Learning Chinese Mandarin - 6 Ways to Learn & Improve

Why choose Chinese (Mandarin) and how to learn it?

Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world and outnumbers English speakers by a 2 to 1 ratio. It is a tonal language and each word can be pronounced 4 different ways.

Among the reasons for learning Mandarin is travel, business, making friends, watching movies, learning martial arts, love of Chinese food, etc. China is the most populated country in the world and with its demand for resources, and expanding markets, Mandarin will likely be the language of the future. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (besides English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Russian).

Mandarin is one of the Chinese dialects and the official language of China. It is not to be mistaken with other well-known dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien (known as Taiwanese or Hoklo), Hakka, and Teochew. Besides China and Taiwan, a large number of people in the ASEAN region (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines) speak Mandarin.

Among the ways you could learn and improve your Mandarin are:

1. Attend a class - this is the best way to learn as you get a teacher guiding you but the downside is embarrassment if you have trouble with pronunciation, or a slow learner;

2. On-line - there are several schools offering on-line courses with a teacher located in China. The advantage is that it saves you time and money from driving and parking, and could be conducted at a time convenient to you. Disadvantage is that there is no personal contact, and you may have trouble understanding the accent of the teacher;

3. Books, DVD, CD-ROMs or Podcast - this can be done at your convenience and needs self-discipline, but the disadvantage is that you cannot get personal feedback;

4. Penfriends - there are a number of websites where you could get volunteers who will chat with you on-line in return if you help them improve their English. This is also a great way to make friends especially with the diaspora of Chinese people all over the world who may be great contacts in future;

5. Friends - try to befriend a few people who may be able to converse with you. Nowadays, you may be able to find plenty of overseas students who could speak Mandarin living near colleges or universities. Some of them offer private language lessons to supplement their living expenses;

6. Go to China - there is no better way than to immerse yourself in an environment where it will accelerate your learning. There are schools in China who conduct language courses in conjunction with calligraphy, cooking, and martial arts.

Learning a language can be fun and it will open up your horizons and enrich your life; but you need the discipline in putting in the work, not lose your attention, and generate the interest by practising and immersing yourself in the arts, culture, traditions, festivals, and food of China.

Practising, rote learning, and word association are the 'secrets' behind learning any new language.

One of the resources available to learn Chinese Mandarin is an on-line series available at:

[http://www.chineselanguagesite.info]

The course is broken into easy to manage parts with everyday conversation you will encounter in modern day environment to help you speak confidently and naturally. Visit the site and begin your fun interactive lesson.