learn Mandarin

I did a beginners course in Mandarin, but don´t remember much of it now, just some bacics. Really want to speak it.

While my mother has been quietly pressuring me into this, I have caved only for one reason. It goes hand-in-hand with my dream to travel to the shaolin temple to train.

I’m amazed by the people saying that they set this goal one or two years ago and have already completed it; you must have worked like crazy! I lived in Beijing and studied Chinese there for a year, and at this point I think I’m pretty conversational. I can express what I’m thinking, but often my vocab is lacking or my grammar is wonky so I have to sort of talk around concepts instead of just saying them. I have no problem understanding Chinese in class or on a podcast, but if I try to eavesdrop on two Chinese people having a conversation all bets are off, particularly if their 普通话 is not very standard (and most Chinese people don’t speak standard Mandarin!). Right now I’m taking advanced Chinese, speak Chinese with my boyfriend every day, and try to spend time listening to podcasts, Chinese dramas etc. Tomorrow I’m having my first meeting with a new language partner. Even though it’s tough, I know from having gotten as far as I have that eventually I’ll see results, even if sometimes my progress seems pretty glacial. :) 大家加油!

I’m the only person in my family who doesn’t speak Mandarin. I’d like to learn.

I start taking lessons tomorrow!

his is my second year living in Hefei, China. I didn’t learn much in the first 12 months here, but now I have a few books and subscribed to Chinesepod.com. I try to spend around an hour a day either learning to write characters or listening to vocabulary/ phrases via a podcast. Slowly, ever slowly my vocabulary is widening and I am understanding more of the language around me. I have given myself around 5 years or so to get to a reasonable level of fluency. This winter I am enrolling at a local university for a months intensive Chinese language program.

gonna take mandarin next year as my subject…i got no basic need to learn from scratch…can anyone help me?for now i always go to this site and subscribe…http://mandarin.about.com/od/dailymandarin/a/zhidao.htm…anyone can recommend me other ways?

I currently reside in Singapore, but I haven’t learned the language yet. I will try to enroll in some classes. I think I can do it. :-)

Success statement: After many lessons, podcasts, Rosetta Stone courses, and trips to China with lots of won tons, I am a fluent speaker of Mandarin.

By learning Mandarin I can immerse myself in the wonders of China, enjoying the people, culture, natural and man-made wonders.

Resources: [Y] Rosetta Stone, [ ] Podcasts $0, [ ] Visit China AU$ , [ ] Lessons $500.
Time: Twenty+ minutes a day.
Timeline: 3 YEARS ends July 2012.
Created 08-11-04.

I plan to live in China sometime at the end of 2010, and my flatmate is just started giving me serious lessons. It’s very challenging, but very exciting, and i’m doing well so far!