The Chinese language is known to be a difficult and complex language to learn. In fact, time and time again, the Chinese language has been listed as one of the three most difficult languages to learn, but it might surprise you that more than 1 billion people speak this language worldwide. It is estimated that a whopping 16% of the world population speaks this language. One of the main factors that makes this language very difficult to learn is that it has tens and thousands of individual characters with a specific meaning. The Chinese script also does not use the Latin alphabet. This makes it more difficult, especially for native English speakers.
If you are reading this article, you are either struggling to keep up with your Chinese language lessons or finding it extremely difficult to progress. We have dedicated this entire article to helping you learn this beautiful and rich language faster.
Hire a Tutor
One of the best things you can do to help yourself learn a language, especially Mandarin, faster is to hire a tutor. More often than not, people tend to think that they can learn a language by themselves, and sometimes that is possible. But ask anyone who has done this themselves successfully how they make it. Their answer will almost always be with a lot of hard work and dedication.
It is rare to find people who have actually successfully learnt a language by themselves. But one thing for sure is that teaching yourself a language takes enormous time and effort. Learning this language is an absolute challenge for a language like Chinese, where the Latin alphabet is not used and with so many specific characters in their writing. There are a lot of people who attempt to learn this language and just give up after a couple of months.
A tutor is key to learning efficiently and effectively. Having someone to guide you and take you step by step is the key to successfully learning this language. A tutor will be able to track your progress and keep you motivated throughout your entire journey. While you may worry about the cost of hiring a Mandarin tutor, it is worth it when you measure it in terms of ease of learning. Furthermore, there are many affordable lessons available if you do proper research.
With the help of the tutor, you will not only be able to learn this language but also do it fast while having fun. It is also important to hire a tutor who meets your goals, personality, and learning style. Having one who doesn’t fit you will prove detrimental to your progress, as you will find that communication and their lesson plan are not suitable for you. This is why we here at Superprof place a lot of importance on finding a tutor who is best suited for you.
Prepare Before Your Lessons
If you are someone who has experienced a time when you found it difficult to pass or understand a subject, you will understand how frustrating it can be. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to prepare before you go to your next class. Usually, when you have a tutor or if you sign up for a course, your Chinese teacher will share with you a detailed lesson plan and what they plan to teach you over the course of your lesson. You should study this, take note of it and prepare before you enter your class. One of the main reasons students who are finding a subject difficult do this is because when they go through the lesson beforehand, it highlights issues they might face for that specific topic. Rather than using their lesson to understand everything their tutor is teaching them during that time, they actually get to deepen their understanding while asking and posing questions to their tutor for better clarity. This is how you effectively learn faster. Identifying your own weak points gives the tutor the time to address them properly rather than playing a guessing game.
So how can you prepare before your lesson? You should read the notes provided and try to understand what they are all about. If you are having difficulty understanding it, try to watch videos and read up on them. This will help you better understand and allow you to clarify with your tutor if what you have studied is correct. Another way is to make notes. As you read up on your upcoming lesson, make notes of what you understand and what you would need your tutor to explain better. This ensures that you are using your lesson time in the most efficient way possible.
Immerse Yourself in the Culture
Another way to learn the language quickly is to immerse yourself in Chinese culture. When people think about immersing themselves in a new culture, they usually think about travelling to China and spending some time there. Although this is technically correct, there are many other ways you can immerse yourself in Chinese culture without needing to visit China.
You can start by watching movies with Chinese subtitles or simply changing the language on your phone to Chinese. Try your best to include the Chinese language in every aspect of your life, from the movies you watch to the language you shop in. It might seem difficult at first, but as time progresses, you will find that you will start to understand the language better and how it is used.
Watch Chinese Movies
This is a fun and nontraditional way to learn Chinese fast. Here are a few movie suggestions for those of you who are looking to learn the Chinese language.
Ip Man
This movie was released in 2008 and has an impressive score of 8/10 on IMDb. It is loosely based on the story of the real-life martial artist and grandmaster of the Wing Chun martial art, Ip Man. The film is set during the Sino-Japanese War and follows the life of Ip Man during this time. This movie had a great storyline with really impressive kung-fu action.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a famous Chinese movie that you should watch. It is one of the few Chinese movies that has won an Academy Award, which shows how well-written the movie was. This movie is rated 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.9 / 10 on IMDb, unsurprisingly. This movie tells the story of a warrior who is about to retire. Before he retires, he gives his sword to his lover, but it is stolen. This story follows the warrior’s journey to find his missing sword. Don’t let the simple summary of this movie stop you from watching this masterpiece. We can assure you that it is one movie not to be missed.
Kung Fu Hustle
Another popular movie is Kung Fu Hustle. This is a Stephen Chow movie, and just like all of his other movies, this is a movie that has a beautiful mixture of humour, action and drama. This movie is rated 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.7/10 on IMDb. This story follows the life of a guy named Sing and his friend Bone. They scam the residents of this pigsty alley into thinking they are part of a fearsome gang, only to be swarmed by the actual fearsome gang to restore their reputation. Unbeknownst to all of them, there are three legendary kung fu masters who actually live there.
Find a Native Speaker
One of the best ways to learn Chinese faster is to find a partner with whom you can speak Chinese constantly. Speaking not only helps you with your communication skills but also indirectly helps you with pronunciation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and so much more. Keep in mind, although it might seem fun to speak with fellow students, it might not help you improve your Chinese language skills fast as they will not be able to help you improve and correct you when you speak wrongly. Finding someone who is a native speaker is the best thing you can do for yourself. You will find your language skills improving generally as well as your confidence increasing. The more you speak, the better it will be for you to understand and learn faster.
Being in Singapore, you might find it hard to find people with whom you can easily and consistently converse in the language, so we highly suggest finding a friend through websites online. There are many resources online where you can easily find a native speaker who will be willing to help you learn to speak Chinese.
As we have mentioned earlier, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to hire a Chinese language tutor. On our platform, our tutors are not only qualified but also verified and experienced. One of the best things about our platform and our tutor is we aim to ensure that both our tutors and students are happy. In order for students to find a tutor that perfectly fits them, most of our tutors offer their first lesson for free. This enables the student and the teacher to get to know each other while understanding the goals and expectations for their classes. This gives both the tutor and the student the ability to make an informed decision on their partnership.
Another good thing about Superprof is flexibility. We allow our tutors to arrange their own schedule and lesson method, whether they want to have online or face-to-face classes. This benefits the students as well, especially those with busy schedules.
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