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language learning advice ? (mandarin)

hey everyone I've been trying to learn mandarin but it's hard does anybody have any advice for me ? I'm especially struggling with tones and learning characters . I mostly want to learn speaking and writing but it's hard as I don't have anyone to check my speaking as I'm self-studying (I'm a native English speaker btw)
try duolingo
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hinalllx
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Original post by TallDuck32
hey everyone I've been trying to learn mandarin but it's hard does anybody have any advice for me ? I'm especially struggling with tones and learning characters . I mostly want to learn speaking and writing but it's hard as I don't have anyone to check my speaking as I'm self-studying (I'm a native English speaker btw)

hey ive been teaching myself for 9 months now & ive been using duo lingo, hello Chinese and the HSK online apps to help
in terms of websites, HSK online will be the most beneficial if you want a more structured revision as it allows u to study the vocabulary and grammar per proficiency lvl (HSK 1-6 )
I’m a native mandarin speaker who lived in the uk for 2 years. Now living in other parts of Europe. I’ve met some non native speakers they speak perfect mandarin. How they became fluent in the language is to practice with ppl. Therefore I recommend you do the same and see how it goes.
Believe me we all will be impressed even though you only say “hi” in our language. Lol
I would recommend HSK online apps as others said. Not sure how far duolingo would get you but its probably good for the super basics. Chairman's Bao also has some great articles for all different levels like HSK with really interesting content. :-)
Original post by TallDuck32
hey everyone I've been trying to learn mandarin but it's hard does anybody have any advice for me ? I'm especially struggling with tones and learning characters . I mostly want to learn speaking and writing but it's hard as I don't have anyone to check my speaking as I'm self-studying (I'm a native English speaker btw)

Hey, I've been learning mandarin for almost 3 years now as part of my Uni degree. I would definitely agree with the others for speaking and listening practicing with other people (especially natives) is vital. I would suggest possibly getting in contact with your local Confucius institute they sometimes run free language-exchange classes, same with universities they occasionally let non-students take part in free events (ECNU runs a summer course for university students no matter your degree so I highly suggest that if you're a student - I did it last year and it was great!!).

Here are some sites I swear by:
Chinese grammar wiki (grammar)
The Chairman's Bao (reading)
Hacking Chinese (reading and listening)
DeepL Translate (much more accurate than google if your stuck)

Useful apps:
Pleco (dictionary)
Anki (loads of people publish their own decks for textbooks which I highly recommend the ones from books such as NPCR and Boya. (revision/ vocab)

Books:
New Practical Chinese Reader Series (general)
Boya Series (general)
Any of the Mandarin Companion Graded Readers at your level (reading)
HSK books (I only recommend these if you plan to take the exam) if not the website HSK Academy has everything from vocab to grammar for each HSK level

加油！！:smile:

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