Before starting learning Chinese, please read this article!

JuliaYang · Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 67 Location: London

Whether \"learning\" Chinese is easy or not depends on your objectives. Achieving true fluency requires substantially more time. The idea of a person who learns a foreign language fluently in almost no time with no effort is largely a myth. It generally takes time and practice, but the process can be a fun and rewarding experience.

There are many schools of thought on how best to learn a foreign language. Many of these schools claim they have found the \"best\" way to learn. We feel that the best way to learn depends on the person. Some people learn better orally, some visually. Some learn best when they want to, others when they have to. Some prefer rules and structure, others practice and application. Nobody can tell you what works best, but teachers, books, and experience can help show you the way.

Furthermore, we also believe that a Chinese can best be learned through a combination of instruction, study, and practice. Any one of these in isolation might be helpful but will be less effective and rewarding.
For instance, consider the benefit of having a lesson each week and doing nothing else, compared to having the same lesson each week but learning the vocabulary beforehand, or reinforcing what you learned after the lesson through actual use in conversation.