Best strategy to self-study Mandarin?

[PanShiBo]

If you learned Mandarin by yourself can you share these things?

1. what worked?

2. what didn't work?

3. what most important computer tools do you use?

4. how much time were you spending a week, a day?

5. what was the hardest part?

6. was it worth of efforts? (or going to school would be better)

By learning Mandarin I mean getting to be able to pass a given HSK level 1,2,..

[yellowpower]

Hi

think it's best that you try to understand what your own learning style is and what works for you, and to know your own learning objectives. What works for others may not work or be right for you.

Best to start with your area of interest or strength...is it reading, writing, listening, speaking? What's your most important goal in learning the language, short and long term? Then try to find materials/things that will hold your interest, though at the beginning like any learner of any language there is the inescapable boring repetitive stuff of the basics that you need to master for further studies. Devote time to hanyu pinyin and try to get the tones right, and a private tutor to sort out some other basics if your budget allows.

I like to listen to music, so in the beginning I started to listen to chinese pop even though I couldn't understand much, BUT I wanted to so I started finding the lyrics, checked the meanings of words, etc...so this was a starting point.

The most difficult thing is putting in the time, learning from mistakes, and keeping at it. There's no perfect learning curve or any real shortcuts ,it's trial and error and hard work. Persistence will pay off.

Most important is to have fun and enjoy it.

[googed]

I'll also recommend the old but still the most useful Chinese learning resource of all: FSI Standard Chinese - a Modular Approach (developed by the DoD). Again, you might need to start first with Pimsleur to give you a grasp of tones, though.

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Chinese

Maybe all I can say is you have to learn characters if you don't want to remain illiterate and stuck in the beginner phase forever. (学拼音也好 不学拼音也好 汉子总得学 Get a book like Heisig's "Remembering Simplified Hanzi" on Amazon (if your book sources fall from the back of truck, you just need to search more). It teaches the most frequently occurring characters by breaking them down into 'primitives' (radicals etc) and using a story-telling mnemonic device to aid memory.

Combine it with an audiobook in Chinese and see how the characters are used in real context.

Lastly, unlike the last comment, I wouldn't recommend listening to Chinese (pop) music, they are horrible and, worse, since they are in the 'wrong' tones, you should master common real speech tones first else you might end up learning the wrong tones instead.

[roddy]

5. what was the hardest part?

Fixing all the bad habits I acquired through self-study.

[amandagmu]

Find a native speaker to patiently help you through the pronunciation, tones, and general conversation practice. You can do this through Skype lessons (for a fee), a local university with Chinese exchange students (do an exchange or pay them/treat them to lunch), or just find some people in China who want to learn English but whose level isn't too high (that way you both will need to work!). It's hard at the beginner level, so might want to start with forced lessons first. But you need another person to help you/tell you when you say or don't say a word correctly.

[Shelley]

Hello,

I have been studying Chinese by myself for about 25 years now. I have done most of it with computers and books, But I have also taken private lessons and have attended two seperate partime university courses, one at the beginng of my studies for a year, then about 15 years by myself and going to private lessons and then a couple of years ago I did another university course partime and achieved a pass at Stage 2a. I stopped attending the course due to other things, and also I had got what I wanted from it ( a guage of my abilities). If you are thinking of self study I would recommend using a wide variety of sources, books and computer programs. Also take a partime course at the beginng to help stop those bad habits Roddy mentioned As I study for pleasure, this approach may not suit everyone as it takes more time. Good luck Shelley

[Gleaves]

I'll bite. Not meant as advice per se, but these are my answers.

1. what worked? Finding native material I liked - comics, novels, shows, games. Tutors.

2. what didn't work? Textbooks.

3. what most important computer tools do you use? Pleco, anki, and MDBG.

4. how much time were you spending a week, a day? 2-3 hours a day (of watching shows and reading, with some flashcarding).

5. what was is the hardest part? Keeping skills balanced. Keeping speaking on par with listening on par with reading. Writing? What's writing?

6. was it worth of efforts? (or going to school would be better) Sure. Perfect hobby. I basically just watch/read things I like.

[Silent]

I'm not entitled to answer the question as my language skills are still extremely basic.

I started out last January with trying all kinds of things. I liked Rosetta Stone, but after a couple of lessons I strongly felt that I managed to give correct answers, but that I made little progress. Also I felt that I learned no characters at all. The end of februari I discovered Anki and used it about a week before I went on vacation in March during which I did very little.

Early april I picked it up again and studied hard mainly with Anki. Probably a bit too much focused on vocabulary. Beside Anki I tried to read a little. Which I failed, but really saw progress in the number of Characters I recognised. I also watched Chinese movies with English subs and sometimes English and simplified subs.

Lately I study mainly sentences in Anki and do a bit more reading. Also try to do more intensive listening (instead of just hearing). Got through the subs of Let the bullits fly and to my surpises there were only 40-50 characters/words I didn't know. I study them now and want to watch the movie in Chinese with only Chinese subs. Only have to find a way to sync subs with video. (The tool I'm used to to fix subs fail)

I believe the kickstart by learning characters was golden. I found it was really motivating as I saw real progress in the number of characters I knew and I recognized in text. Now with over 1000 characters studied the progress is far less clear. But simple texts can, though slow, be read fairly well. My main trap now is that for harder text it is often easier to use the mouseover than to really read it.

The result maybe very focused on reading. Considering my practical Chinese skills now compared to the English and French language skills I picked up in years of formal study in my teens I think I do quite well. Nevertheless there's still a long way to go.

[xiaotao]

Reading Chinese editions of western books - one chapter a day

Pleco, MDBG

Watching chinese programs for cultural enrichment. I listen to Chinese radio everyday.

I think reading is the most effective way of getting better at Chinese, (particularly if you are not in an Chinese environment)

Sitting in class is not appealing to me at this time in my life but I did take a couple of classes years ago.

The hardest part is retaining vocabulary and making time for Chinese on a regular basis.

[jkhsu]

The hardest part is retaining vocabulary and making time for Chinese on a regular basis.

That's so true. I think the key is to get to a level where you can read newspapers, books and watch Chinese TV easily and do these things consistently on a daily basis not as a chore but as something you really like to do. Otherwise, you have to constantly fight to keep not forgetting what you've just learned. I'm not there yet but that's the strategy I'm following.

[PanShiBo]

5. what was the hardest part?

To keep believing it was possible.

[fritz]

My take (self-studying for the past year):

1. a) bringing dictionary with you at all times eg through mobile software B) getting the correct pronunciation right before trying to speak c) listening to tapes of the same text passages you've already studied d) most importantly: complete immersion, watching TV-shows reading newspapers etc. It doesn't matter if you don't understand half of it, having seen the word before helps you memorising it when you look it up in a dictionary afterwards

2. Memorising word lists before the HSK, 2 weeks afterwards I forgot it all...

3. Plecodict, Zhongwen pop-up dictionary for Chrome, Caixin, Nanfang Zhoumo, Sina Weibo on iPhone. PPS is key too

4. After work 1-2 hours per weekday, 5 hours per weekend.

5. As I've been speaking European languages only, keeping up correct pronunciation... I already gave up on writing a long time ago

6. Very modest improvements for me the past year self-studying, so if I had the chance at decent price I would definitely take classes... Going to school gives you discipline, challenge, competition with classmates etc... I would suggest you start studying in class and once you've reached a decent level (with correct pronunciation etc) continue with self-study.

[c_redman]

1. what worked?

Starting with Pimsleur. It was and continues to be beneficial to have decent pronunciation from the beginning. But with Chinese, it was helpful to be aware of Chinese pronunciation before starting it, so that I could appreciate hearing and speaking x vs. sh or q vs. ch and the unusual r sound.

After that, learning frequent words and the HSK wordlists through spaced repetition software. I also learn the correct tones for every word.

2. what didn't work?

"Immersion," i.e., watching videos or listening to audio without understanding anything. It's worse than nothing because I just got accustomed to not understanding anything.

I also tried an NPCR textbook, and it wasn't very helpful. Exercises like substitution drills seem like learning, but I just feel it's working the wrong cognitive functions, and not productive for learning the language.

3. what most important computer tools do you use?

Anki, Wenlin, Skritter, Kindle ebooks, homemade text parsing programs. Now that I'm starting with listening practice: Tatoeba audio flashcards, Audacity, Transcriber, online radio stations, Kylin TV (IPTV).

4. how much time were you spending a week, a day?

Maybe 45 to 90 minutes a day.

5. what was the hardest part?

Listening ability. Reading, writing, and speaking are all attainable with the right amount of work. Listening also requires work, but also relies on a critical mass of magic brain connections kicking in (which I'm still waiting for), and it needs to happen in real-time.

6. was it worth of efforts? (or going to school would be better)

I tend to do well in classes, so it may have been more efficient. But by emphasizing textbooks and de-emphasizing SRS and flashcards, it would have been a very different experience.