speak mandarin fluently

I figured I’d give learning Mandarin another shot. I took about two years of it in high school (mainly because I HAD to take a language class) and didn’t retain much, but a whole year of it in college really helped me build some fundamentals that I’ve managed to keep after two years. Being a fan of Chinese cinema doesn’t hurt either.

I decided to start seriously putting more effort into learning the language by enrolling in a course at my local city college this fall, and by also picking up Rosetta Stone, which seems extremely helpful in learning vocabulary.

Here’s hoping this time I’ll actually stick with it.

I’ve studied this language for a long time, but am no where near to being fluent. I want to take more classes in the fall, and make some Chinese friends with whom I can practice.

The language is tonal, as those posting here already know, so practice with a native tongue is essential to learn mandarin quite correctly.

I lived in Taiwan for over 3 years and the daily study via tapes/flash cards was good, but going out on the streets and not worrying about missing tones is critical. MAKE MISTAKES and LAUGH about them! The mistakes can be funny and nobody should take themselves that seriously anyway.

Daily practice. Daily usage.

Set a goal that is reasonable for YOU. Pick out 5 or 10 or 25 characters, phrases, words….whatever. Write them down on a card that is easy to carry and keep accessible. Use ALL of them throughout the day/days until you feel you know them well.

Keep those above mentioned cards someplace to use for future review.

Daily practice with a native tongue! That’s the best way.
Maybe the only way to maintain correct tones.

I have 3 different sets of cd’s and books. This is a hard language with it being tonal.
I am understanding more and learning more phrases all the time. It helps to have a chinese friend to practice phrases on.
My acupuncturist is chinese so talking to her helps too.

I took Mandarin in college for two semesters. I’ve nearly mastered pronunciation, but my vocabulary and listening comprehension are extremely limited. Unfortunately, living in China won’t be an option for me any time in the near future, so my plan is this: 1) study vocabulary daily using “Chinese in a Flash” flashcards, 2) watch Mandarin television (drama and news) daily, looking up 5 new words per day that I hear, 3) dine at my local Chinese restaurant 2x/week and request that they only speak to me in Chinese, 3) hire a private tutor, 4) continue my college Mandarin studies through four semesters. I’m confident that within a few years I will become fluent if I stick to this routine.

Today I started working with a private tutor. I live in Jiading, a suburb of Shanghai. He comes to my house for 2 hours on the weekend. I’m studying from 2 different books: 汉语教程(hanyu jiaocheng)and 公司汉语(gongsi hanyu). The 1st book has good everyday vocabulary and covers lots of aspects of modern life here. The 2nd book has good business vocabulary, which I need for my work here. My tutor is a law student at Shanghai Univ here in Jiading. The first session went well. This will motivate me to study regularly.

I’m using CDs in my car to accomplish this. I probably practice about 1 hour each day. I run my diction past Chinese friends to make sure I’m getting the tones and pronunciation right. I think this will take a long time before I am “fluent”.

I wish I could speak Mandarin properly, one day I was having a conversation with my grandma who is in China and I couldnt pronouce ‘eyebrow’, it was so embarrasing. =(