Chinese

Once you start looking for a Chinese language school, I believe many of you have already gone through this phase. “One place says they focus on speaking,” “Another says the teacher helps with accent correction,” “Some places have HSK,” “Some have both group and one-on-one classes,” and then as you open the three tabs, more and more promotions, schedules, and course names start appearing on the screen. From a simple question like:

“I’m studying these days and I feel like I’m not making any progress. Should I change the course or not?” “I’ve done all the exercises, so should I level up my Chinese? Or on the other hand, my classmates can answer everything, but I still have to translate in my head all the time. Do I need to level up?” Before I quickly replied, “Change it!”

Have you ever felt that in a classroom, “Today I understand everything!” But after three days, the teacher asks the same question again, leaving you with only the feeling that… “It’s very familiar; I’ve seen it before, but what is it?” This is the reason why practicing Chinese on your own.

“I’m already 30 years old; starting Chinese now is too late, right?” “Work is busy, meetings are frequent, where will I find time to learn Chinese?” “I once planned to study after work, but when I finish work, all I want to do is sleep.” If that’s how you’re thinking, then you’re right.

“My 4-year-old is starting Chinese too early?” “Will it be too late by the time he starts elementary school?” “Should I teach him to memorize the pinyin first or start with the Chinese characters?” Questions about how old children should start learning Chinese.

“Online is more convenient, but will I actually be able to speak fluently?” “Studying at a branch might be more focused, but just thinking about traffic congestion already starts to tire me out.” “As a child, can I study on a computer screen?” These are very common questions when faced with the choice between studying Chinese online or at a branch. If you answer in the shortest possible terms,

“I want to learn Chinese; why not start with a general course first?” The answer is yes… But if you know from the beginning what you want to use Chinese for, you can choose the things you need to practice more specifically. Learning Chinese for work versus preparing to visit China or learning Chinese for an exam.

“I just started learning Chinese. Which level of HSK should I start with?” “How many months of study do I need to complete to apply for the exam?” “I’ve seen on some websites that HSK has 6 levels.”

“I can’t read Chinese at all. Can I start learning now?” “Do I have to memorize a lot of characters first?” “If I haven’t even learned a single word before, will I be able to keep up with others?” If you’re thinking about learning Mandarin from scratch and have questions like this in your mind, the good news is that you don’t need to prepare yourself to speak.

“Should I start with the pinyin first?” “If I still can’t write Chinese characters, can I start speaking first?” “To take the HSK exam, what level of Chinese character must I learn first?” Or some people don’t even start and already see the Chinese characters all over the page and think to themselves… “Can I really memorize all of this?” If you’re interested in learning Chinese,