Learning Mandarin Chinese can be a tough task, only if you knew how to learn the language. To start with Mandarin is not a very tough dialect, although it is important to practice the language everyday and sit down with textbooks or converse with Chinese friends. There are innumerable online Mandarin Chinese schools and the first thing that you need to do to get started is to start small. You need not push yourself too much. Just start by getting some books from the bookstore by looking at the guides or Languages section of the store. This will be enough for learning the basics.
Take your Time
If for instance you have a friend living in China, they can get you good books from there. The next thing to do is test yourself and get others to test you out on the subject. Remember however that this is not an exam; you are only trying to become fluent in Mandarin.
Look out for opportunities to practice whatever you learn. Take advantage of the Chinese restaurant down the road. If they have Chinese people, visit the place and greet them in Mandarin. Remember, you do not have to buy their food. They will be actually delighted to see that you are taking an interest in their culture. If you cannot find anyone, visit Chinatown or check out your Chinese neighbor. Make sure that they speak Mandarin; if not, the visit could be an embarrassing one.
Do not be too strict on yourself as since learning and acquiring the language is a slow process, you need to have a go at it. Chinese as a language is difficult to learn, and hence you need to take your time.
If the attempts at teaching yourself fail, how about taking a class in Chinese? The country has innumerable Asian neighborhoods and these are the places where volunteers are teaching the classes that are being taught by the volunteers. Specifically Mandarin schools are available here as well. What is the best way for you to learn the language? Do you learn quickly by rewriting the phrases, or by rereading or by enunciating the words aloud? If you are not sure about the ways, practice each of these methods so that you can remember. You may try rewriting every word or phrase on the page and it will help since you can always go back to the original if you have problems.
Tones
The tones are different too. Every Mandarin Chinese word has a different tone, and each of them draws on the word 'ma' to indicate the different ways of pronouncing it. The 4 tones are:
High and flat tone in which the voice stays flat without rises or dips in the enunciation
The rising tone in which the voice rises when you say anything to someone as if you want to say 'what' or 'huh'
The dipping tone when the word goes down first and then up. When there are two tones of the third category, the first retains the third tone sound whereas the next one sounds like the fourth. The third tone often sounds like the second and it starts a bit lower.
The lowering tone where the whole word is pronounced just as it is.
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