different tones, and each tone has a different meaning. Another great thing about having a teacher is they will encourage you when you feel down throughout the learning process. That is why getting a tutor can benefit your Mandarin goal.
Do Improve in Every Aspect
When you decide to learn Mandarin, you cannot only master the conversation aspect or writing aspect. You need to focus and improve in the four skills, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. All skills are linked to one another. When you try to pronounce certain words, you will be aware of how to say them correctly after learning how to write those words and understand the difference of each Chinese character.
Do Consistently Make Time to Study
There is nothing instant when it comes to learning a new language, especially Chinese Mandarin. Therefore, be consistent with your daily study habit. Revising your learning material is important as well. Instead of taking two days in a week to study, you should immerse yourself in Mandarin every day.
If you have a pretty busy schedule, spend an hour in a day listening to a Chinese podcast, speak to your Chinese native friends, or sing Mandarin songs. They will contribute a lot to your improvement. The key is to keep you motivated.
Don’t Learn Every Individual Character
Don’t burden yourself with trying to read and write each Chinese character. Start by learning with bigrams. Because most Chinese words are made of more than one character, it will be easier to learn the Chinese two-character combination. If you learn each character, the meaning will seem vague for you.
Don’t Just Memorize
You may be randomly picked words and start memorizing them. Unfortunately, those words might be forgotten within months. Therefore, memorization is great, but it won’t work unless you know when and how to use them. Instead of memorizing words, phrases, or sentences, it will work better to comprehend the sentence structure and decide what vocab you can add. It also gives you long-term memory.
So there you have it! Pay attention to the do’s and don’ts above for a good start as you take Mandarin class. Still so, never afraid to make mistakes and keep improving because, again, learning a new language is not a short process. So keep learning!
English