Learn Mandarin Chinese

I took an assessment test on an online Chinese language learning website called ChineseTime. While I’m not sure if I’ll actually use the services offered on this site as they’re not free, I was hoping that the assessment test would give me a general idea of my progress. One of the disadvantages of self study is that I’m not subjected to regular exams or quizzes, so I don’t have convenient benchmarks to compare my progress against. Anyway, I scored 10 out of 12 on the listening section, 3 out of 10 on the grammar section, 2 out of 3 on the reading comprehension section, and 3 out of 6 on the character recognition section. According to this test, I am an “intermediate” level learner.

This test did help to point out a big weakness in my preparation so far. I think it makes sense that I would do well, at least for my level, on the listening and reading because that’s what I’ve mainly been practicing. I haven’t really been actively speaking or writing complex passages, which is probably why my grammar skills are lacking. I’m concerned too that I’m able to understand but not speak well or think of how to write something in a fluent manner. I just need more practice. It was recommended that I spend 6 hours a week studying, which is probably about as much as I can spare for the next month or so (although I think I really need more). I will try to use this time to learn more grammar and practice writing and speaking more. Also, my friend has been sending my e-mails in Chinese on a weekly basis, and I do my best to answer back in Chinese. This helps a lot.

I really want to get back into this as I want to have a more rewarding experience when I visit China within the next couple of years or so. My basic goal is to be able to understand and engage in basic conversations and to have reading comprehension to allow me to get the gist of texts I may encounter in everyday life.

Last year over a few months I studied the basics using Yong Ho’s “Beginner’s Chinese” and the first few chapters of “Intermediate Chinese” listening to CDs in the car as I drove to work and eavesdropping on coworkers’ conversations in Chinese. I was really impressed that I could understand some simple things they were saying and sometimes say simple things myself although I still haven’t mastered pronouncing some of the sounds or even the tones correctly.

Unfortunately I got too busy with other stuff and let my studies go for a few months, and now it’s kind of hard to get back into it. It’s frustrating to have to start over at square one, but I have to review a lot of the basic stuff I don’t have at the top of my head anymore. I’m going to try to learn 20 new characters a week. When I’m sure I can devote the time and I have the funds, I’m going to find and hire a tutor, one who is a native speaker, to help me.