10 things you must know before learning chinese by eChineseLearning

Hong Kong: 800-930-623

Australia: 1-800-779-835

Singapore: 800-101-3070

UK: 0-800-086-8969

Switzerland: 0-800-563-178 Israel: 1-801-227-213 Italy: 800-596-375 France: 0-805-080-689 South Africa: 0-800-981-886

New Zealand: 0-800-002-128 Germany: 0-800-180-0341 Spain: 900-838-906 United Arab Emirates: 800-035-703-840 Email: service@eChineseLearning.com Skype ID: service_eChineseLearning WeChat: AC_eChineseLearning

Address: eChineseLearning Kin On Comm Bldg Jervois St, Sheung Wan Hong Kong

Visit Our Website: https://www.eChineseLearning.com/

1. History of the Mandarin Chinese Language

The Han people of China have their own spoken and written language. Chinese belongs to the Han-Tibetan

language

family.

Mandarin Chinese, often referred to as simply â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chineseâ&#x20AC;?, is the most commonly used language in China, and one of the most commonly used languages in the world.

Written Chinese emerged in its early and most primitive form with carved symbols approximately 6,000 years ago in China. The Chinese characters used today evolved gradually from those used in bone and tortoise shell inscriptions more than 3,000 years ago and the bronze inscriptions produced soon after.

Drawn figures were gradually reduced to patterned strokes, pictographs were reduced to symbols, and the complicated graphs became simpler. Early pictographs and ideographs were joined by pictophonetic characters.

Currently, there are six categories of Chinese characters: pictographs, self-explanatory characters, associative compounds, pictophonetic characters, phonetic loan characters and mutually explanatory characters.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Chinese words are monosyllabic. A large proportion of Chinese characters are composed of an ideogrammatic element combined with a phonetic element.

There are approximately 56,000 characters, of which only about 3,000 are in common use today. In addition to their functional value as symbols for records and communication, Chinese characters have an aesthetic value (e.g., calligraphy).

All of China’s 55 minority groups have their own spoken languages, except for the Hui and Manchu, who use Mandarin Chinese; 23 of these dialects have a unique written form. Nowadays, classes in schools in predominantly national minority areas are taught in the local language, using local language textbooks.

Mandarin is a category of Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The term “Mandarin” can also refer to Standard Mandarin, which is based on the Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing. It is considered to be the standard for the People’s Republic of China.

Why do most non-Chinese speakers choose to learn standard Mandarin Chinese? Mandarin is understood by most Chinese people. As mentioned above, it is China’s national language and spoken widely in areas outside of China. Whether you are interested in basic communication, scholarly research, or pursuing a career in China, standard Mandarin is a necessary tool for communication.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

2. Benefits of Studying Chinese

Studying anything new and unfamiliar has many advantages, and languages are no different. There are personal and professional advantages to be

gained

from

studying

Chinese. Currently, Mandarin Chinese is moving itself into a position to be one of the dominant

languages

and

cultural forces of the 21st century. Therefore, learning Chinese just makes sense at this time, due to its ability change your life. But what, specifically, can be gained from knowing how to communicate in the Chinese language?

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s begin with the most commonly cited reasons for studying Chinese: 1. China is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.4 billion people. Mandarin is spoken by almost one billion people. It is the most widely-spoken language in the world. One out of five people in the world is Chinese; 2. Mandarin is spoken in the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, The Philippines, Mongolia and many areas of global cities such as London, Sydney and New York; 3. Knowing Chinese will allow individuals to compete effectively in the business environment of the future;

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

4. China is the largest trading partner of the United States, Japan, Germany, Australia and many other countries; 5. Many American companies do business in China, including Coca-Cola and Ford; 6. Knowing Chinese may give you an edge when applying for and competing for a job. The demand for business people who know Chinese is skyrocketing; 7. China is now playing a major role in world affairs and will continue to do so; 8. A Newsweek article stated that “In U.S. homes, Chinese has eclipsed French, German and Italian to become the third most commonly spoken language after English and Spanish”; 9. By studying Chinese, students will develop an appreciation for Chinese culture and history; 10. Learning a second language develops critical and creative thinking skills.

Many interested in Chinese are familiar with these benefits and have heard them on several occasions. Let’s begin with the most obvious benefit in your life to learning Chinese: the convenience of knowing the language to build interpersonal relationships. Chinese opens more than one billion doors of communication. The Chinese are educated and sophisticated and getting to know them will make anyone’s life fuller and more interesting, wherever you are on the globe. Not to mention the travel possibilities! Being able to travel around China and see and experience the country and culture is an immeasurable benefit to a person’s life. Once those doors are open what will you communicate and learn? Cultural exchange, history, art, and of course business, are four that readily spring to mind.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Still, there are other benefits. For instance, a little less easy to see but just as important is that it creates further opportunity to learn. Access to a large part of Chinese culture is blocked from the average non-Chinese speaker because only the books and other cultural aspects of Chinese heritage that someone thought might make a profit is available through translated works. The parts that have been made available in non-Chinese languages donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even represent a fraction of a percent of what is really there to learn. The lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share is on a bookshelf waiting to be discovered by those with the ability to do so. This knowledge is like a precious and valuable diamond mine waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world.

Anyone who has spent some time, even briefly, learning about China quickly realizes how rich, vibrant and insightful the experience of cultural discovery is. The Chinese have a culture that reaches back at least 5,000 years and have managed to record much of the events, folklore and wisdom created over those years. Without a foothold in the language, you are forced to rely on someone who might not be sensitive to your personal sense of curiosity. Knowing Chinese allows a freedom of movement through their history.

Further in the same vein, studying and knowing Chinese characters is like challenging your mind to a deeply fascinating puzzle. Anyone with knowledge of Chinese has access to Chinese art and design. In fact, the characters themselves are a kind of art. Calligraphy is an ancient art form and studying it is a kind of art appreciation.

Finally, at the financial end of the spectrum, the Chinese are getting richer. It is estimated that 600 million people will reach the middle class in the not-so-distant future. Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

This middle class represents the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest single consumer base, with a significant amount of money to spend anywhere in the world. Those entrepreneurs with no knowledge of the Chinese language are going to need a Chinese speaker to communicate with these potential customers. This means learning Chinese presents a career opportunity for anyone with the drive to invest the time and effort into learning this beautiful language. The longer a business ignores the Chinese market, the more financial opportunity is lost. The most ambitious and sensible solution is to take the time to learn the language.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

3. Simplified or Traditional Characters: Which Should I Learn? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traditional Chineseâ&#x20AC;? refers to the characters used before simplification reforms enacted during the second half of the 20th century in mainland China. This means that traditional characters are still being used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and in many overseas Chinese communities. Simplified characters are then, as the name implies, simplifications of the traditional characters.

For most people, learning simplified Chinese characters is the obvious choice, because most Chinese-speaking people in the world use them. People living in Taiwan or Hong Kong naturally learn the traditional character set. Therefore, it really comes down to where you plan to use your skills.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

The two character sets have their own pros and cons.

Traditional: Traditional characters provide more visual cues to support reading and help facilitate learning and character recognition. Researchers have explained how this visual impact often helps young children recognize traditional characters more easily than simplified characters. In addition, learning traditional characters first can present an easier transition to learning the simplified characters later on. However, traditional characters can take longer to learn how to write and there are fewer resources in the US. Also, it is sometimes harder to access materials unless you buy and ship them from Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Simplified: Learning simplified characters strengthens visual and spatial relationship skills due to the way simplified characters are structured and formed. Simplified characters provide fewer visual cues, so they require the student to pay more attention to detail when learning characters via rote memorization. When controlled for reading ability, this method has shown that children learning simplified characters demonstrated superior visual skills. Understanding simplified characters may be more useful as the majority of the entire population of mainland China, therefore the vast majority of Chinese people, utilize this form of writing.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

4. Is Learning Chinese Difficult? Most Mandarin Chinese learners feel that Chinese is hard to learn. We also believe that Chinese is not a language which can be learned in a short time. Here are some reasons why learning Chinese could be difficult:

Tones Unlike languages like English, in Chinese how you pronounce a sound dictates what that sound means. This would be something similar to where you place the stress on a word in English, changing its meaning. For this reason, Chinese is considered a tonal language. Standard Chinese recognizes four tones: high, rising, falling-rising and falling. It is a little like singing while speaking. For most learners, mastering the tones takes years of trial and error. Why? Well, there are just certain sounds that exist in Chinese that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist in other languages. Characters The Chinese script is among the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recognized. In fact, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the reasons many are initially drawn to learning the language. However, written Chinese is far different than languages that make use of a romanized alphabet system. Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Written Chinese is made up of thousands of characters, each having their own meaning and pronunciation. In order to be considered fluent, you’ll need to know somewhere around 2,000 different characters. However, if you only learn the 500 most common characters, you will be able to read about 75% of Chinese that is used today. It’s often said that each character represents an idea. This actually isn’t true. Characters have a variety of functions, and when strung together to form words, their meanings can change drastically. Characters also shouldn’t be viewed as puzzles. Characters can be broken down into individual pieces, but there’s no guarantee that those individual pieces will reveal what that character truly means.

Dialects What many don’t realize is that even though Chinese has standardized rules of pronunciation, most people in China speak a regional dialect. In fact, most Chinese people learn their regional dialect before learning standard Mandarin. Regional dialects often sound wildly different from what you’ll be taught in a classroom. Luckily, most educated Chinese have no problem switching to standard Mandarin. Communicating with the average local might be a bit more challenging, but as you learn and grow in Chinese, you will get used to hearing different accents. If you’re ambitious enough to sign up for Chinese lessons, you’re probably ready for the challenge!

Chinese learning may be difficult to a beginner. However, finding the right method will make it a lot easier. We strongly suggest you work with a qualified native Chinese teacher. A qualified teacher will be able to help you make the most of your studies with an efficient method that impossible when studying on your own. And, since going to China isn’t realistic for everyone, you can simulate a Chinese learning environment from the comfort of home when you work with a native speaker.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

5. How to Learn Chinese Effectively

How to learn Chinese is a frequently asked question. With the intention of helping you become successful in learning Chinese, here are some tips you can use:

Learning Chinese Tip #1: Where to start? Chinese pinyin should be the first step to learning Chinese. Pinyin contains all of the Chinese phonetic alphabet which is used in the pronunciation of Chinese characters. The earlier you start with pinyin, the easier to grasp the correct pronunciation. Therefore the Chinese learning method for children always works very efficiently.

Learning Chinese Tip #2: The only way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them. Writing will enable you to use your motor memory for recollection. Otherwise, characters can be forgotten quickly. Rather than writing one word many times before going on to the next one, write each word once or twice, then go through the whole list again until youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done the required number of repetitions. This method will put the new words more firmly in your memory.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Make vocabulary flashcards. The physical act of writing reinforces words in your memory, while also giving you an easy way to prepare for tests. Make study cards for word classes (verbs, nouns, etc.) and carry them with you to review during spare minutes. Play online games to reinforce character recognition. To prepare for vocabulary quizzes, make a three-column vocabulary sheet with characters, pinyin, and English definitions. Fold the paper so only that one or two columns are showing and take, for practice, written quizzes.

Learning Chinese Tip #3: Learn Chinese through systematic Chinese reading. By doing this, you will know more about Chinese characters, Chinese culture and enlarge your Chinese vocabulary. Select Chinese reading material according to your own level. In addition, find a tutor to help you learn Chinese. In some cases, however, taking part in a face-to-face class may be inconvenient due to scheduling, traffic, safety, and other issues, especially for children who want to learn Chinese or for those who want to learn Chinese for business, but are busy with work obligations. One option is to take an online Mandarin Chinese course which will offer both convenience and flexibility.

Learning Chinese Tip #4: Studying a little each day is more effective than studying for a cramming just before a test. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impossible to learn a language by studying only once a week, even if the study period is very long. Studying one to two hours each day throughout the term will make it easy for you to do well on tests without cramming at the end.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Learning Chinese Tip #5: If a student wants to know their Chinese level, the best way is to take a Mandarin Chinese Proficiency test. There are several authoritative Chinese tests such as the AP Chinese exam and the HSK test, among others. For foreign students, online Mandarin Chinese lessons may be an effective way to prepare for the tests because of the convenience and authenticity offered by online Mandarin language courses (e.g. how to write Chinese, etc.). For those who don’t have enough time to learn Chinese during the school year, joining a summer Chinese program is helpful to their progress.

Learning Chinese Tip #6: A fun way to master Mandarin Chinese: try ordering Chinese food by speaking Mandarin Chinese with the restaurant staff. You might feel embarrassed at first, but they’ll respect you for trying out your new Mandarin skills! This will give you some good Mandarin practice, and you’ll still get some great Chinese food. Chinese restaurants are everywhere, so everyone should have the chance to practice. This is especially suitable for children, as Chinese for children requires a vivid and fun experience. In this way, children can easily review their Chinese courses. Learning Mandarin can include a lot of fun!

Practice makes perfect! Developing these habits will make your Chinese study much easier.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

6. How Long Does It Take to Learn Chinese?

It depends on your gift for language learning, as well as the time you are able to dedicate to learning it. If you study a few hours every day you’re going to learn a lot faster than someone who only spends one day a week.

For speaking, the key is to LISTEN and REPEAT. Over and over and over. Every time you learn something new, repeat it to yourself again and again. Work it into a sentence you think would be useful to you in the future. Say that over and over. To learn how to speak there’s no other way than to just do it.

Now, as far as time necessary, if you study on your own it may take upwards of five years to reach a certain level of fluency, while the entire language school system taken in China can be completed in two years (full-immersion).

One big problem with self-study is that you’re more prone to miss things and repeat errors. Whether it’s never really knowing if you’re pronouncing the tones correctly (it’s VERY important that you learn these properly the first time or else you’ll spend the rest of your life making up for it), or spending more time actually gathering information to study and then studying it. It’s a tricky and long process compared to taking a class or getting a tutor.

There are a few things you can do to help yourself and speed up your learning process.

1. Watch a lot of Chinese dramas and listen to a lot of music. The best way to learn to speak is to listen to other people speaking. That’s how kids learn. It’s how you learned your native language. Dramas are more natural than example sentence audio recordings, which means if you copy how drama characters speak, your Chinese will be more natural sounding as well. Plus, you’ll learn a lot of slang that way!

2. Check out online private tutor programs. Most of them offer one-to-one tutoring with native Chinese teachers. You just can’t beat that kind of personalized learning experience.

3. Practice using the four Mandarin tones. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, It is absolutely essential to master the four tones if you want to pronounce Mandarin Chinese correctly.

4. Memorize simple vocabulary. No matter what language you are learning, the more words you have at your disposal, the sooner you will become fluent.

5. Learn some basic conversational phrases. Once you have a basic grasp of vocabulary and pronunciation, you can learn basic conversational phrases which are used in everyday Chinese speech.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

6. Advance your language skills. Learn basic Chinese grammar and practice your Chinese listening, reading and speaking skills. One of the best ways to improve your new language skills is to practice speaking with a native speaker. Native speakers will easily be able to correct any grammar or pronunciation mistakes you make and can introduce you to more informal or colloquial forms of speech that you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find in a textbook.

With the right attitude and right plan, you can learn Chinese efficiently and effectively. Learning alone is a challenge, so having a teacher as well is highly recommended. You can do this though! Many have done it before, so rest assured.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

7. Where is the Best Place to Study Chinese? The northeastern provinces of China are still the best places to study and practice Chinese. Many learners choose to go to Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning. These provinces are where native Mandarin speakers speak with the clearest accent. Here are a few cities that are excellent choices for Mandarin study and use in everyday life:



Harbin



Dalian



Shenyang



Changchun

Beijing is also noted for its use of standard Mandarin, although Beijingers do speak with a slight accent. Many other cities throughout China have local dialects. However, the locals will be happy to speak in standard Mandarin with you on the street. Still, you and the locals might have slight challenges in understanding one another compared to, say, Harbin.

Regardless of your location, you can now learn Mandarin Chinese from anywhere in the world: Shenyang, Atlanta, Mumbai, or any other city you might call home.

Today, learning Chinese online from the comfort of your home, at your own schedule and pace with a qualified native Chinese teacher is easier than ever.

We suggest taking a look at our website: eChineseLearning.com. We offer a multitude of personalized one-to-one classes to fit anyone’s needs - all through Skype, and with qualified native speakers. You can first try a 30-minute free trial class with a teacher to discuss our courses, prices and other details. This is the best way to find out if our classes work for you!

We are also offering eight free e-books when you sign up for the trial class. The e-books are specially designed and carefully selected by our professional teaching staff. All the content is provided in both pinyin and Chinese characters, and supplemented with pictures and English translations. Each e-book has a different focus: popular words, nursery rhymes, and more.

If you aren’t interested in online classes, but instead want to find other resources, you can check out our blog, which we update weekly with interesting posts about Chinese language and culture. Also, examine our English-Chinese dictionary, and don’t hesitate to give our many podcasts a listen!

See, told you we’ve got oodles of resources. Dig into our website and take the first step on a brand new Chinese adventure.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

8. Where Can I Learn Chinese Online?

Chinese is growing in popularity. There are new ways to learn online popping up every day. However, they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all effective. We believe the best resource is, of course, working one-to-one with qualified instructors online. Here are some other resources might be helpful.

Chinese is considered one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn for a variety of reasons. Here are some resources you can examine and apply in your spare time:

Podcasts: Two good podcasts are Popup Chinese and Slow Chinese. Popup has been around a while, but their resources are still good. Its archives are overflowing with content. The Slow Chinese podcasts discuss daily life in China. They offer short, 10-minute lessons, where students talk (using a slower tempo) about a variety of topics related to life in China.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Apps: Duolingo and Memrise are good apps for learning on-the-go. Mixing up your podcast queue with some fun apps is also a good way to keep your brain on its toes. These apps can be used wherever you are, so you don’t need to be chained down to your computer.

MIT Open Courseware: Stand on the shoulders of giants, as they say. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a number of free online versions of the classes they teach on-campus. One of those is a Chinese class. The class comes with a textbook that includes exercises at the end of each chapter. Marco Polo Project: If you’re interested in new Chinese culture, you might find this resource useful. This website features Chinese fiction and posts from popular bloggers translated line-by-line into English. Talkify: This one is pretty cool! Just enter a URL and after a few moments the website will come to life. You’ll hear the content being read back to you in a native speaker’s accent. Useful for listening skills.

Pinyin Chart: Pinyin is Chinese written in the Roman alphabet. You’ll be learning a lot about pinyin during the early stages of your Chinese language adventure, and this chart is a great tool. You’ll see a complete list of all the Chinese sounds, and if you click on one, you’ll also hear the pronunciation. Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stress enough that none of the above tools should be used without a solid curriculum planned by a qualified Chinese teacher. Working with a teacher will give you the confidence you need to take on the exam and the tools you need to get the score you want. As we mentioned above, actually using your Chinese knowledge with a real human being is easily the best way to commit it to memory!

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

9. Tips for Choosing a Good Chinese Tutor Finding a good Chinese tutor is key if you want to learn the Chinese language correctly and in an effective way, but how do you know if your tutor is the right one for you? Use the following checklist as a guide:

1. Customized to Your Needs Find a proper Mandarin tutor according to your learning needs. If you are interested in learning Chinese for daily communication, then you will need to find an outgoing and talkative Chinese tutor. First and foremost, he or she should be a native Chinese person. And he or she should be up-to-date on recent news, new trends, buzzwords, songs, movies, and so on, which are popular in China. With his or her understanding of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new and popular, he or she can better help you learn about typical daily life in China, along with Chinese culture.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

If your goal is to learn Business Chinese, then you will be better off learning with an experienced, professional Chinese tutor. He or she will be able to teach you about industry-specific terminology as well as Chinese business etiquette, such as exchanging business cards, handshakes, greeting others, etc.

2. No Accent The most opportune language to learn is Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin, so make sure your Chinese tutor does not have an accent. Usually, people from southern China have more pronounced accents than northerners. For instance, people from Hunan Province tend to mispronounce the “n” and “l” sounds to the ears of northerners with the most Standard Chinese.

Whereas the word “男”, meaning “male,” is pronounced “nán” in standard Chinese, a Chinese speaker with an accent might mispronounce it as “lán”, which actually means “蓝”, or “the color blue”. Learning Mandarin with a tutor who doesn’t have an accent will prevent you from picking up a local accent, and it will help you to master correct pronunciation and tones.

3. Patience Learning a language is tough work. It can take a long time to be truly fluent. Based on this, a good Mandarin tutor shouldn’t rush you and should always encourage you to try again, to explain yourself in other words, and to employ newly-learned language. For students who can’t master a given language point, such as the pronunciation of a certain Chinese word, a Chinese sentence structure, and so on, the tutor should give extra examples and more tailored exercises to practice.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

4. Various Teaching Methods Look for a Mandarin tutor who mixes it up with a variety of visual, audial, and contextual activities. Every student learns in different ways. Perhaps you are the kind of person who needs to see something to remember or make sense of it, or maybe you learn best by writing it down a few times. No matter your learning style, your Mandarin tutor should employ a number of ways to get the learning point across.

There are four main aspects of Chinese learning: listening, speaking, reading and writing. While one activity may make use of flash cards, the next could focus on listening and repeating, and the following might be a real-life-scenario role play.

To be more specific, listening to short dialogues and watching the news is helpful for your listening. For speaking, talking about a topic or retelling a story is useful. You can read storybooks or a novel with pinyin included to improve your Chinese reading. For writing, start from pictographs, which are stylized drawings of the words they represent. You can also use pictures to help. Let’s take the Chinese character “大 (dà),” meaning “big,” as an example. Imagine that a man gestures how big an object is. Image that the man in the picture is a fisherman who is showing us how big the fish was that he caught yesterday. Visualizing this resemblance to the character “大 (dà)” can help you remember the meaning and how to write it in the future.

5. Fun And Enjoyable It is said that good teachers make class interesting; however, it sometimes the reality is that studying is not so enjoyable. Maybe you can recall a class that was so boring you wanted to fall asleep while the teacher was talking.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Since the instructor is the key to an enjoyable class, it’s important to find a Mandarin tutor who makes class engaging and interesting. For example, when teaching a young Chinese learner, a good tutor should incorporate games, songs, and interactive activities into the class. Because young Chinese learners are interested in games, songs and activities, with these kinds of activities they won’t get bored and will be happy to participate. While having fun, they learn the Chinese language without even realizing it. The teacher could do this by teaching a Chinese nursery song such as “两只老虎 (Liǎng Zhī Lǎohŭ) Two Tigers” or “小白兔乖乖 (Xiăobáitù Guāiguai) Little Rabbit”, or a game such as “Rock-Paper-Scissors”. The best thing about these songs and games is that they contain simple Chinese words which kids can easily pick up while they are singing and playing.

For adult Chinese learners, a good tutor should draw on real life scenarios, current events, and, yes, fun activities which keep the brain active. For example, a Chinese tutor can bring up a topic about a popular movie such as “港囧 (Gǎng Jiǒng) Lost in Hong Kong” or some hit songs like “小苹果 (Xiǎo Píngguǒ) Little Apple”. Students can share their opinions after watching the movie, while learning to express themselves using the words they have learned. Learning via Chinese songs and movies can help students learn not only the Chinese language, but also Chinese culture.

6. Target Problem Areas Can the teacher identify your problem areas and guide you through them?

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

As a language learner, you depend on your teacher’s skills and expertise to identify your weaknesses and help you learn the right language in a way that makes sense to you. For example, a Chinese learner might have problems correctly pronouncing the tones. The right Mandarin tutor will spot this and incorporate extra pronunciation and listening practice into the lesson to target your weak area.

A lot of Chinese learners have trouble pronouncing the consonants “zh” properly, so they tend to mispronounce words like “只 (zhī),” “着 (zhe),” and “中 (zhōng)”. A good Chinese tutor will know that there is a way to help practice this sound: start with the “j” sound, as in “jeep,” then end smoothly with the “r” sound.

7. Culture Differences A good Mandarin tutor should know the cultural differences between the learners’ home environment and China, plus be able to help the student get to know more about dos and don’ts of Chinese culture. For example, never give a clock to your Chinese friend, as the word for clock “钟 (zhōng)” has the same pronunciation as death “终 (zhōng)”. To elaborate on their similarities, “送钟 (sòngzhōng)” means to give a clock as a present and “送终 (sòng zhōng)” means to attend a funeral. “4” is an unlucky number in Chinese culture, as “四 (sì)” sounds like “死 (sǐ),” which means “death.”

One final question you may have is, “Where can I find a Mandarin tutor?”. If you prefer a tutor who can meet with you in-person, you could call your local university to see if they can make any recommendations. Another option is to post a wanted ad in the paper or to look online.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

However, the downside of these options is that your schedule may not suit your potential tutor, and vice versa. Also, you should make sure to talk to past students to confirm the tutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teaching experience and standard accent.

Another option you might want to consider is online learning through a reputable Chinese learning school. With this method, you can set the class time, you can learn from any place that is convenient for you, and you can rest assured that the instructor is qualified, experienced and native with a standard Chinese accent.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

10. The Most Common Misconceptions of Chinese by Mandarin Learners

Mandarin Chinese is definitely a foreign language for Westerners and even Easterners alike. But what are some of the most common misconceptions that Mandarin

Chinese

Learners

have? We explore the top four below:

1. All Chinese People Speak Standard Mandarin Chinese Not true! When Jack was traveling throughout China, even though he was an HSK Level 6 student, he couldn’t understand much of the conversation in the more rural provinces. Why? Because, in addition to Mandarin Chinese, there are many different “方言 (fāngyán) dialects” spoken in China. Different Chinese dialects have different pronunciations. So, don’t be surprised if you can’t understand what Chinese people are saying on the street, even if you have passed the HSK 6!

If you’re not able to understand, chances are that these people are speaking a different dialect of Chinese. And yes, even Chinese people cannot understand each other if each is speaking his or her own dialect. Therefore, you’re not alone.

Local dialects will affect the Mandarin used in daily conversation.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

Different Mandarin dialects have different pronunciations. Due to the influence of dialects, people from different provinces also have different accents even though they all speak standard Chinese. It’s similar to accents in the United States and the different vocabulary American regions have. There’s southern accents, Minnesota accents, New York accents, and many more. Many different people in America pronounce English differently. The same can be said about the differences spoken in China.

2. Textbook Mandarin Is Daily Mandarin Also not true! In many Mandarin textbooks it is written that people say the following to greet one another: “你好吗? (Nǐ hǎo ma?)” = How are you?

“很高兴认识你! (Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ!) = Nice to meet you!

In daily life people more often use the following phrase to greet one another: “你吃了吗 (Nǐ chī le ma)” = Have you eaten yet?

Or “早啊 (Zǎo ā)!” = Morning! (if it’s morning).

Few Chinese speakers say “你好吗? (nǐ hǎo ma?)” to greet friends. This is considered to be an unpractical phrase nowadays. Therefore, you need to make sure that the Mandarin you are learning is not coming solely from a textbook. Make sure that you include real-time lessons and hire a one-to-one Chinese tutor so you can be kept in the know of the daily Mandarin you will actually encounter on the street.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

3. Just Learning Chinese Vocabulary Is Enough Totally wrong! Chinese isn’t learned just through memorization. Many students try to simply learn Chinese words by rote memory, and then simply put the words together to make sentences. To them, that’s good enough. Yes, vocabulary is very important and a basic foundation in Chinese learning. But it is definitely not enough to become fluent, or to be able to converse naturally with a native Mandarin speaker.

Learners also need to know how to use the words properly in daily conversation. This means that you also study the culture, and the correct time and place to use phrases and words for various social situations or occasions.

4. Think Chinese Grammar Is Mechanical No, Chinese is not the same as other languages, especially romantic languages, when it comes to grammar. It has its own rules, and its own exceptions to its own rules. Are there regular grammar patterns? Yes, but there are also many inconsistencies. When it comes to putting words together correctly, it is more improvisational than you might think. Take these examples: 杯 (bēi) cup + 子 (zi) = 杯子 (bēizi) cup.

筷 (kuài) chopstick + 子 (zi) = 筷子 (kuàizi) chopsticks.

“子 (zi)” used as the noun suffix here. When some students learned the structure above, they usually want to apply the same pattern to another phrase, such as: 碗 (wǎn) bowl + 子 (zi)

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

However, “Noun + 子 (zi)” is not a universal rule in Chinese. “碗子 (wǎnzi)” is not the correct phrase. We do not have this expression, and so you have to go back to the drawing board and learn the correct grammar rules for that specific makeup of words.

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

For more Chinese learning materials, please visit our website: https://www.eChineseLearning.com/

These materials might also be useful to you: Popular Chinese Words: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/popular-words Chinese Culture: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/chinese-culture Business Chinese: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/business-chinese Chinese Test: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/chinese-tests Chinese for Kids: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/chinese-for-kids Chinese for Teens: https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/categories/chinese-for-teens Newsletter: https://www.echineselearning.com/newsletter/ More FREE E-books: https://www.echineselearning.com/ebook.html

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!

About eChineseLearning eChineseLearning is the world's premier online Chinese language school providing systematic, customized, one-to-one live instruction services to students worldwide of all ages and walks of life. Our mission is to provide the best Chinese language education service worldwide at an affordable price and always focus on the needs of our customers and offer them effective and enjoyable Chinese language learning experience.

One-to-One

Live online instruction (Yes! Real time, real people)

Native, professionally trained and experienced Chinese teachers

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Customized instruction at your own level, pace and style

Live audio and video using instant messaging tools such as Skype

Got Questions? Sign Up for a Live One-to-One FREE Trial Lesson Now!