Do you think that Chinese is the most difficult language? Well, not anymore.
In this article, we give you some good tips on where and how to start learning the Chinese language. So, brace yourself and get immersed in one of the oldest languages of the world, more so because Singapore is situated in the same continent as China and its citizens need to learn the language of fellow countries.
1. Digest at least 100 common Chinese characters
Before you even decide to learn a couple of basic sentences, you will first need to completely master at least 100 widely used Chinese characters. There are many websites which list the most used words, phrases or sentences in any language.
Don’t jump on to learning a whole bunch of complicated characters that you don’t know about at the same time. Instead, learn the basic greetings and grammar even if you only know a few basic sentences. By learning the right words, you will be able to easily put together a few sentences without any difficulty.
2. Master The Stroke Order
You will have to learn the stroke order for writing as it really differs from character to character in the Chinese language.
Understand how the different characters are being written and master the ways of writing them. There are some rules that you need to apply, like starting from top to bottom, left to right and so on. It is a idea to know exactly how to write the characters.
3. Learn Basic Grammar Structures
There are a lot of ways to learn basic grammar structures, whether it is through online on Youtube, through the traditional textbooks method or by attending Chinese classes in Singapore. Either way, you have plenty of options to choose from, you just have to pick the right one that can help you learn the language much easier.
Once you have got a grammar structure, you can add in the vocabulary words that you learned. Try to write the one grammar structure over and over again and fill that in with new words.
4. Invest In A Good Textbook And Dictionary
As said before, you don’t actually have to pay for your books. In fact, you can just go online and just download a free dictionary from Google or PlayStore. One good app for Chinese learning is Plecos. It comes with a Chinese keyboard with the writing input. You can write the character and if the keyboard picks it up, it will pop up on it.
Alternatively, you can type a word in English and the app gives you the Chinese translation. However, it is always a good idea to invest in the character dictionary as it will help you find characters a lot more easily. Paper dictionaries are still nice to have in terms of textbooks after all.
5. Watch Chinese Movies And TV Shows With Subtitles
Just like any other language that you have in mind, this is possibly one of the best ways out there to fully master a language.
The reason for this advice is that by watching TV shows, you will constantly be exposed to a native pronunciation to a native pronunciation by hearing how people really talk, you can learn to ‘copy’ them and your accent will improve very rapidly.
6. Get A Langauge Partner
Hellotalk is probably the best and most popular way to find language learning partners. One tip for finding a really good language partner is to make a commitment to each other that you will help each other and fix all the mistakes.
You can set up a time each day or each week to Skype with them and if they are as serious about learning your language as you are about learning, the language exchange should be successful if you both make and follow your commitment. You can also come up with topics beforehand to talk to them.
Being aware of these tips are simply not enough if you are not putting them to good use by applying them. So, make sure you use these tips and master the beautiful Chinese language.
