How to Learn

How to Learn Chinese

Learning to speak Chinese isn't rocket science.
There are some things you can do to make it
painless or nearly so. You should speak to Chinese
people when you get a chance, and in their native
tongue. Doing so can improve your Chinese fluency
quickly.
Learning to Speak Chinese

1
Learn some basic vocabulary. The first thing to do
when learning a new language is to memorize some
simple yet important words and start practicing with
them as soon as possible. Although things like
 grammar and sentence structure are important, they
mean nothing until you develop a basic vocabulary.
Here's a short list to get you started:
 Hello = nǐhǎo, pronounced [nee hauw] With 2 third
tones. Not "ho" or "how" somewhere in the middle.
Listen to a native speaker as a reference.
 Yes = shì, pronounced [sher]" But not as in "sure".
ALWAYS listen to a native speaker, as describing
with English pronunciations in the learners minds will
be difficult.
 No = bú shì, pronounced [boo sher] look above.
 Goodbye = zài jiàn, pronounced [zai jee-ian]
 Morning = zǎoshàng, pronounced "[zauw-shaung-
hauw]"
 Afternoon = xià wǔ, pronounced There is almost no
clear way to describe the "x" in pinyin with English
pronunciations. Look it up and listen to a native
speaker say it. Contrary to popular misinfomation,
the "x" DOESN'T AT ALL sound like "sh"!
 Evening = wǎn shàng, pronounced [wang shaung]
 Head = tóu, pronounced [toe] with a 2nd tone, that
goes up.
 Feet = jiǎo, pronounced [jee-yau]
 Hands = shǒu, pronounced [show] With a 3rd tone,
this goes from neutral to lower to neutral.
 Beef = niú ròu, pronounced [nee-o row] but not with
the soft "r", more defined "r".
 Chicken = jī, pronounced [jee]
 Egg = jī dàn, pronounced [jee dan] "dan" has a 4th
tone, that goes down. Slightly forceful sounding. (not
too forceful sounding!)
 Noodles =miantiao pronounced [miàn tiáo]
 Always look up pronunciations of every word spoken
by a native speaker. Most Mandarin pinyins just
simply cannot be described perfectly with English
sounds!
2
Learn some basic phrases. Once you've built up a
little vocabulary, you can start working on some
basic phrases and expressions that will help you to
navigate everyday conversations. Here's a few to
get you started:
 How are you? = nǐ hǎo ma? pronounced [nee hau
mah] (see above for pronunciations)
 I'm fine = wǒ hěn hǎo, pronounced [wuh hen hau]
 Thank you = xiè xiè, pronounced There is almost no
clear way to describe the "x" in pinyin with English
pronunciations. Look it up and listen to a native
speaker say it. Contrary to popular misinfomation,
the "x" DOESN'T AT ALL sound like "sh"! The "ie"
part sounds close to "yieh"
 You're welcome = bú yòng xiè, pronounced [boo
yong xi-yeh]
 Sorry = duì bu qǐ, pronounced [dway boo qi] Like
with the Mandarin "x" a proper pronunciation
described with English letters is almost impossible.
As always, I can't stress enough the importance of
looking up native speakers pronouncing the pinyin.
 I don't understand = wǒ bù dǒng, pronounced [wuh
boo dong]
 What is your surname (family name)? = nín guì
xìng, pronounced [neen gway xing] (I'm sure you
know by now why I just put "x" instead of the
phonetics.)
 What's your name? = nǐ jiào shén me míng zì,
pronounced [nee-jee-yow shen-ma ming zi]"
 My name is _____ = wǒ jiào _____,
pronounced [wuh jee-yau]
 3
Learn the tones. Chinese is a tonal language,
which means that the same word can mean different
things depending on the tone used to express them
(even if the spelling and pronunciation are the
same). This can be difficult for English speakers to
grasp, but learning the tones is essential if you want
to speak Chinese properly. There are four major
tones in Mandarin Chinese, as well as a neutral
tone:
 The first tone is a high, flat tone. It is expressed in a
relatively high voice, with no rising or dipping. Using
the word "ma" as an example, the first tone is
expressed in writing as "mā".
 The second tone is a rising tone. It starts at a lower
level and gets progressively higher, like when you
say "huh?" in English. The second tone is expressed
in writing as "má".
 The third tone is a dipping tone. It starts at a
medium level, then dips lower before rising again,
like when you say the letter "B" or the word "horse"
in English. The third tone is expressed in writing as
"mǎ".
 The fourth tone is a falling tone. It starts at a
medium level and gets progressively lower, like
when you are giving a command (such as telling
someone to "stop") in English. The fourth tone is
expressed in writing as "mà".
 The fifth tone is a neutral tone. It does not rise or
fall, like the first tone, but this tone is expressed in a
flat voice.. The fifth tone is expressed in writing as
"ma".
4
Work on your pronunciation. Once you have
learned the correct pronunciation of the tones by
listening to native speakers (Youtube is good for
this) and practicing them yourself, you need to work
on applying them to words.
 This is essential, as the same word can have a
completely different meaning depending on which
tone is used. For example, using the tone "mā"
instead of "má" could be the difference between
saying "I want cake" and "I want coke" -- two
completely different meanings.
 Therefore, when you're learning vocabulary, it is not
enough to learn the pronunciation, you must also
learn the correct tone. Otherwise you could use the
word in the wrong context and be completely
misunderstood.
 The best way to work on your pronunciation is to
speak with a native Chinese speaker who can
encourage you when you get it right and correct you
when you're wrong.
5
Work on grammar and sentence structure. It's a
common misconception that Chinese is a "grammar-
less" language. Chinese has quite a complex
grammar system, it's just very different to that of
English and other European languages.
 Luckily, when learning Chinese you will not have to
learn any complicated rules involving verb
conjugations, agreement, gender, plural nouns or
tense. Chinese is a very analytic language, which
makes it quite simple and straightforward in some
respects.
 Another bonus is that Chinese uses a similar
sentence structure to English -- subject-verb-object -
- which makes translating back and forth between
the two languages somewhat easier. For instance,
the sentence "he likes cats" in English is translated
as "tā (he) xǐ huan (likes) māo (cats)" in Chinese
even when the pronouns change!
 On the other hand, Chinese has its own grammar
structures which are very different to those used in
English and can therefore be very difficult for the
English speaker to grasp. These grammatical
features include things like classifiers, topic-
prominence and preference for aspect. However,
there's no point in worrying about these things until
you've mastered basic Chinese.
Learning to Read and Write in Chinese

1
 Learn pinyin. Pinyin is a Chinese writing system
which uses letters from the Roman alphabet instead
of Chinese characters.
 It is useful for Chinese language learners as it allows
you to get started with reading and writing Chinese
without the time involved in learning traditional
characters. There are many Chinese textbooks and
learning materials available in Pinyin.
 However, it is important to be aware that even
though Pinyin uses letters from the Roman alphabet,
its pronunciation is not always intuitive to the English
speaker. Therefore, it is important to use a proper
pronunciation guide when learning Pinyin.
2
Learn to read some Chinese characters. Although
the ability to read traditional Chinese characters is
not necessary for learning Chinese, the idea appeals
to many people and makes them feel more in touch
with traditional Chinese culture.
 Learning to recognize and read Chinese characters
is no easy task. In order to read a newspaper, the
average Chinese reader will need to be familiar with
about 2000 different characters -- and that's just the
beginning. It is believed that there are over 50,000
Chinese characters in total (though many of them
are no longer in use).
 The major benefit of learning to read Chinese
characters is that you will have access to a broad
array of other literatures, including Cantonese,
Japanese and Korean -- all of which use Chinese
characters (or a simplified version of them) in their
writings, despite the fact that the spoken languages
are very different.
3
Learn to write some Chinese characters. Once
you have learned to read Chinese characters, you
may be interested in learning how to form them
yourself. Writing Chinese characters is a complex
skill, which requires patience and a touch of artistry.
 The first step in learning how to write Chinese
characters is to learn the "radicals" -- these are the
individual brush strokes that form the building blocks
of each character. There are 214 radicals in total --
some can stand on their own as individual
characters, while others are only used as part of a
more complex character.
 When writing Chinese characters, the order of the
brush strokes is very important and you must follow
a specific set of rules -- such as top to bottom, left to
right and horizontal before vertical. If the stroke
order is incorrect, the completed character will not
be accurate.
 4
Read Chinese texts. If you want to improve your
Chinese reading skills, you'll need to practice a little
reading for at least 15 to 20 minutes a day.
 To begin with, you could try using some children's
readers or workbooks (which are nearly always
written in Pinyin) to practice your basic reading skills.
 You should also be able to find some good
resources for reading Chinese online.
 You can also try to incorporate your Chinese
learning into your everyday life. You can do this by
reading the Chinese labels on food products at the
Asian supermarket, or asking your server for the
Chinese language menu at a restaurant.
 Once your reading becomes more advanced, you
could try to get your hands on a Chinese newspaper
(which are printed using traditional Chinese
characters) and do your best to read through the
articles. This is also a good way of familiarizing
yourself with Chinese culture and current affairs.
 5
Write a little Chinese everyday. In order to practice
your Chinese writing skills, you should try to write a
little everyday, whether in Pinyin or in Chinese
characters.
 One option is to keep a small personal diary in
Chinese, where you write down simple things like a
 description of the weather, how you are feeling that
day, or what you did. If you're not to shy about it, you
could ask a Chinese-speaking friend or
acquaintance to look it over and check for any
mistakes.
 Alternatively, you could try to find a Chinese pen-pal
to write letters to. This could be mutually beneficial,
as you could get some practice writing in Chinese,
while your pen-pal could practice their English. You
could also ask your pen-pal to include the corrected
version of your original letter when replying.
 A last way of practicing your writing is to make
simple lists in Chinese, like your shopping list, or to
make Chinese labels for items around the house.
Immersing Yourself in the Chinese
Language

1
Practice with a native Chinese speaker. The
absolute best way to learn Chinese is just to speak it
with a native speaker -- this will force you to think on
your feet, help with your accent and expose you to
 more informal or colloquial forms of speech that you
won't find in a textbook.
 If you have a Chinese-speaking friend, ask them if
they'd be willing to sit down with you for an hour or
two each week. They'd probably be happy to help --
as long as the coffee's on you!
 If you don't know any Chinese speakers personally,
you could try placing an ad in your local paper or
online forum. Alternatively, you could look into
finding a Chinese conversation group or oral
Chinese class in your local area.
 If all else fails, you could try to connect with a
Chinese speaker on Skype, one who'd be willing to
exchange 30 minutes of Chinese conversation for 30
minutes of English.
 2
Listen to Chinese tapes/CDs. Listening to Chinese
podcasts or CDs is a great way to immerse yourself
in the language -- even when you're on the go!
 It doesn't matter if you can't follow everything that's
being said -- just try to be an active listener and
 attempt to pick out key words and phrases. Slowly
but surely your overall comprehension will improve.
 This is a great option for people who have long
commutes as they can simply stick a Chinese CD on
in the car or listen to a Chinese podcast on the train.
You could also try listening while exercising or doing
housework.
 3
Watch Chinese films and cartoons. Watching
Chinese films and cartoons is a more fun, relaxed
way of immersing yourself in the language, however,
it will still help to expose you to the sounds and
structure of Chinese.
 Try watching short cartoons or clips on Youtube, or
rent a full length Chinese film from your local movie
store. You may need to use subtitles at first, but try
not to rely on them too much -- see how much of the
dialogue you can understand on your own.
 If you're feeling particularly proactive, you could
pause the film after particular words or phrases and
try to repeat them -- this will help your accent to
sound more authentic.
 4
Don't be afraid of making mistakes. The biggest
obstacle that will stand in your way of learning
Chinese is your fear of making mistakes.
 You need to try to overcome this fear -- and even
embrace it -- if you are to reach your goal of fluency.
 Remember that everyone makes mistakes when
they are learning a new language, and you are
bound to have your fair share of embarrassing
mistakes and awkward moments, but this is all part
of the process.
 Remember that you are not aiming for perfection
when you are learning Chinese, you are aiming for
progress. So go ahead and make as many mistakes
as you like -- as long as you learn from them and
continue to improve.
 5
Consider taking a trip to China. Can you think of a
better way to immerse yourself in the Chinese
language than a trip to its native land?
 China is an amazingly diverse country -- from the
busy, bustling streets of Beijing to the ancient
majesty of the Great Wall. There is something for
 every traveler -- whether you're looking to immerse
yourself in traditional ethnic cultures, to sample the
many delicious Chinese delicacies or to travel to the
sites of ancient ruins and epic battles.
 Alternatively, you could take a tour of other places
with large Chinese-speaking populations, like
Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
Just make sure that you are prepared for differences
in dialect (not all are mutually intelligible) before you
book your flight!

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