Get started learning Chinese, it's not as hard as you think! 中文学习：初学者指南

Hi all! My name's Noah (诺亚）and I'm and American who's been living in Shanghai, China, for the last 5 years, during which time I've become fairly proficient in Mandarin Chinese. I like learning languages, cooking, eating, yoga, running, video games, my 3 cats, cryptocurrency, movies and books!  I've also been learning Japanese since college, although I've fallen behind in my studies since moving to China...

Well, if you need something to distract you from your bleeding crypto portfolio, why not start learning Chinese? Chinese is an incredibly fascinating language, and China is where the future is! I highly recommend learning Chinese for your own personal, professional, and intellectual development. With the resources I introduce below, you'll be all set to start learning. (Trust me, it really isn't as hard as you think, it just takes dedication and little patience!)

Here are some of the best resources I know of for self study of Chinese:

1. Pimsleur Chinese - Pimsluer Chinese is a fantastic way to start learning Chinese! They use the audio-lingual method of learning, which means the lessons are focused primarily on listening and speaking. The format is an MP3 file which is great because you can listen to it while driving to work, exercising, or doing housework. A small word of warning though, you are expected to try and repeat the language you hear, so you may look a bit like a crazy person if you try this out in public!!! I started learning Chinese this way, and I really think it's the way to go. Pronunciation is important in all languages, but it's SOOOO essential for Mandarin Chinese, especially the tones. I highly recommend getting a foundation in the spoken language before even beginning to tackle the written language. The newest version of Pimsleur is a bit pricy, however, so if you're on a budget, you'll probably want to look for one of the older editions on Amazon or Ebay (I linked to the older edition, which I think is fine, if you want the newer one, you can get it here.)
   
   
2. Chinesepod101 - Similarly to Pimsleur, Chinesepod101 is primarily focused on listening and speaking. However, its quite as structured as Pimsleur. While Pimsleur runs you through all the basic grammar and vocabulary you need to survive, Chinesepod101 really does a good job presenting real life usages of Chinese in casual situations. An EXCELLENT source for listening material. They have some free material, but for full access you need to subscribe.
   
   
3. My Chinese Classroom Textbook  - I know, I know, it's 2018, who learns by books anymore? Well, I still think this is a great first step for beginning to learn written Chinese. It's got some great  beginner level reading material and eases you into things nicely.  If you need a real textbook, this is the place to start.
   
   
4. Pleco Dictionary App - This is THE indispensable Chinese dictionary app. Don't go looking for any other apps, don't buy a fancy handheld electronic dictionary, this is what you need. It is regularly updated, has OCR, Chinese to English, English to Chinese, and my favorite feature is one that lets you paste an entire passage in Chinese and then select individual words you would like to see the translation for.
   
   
5. MDBG.net Dictionary - I don't like this dictionary as much as Pleco, but if I'm using a desktop computer, it's my next best option.
   
   
6. Du Chinese App - THE best app for Chinese reading practice. Du (读 - reading) Chinese delivers bite size reading practice in a wide range of different levels on many different topics. Unlike some other apps for Chinese reading practice, the articles are written by teachers specifically for students of Chinese. Each reading also has an accompanying recording of the article read by a real person. You can translations and pinyin pronunciation guides on and off, and you can also press on any individual word you would like to see the meaning of. Perhaps the most useful feature is that while you are reading you can select any words you would like to study and save them to your flashcards list. The flashcards system is implemented using a spaced repetition algorithm, which is one of the best ways to learn new vocabulary efficiently. I cannot recommend this app enough. (Runner up is Decipher Chinese, it's the same basic concept, but I prefer Du. You can check them both out.)
   
   
7. Zhongwen Chinese-English Popup Dictionary Browser Add-on - This is an incredibly useful browser add-on available for Chrome and Firefox. It allows you to see a pop-up translation of any Chinese character you hover your cursor over.
   
   
8. Chinese Grammar Wiki - This is probably the best resource for online for explanations of Chinese grammar. Much better than a lot of textbooks out there.

Well, those are all of my favorite resources!!! If you know anything I've missed, please let me know in the comments! If there's anything you're looking for, let me know, maybe I can help.

My ETH address just in case you feel like tipping anything to say thanks! 0x533d937b9A2BbbD43ceF47CCC277092800D12EaD