I would like to learn how to speak/read Chinese
casey.johnson
February 19, 2011, 04:41 AM posted in General DiscussionHey, I was told about this site by a friend who is in China. I am living in the United States and am a native speaker of English. I will be taking trips to China during the summers. So I would really like to learn Chinese!! Any help/knowledge to get started is appreciated! I know this is one of the hardest languages to learn.
yaosiyi
February 19, 2011, 10:37 AMI have lived here (in China) for a few years and tried on and off many different programs, books, C.D's and of course just immersion into the Chinese lifestyle. I have so far found Chinese Pod the best way to learn along with just talking Chinese everyday whenever I can. Living here I have found that I can understand much much more than I can actually speak and it is only now that I am truely making an effort to speak more (always takes me ages to do something properly) I have only been using Chinese pod for a couple of weeks and I decided to start at newbie level and concentrate on Hanzi and not only speaking. The lessons really give you a real taste of China and not just a boring lesson. I guess all the little bits and pieces of Chinese I have done in the last few years have helped but in a nutshell, I think 1) Chinese pod 2) talk, talk, talk, talk Chinese as much as you can, even if it is to your dog or cat, just keep speaking Chinese.
Best of luck on your adventure into Chinese :-)