Ultimate China Guide: How to Teach English, Travel, Learn Chinese, & Find Work in China by Nick Lenczewski

Author:Nick Lenczewski [Lenczewski, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-03-10T05:00:00+00:00

Study Plan

Now that you have a basic idea of what learning Mandarin consists of and some resources for learning it, I want to give you a brief study plan for effectively learning Mandarin. I’ll go over listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as give general tips for learning.

Find a good resource or resources to listen to and start repeating what is said. I recommend trying a few different things to see what works best for you. Pimsleur, Yoyo Chinese, Chinese Pod, and Chinese Learn Online are all good options. I used Pimsleur.

Get a grammar book and start looking through it. Pay special attention to the beginning of the book, which will probably have a pinyin table, basic grammar, and table of tones. Go online and find a pinyin table that allows you to listen to how each sound is said when you click on it. Spend three weeks doing these two tasks for thirty minutes a day and you will have completed the basic groundwork for learning Mandarin. This will mostly be review of the same material again and again until it makes sense.

Find a teacher and have them write down common words and phrases you would like to know in pinyin. Phrases could include: “How much is this?”, “I want this one,” “I’m a teacher,” “Thank you,” and “No.”

Practice using your phrases with other people: taxi drivers, shop owners, waitresses, security guards, etc. This is when the key learning will happen and when you will gain the confidence to realize that it’s actually possible to learn enough Mandarin to get around if you go about learning the right way. Experiment with new phrases by substituting in and out different words. Instead of saying, “I like noodles,” trying asking “Do you like noodles?” using only the words you already know. If you’ve studied enough basic grammar and are comfortable with these simple words, you will probably know how to formulate this new sentence and be understood.

Once you feel comfortable with basic listening and speaking, it’s okay to start learning some key characters. Start by learning the simple-looking characters as you will have already learned their pronunciation and meaning. Many of these characters are also radicals, so you will now know the characters that make up more complex characters. From here, you will be ready to start learning place names and food names. If you have not already asked your teacher how to say the place names and food names that are most useful to you, do so now. These are the characters that will be most useful to learn since you will need to keep an eye out for them at train stations, airports, bus stations, and restaurants.

With your dictionary and teacher as guides, start reading a short children’s book. The simpler the better at this point. If there is a book made for a three-year-old, get that. Write down the pronunciations of characters you don’t know while going through the book sentence by sentence. Go back and review often.

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