Best Ways to Learn Chinese

Learning new languages can seem daunting. The feeling like you haven't progressed at all is always there creeping nearby. It's not that hard with Rocket Languages though. You'll be able to access an objective progress tracker tool that will let you monitor and verify your fluency/mastery of the language. The program offers quick quizzes and rehearsal self-tests. These tools are extremely helpful in terms of letting you know where you are in the learning curve. You're far less likely to become complacent with yourself at any stage of the training process. Plus, progress awareness will always result in higher confidence levels, something that is necessary to sound natural when speaking the language.

Starting to feel like the usual lessons are getting boring and repetitive? The company's app incorporates these fun little interactive games that are able to facilitate the learning process and provide some entertainment value to an otherwise tedious task. Furthermore, these vocabulary exercises include the common usage of different words and expressions. As you would imagine, these common usage examples will prove immensely helpful in your future day-to-day interactions.

We can't really cover Rocket Languages without talking about the company's pricing policy. There are 3 plans you can choose from: Level 1, Level 2, and, oddly enough, Level 3. All levels include 24/7 lifetime online access (via the company's app and desktop computer), 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee, free updates for life, and 24/7 forum and email support.

All levels include many hours of lesson time (124, 254, and 366 for levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively).

The first level offers 1891 phrases with voice recognition and 33 interactive audio lessons. The second and third levels bump these numbers up to 3731 / 66 and 6127 / 94.

Level 1 offers access to 29 language and culture lessons as well as 29 writing lessons. Levels 2 more than doubles these numbers, with 61 language and culture lessons and 58 writing lessons. Level 3 brings these numbers to 89 and 86 respectively.

In short, Rocket Languages offers arguably the best online Chinese course. The company's app is massive. It is packing many different yet effective tools that will let you achieve fluency and master Mandarin. These lessons include valuable material for beginners, intermediate, and experienced students alike.

Rosetta Stone is excellent at balancing different things to keep its courses effective but, at the same time, engaging enough. They don't dive deep into details or the usual unnecessary vocabulary vomit. It is all about the basics first and foremost: greetings, the right way to say boy, girl, man, woman, things like that. Before anything else, the platform teaches you the phrases/vocabulary that will always prove useful in your day-to-day interactions.

That being said, these courses are just as good at progressive and compound delivery. The things you learn always come back to bite you further into the course. The knowledge you gain from unit to unit will be reused. With languages in general and Chinese in particular, repetition is key, meaning this is where Rosetta Stone's approach will prove especially helpful/effective. You won't always be able to catch something on the first time but, when the courses hit you with that "something" for the 20th time, that knowledge is bound to stick.

The "engaging" part stems from the app's interactive features. Every lesson will have you looking at pictures, associating Chinese characters to sounds, selecting single/multiple options in multiple-choice questions, and/or speaking to your computer/smartphone/tablet. You receive instant feedback and, as far as we're concerned, this interactive approach beats reading a textbook.

Rosetta Stone has its unique features too. The platform makes it easy to find quality live tutoring. You can access the "Chat and Friends" where you're able to group up with other people and learn together and/or meet other students from all over the world.

The "Extended Knowledge" feature will let you access games, stories, and self-recordings.

Last but not least, the "Audio Companion" feature will let you forego the interactive lessons in favor of podcast-like audio sessions.

Bottom line, with Rosetta Stone, you'll definitely be able to learn Mandarin. It is possible to become fluent in Chinese using the company's web platform/application alone.

Another advantage that this method has to offer is how heavily it centers around pronunciation. Needless to say, pronunciation is important regardless of what language you're trying to learn. That said, with a tonal language like Mandarin, it is even more important. The company's program breaks down phrases and words into single syllables. Starting from the last syllable, the courses make you repeat each sound one by one 'til you build the entire word/phrase back up.

This method excels at isolating each sound and training your mouth as well as your ear, making you able to speak and hear Mandarin in a much more fluent manner. The program also never fails to point out Mandarin's rising and falling tones, which is important since these often change the word's meaning.

Last but not least, the native speakers in these courses hit the perfect balance between speaking too slow or too fast. These people are fast enough to make dialogues challenging and sound natural but, at the same time, slow enough to make sure beginner/intermediate students don’t feel overwhelmed.

The disadvantages are obvious. The writing component isn't there at all. The reading section is pretty much non-existent too. There’s a brief introduction to pinyin (romanized Chinese characters) in level 5. On that level, you'll also find each lesson's words and phrases written out in pinyin and traditional characters, so you should be able to follow along. At the same time, outside of level 5, there are no Mandarin reading texts or audio in the program. Sure, the materials on that level are helpful but, as you would imagine, not enough to build a solid reading/writing foundation.

On the bright side, the company's mobile app is fantastic. The interface is straightforward and streamlined. You can easily switch between languages. The flash cards and other additional learning tools are easily accessible too.

All in all, Pimsleur presents an easy way to learn Chinese pronunciation, improve your Mandarin vocabulary, and build a solid grammar/sentence structure foundation. The company's program is far from the most comprehensive title. At the same time, the course is really good at what it does.

Yabla is also great at helping students memorize Chinese characters. First things first, you'll be able to watch videos with traditional subtitles on. You'll also be able to add the ones you don’t know/recognize to your flashcard deck to review later. But where Yabla truly shines is letting you associate characters with the context you found these characters in. One way to do that is to create flashcards in Anki and add a screenshot of the scene where you first saw the word.

Just pick any scene from any clip that best reminds you of that word. This way, when you see the script and the image together, you should be able to recall the conversation that the word was used in. This neat little trick will help you retain and remember the characters you learn. As you would imagine, the more connections your brain is able to associate to the character(s), the more likely you are to remember these characters.

The best thing about Yabla is how it is able to immerse you in the language. When you watch/interact with native Chinese footage, your brain is basically forced to activate every bit of Mandarin you know. Of course, you can always learn new words and/or grammar rules but it is another thing to see these words/phrases in action. Plus, the immersion goes beyond your language skills. Since these videos are shot in China, you get some feel for the culture as well. Needless to say, it is no replacement for a plane ticket but not a bad way to be exposed to the country too.

As for the program's downsides, it will not enable you to develop speaking skills. At all. There's practically no structure to the "courses" too.

Nevertheless, Yabla is an awesome resource for intermediate and advanced students to brush up on Mandarin. There are over 1550 videos on the company's website. There are many different categories to choose from. It will cost you less than 15 bucks per month to access these videos.

Mandarin Chinese Level 2 is not that different from level 1. Naturally, it builds upon level 1's foundation and further helps you develop basic skills. The course features practical communication techniques and your basic Mandarin phrases/vocabulary necessary for everyday interactions in a Chinese-speaking country. Level 2 picks up where Level 1 leaves off, teaching you rudimentary grammar /sentence patterns. At the same time, the program is considerably more complex, including, among other things, vocabulary differences between China and Taiwan

With Mandarin Chinese Level 3, you will be able to advance your Chinese skills with an extensive vocabulary and complex sentence structures revolving around dynamic business scenarios. You will learn how to properly address yourself. You won't just be able to respond in a correct manner. You'll also be able to deliver your point across and convey just about any idea in concise fashion. The course will provide greater insight into Chinese culture. You'll learn spoken Mandarin phrases and vocabulary for complex scenarios. The course includes intermediate-level Chinese grammar and sentence patterns.

The last course we would like to cover is Intermediate Chinese Grammar. With this course, you'll explore 12 complex grammatical concepts that will help you improve your Chinese grammar, including syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. The course includes various exercises that do an excellent job improving your reading, speaking, writing, and translating skills. The program covers more than 1500 words, meaning this is a program for people looking to become fluent in Chinese and use it as 2nd language.

The course offers lecture videos approx. 10 minutes in length. You will receive standalone assignments and have to pass a midterm exam and a final exam.

The platform offers other courses too, including but not limited to Mandarin Chinese for Business and Mandarin Chinese Essentials.

Long story short, with edX Online Chinese Course, you'll be able to learn Mandarin Chinese in a structured, methodical, systematic manner. The platform hosts effective courses for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students. The program emulates classroom experience as well as the next online course.