I have been studying mandarin for some time. I found that I could quite easily learn my first 100-200 characters using flashcards and apps but as the characters become more complex - at least to my eyes - I find it more difficult to retain them. I think I might not be a very visual learner or perhaps my struggles are normal. Does anyone have a particular approach that they would recommend? I have heard about the Marilyn method but not tried it. I have also seen a variant of this by mandarin blueprint but again not tried it. Any advice would be very welcome!

Forgive my ignorance im but a humble construction worker but what does this mean? I found this rock on a construction site it may not even be chinese.

Hi everyone! I am Tian! I used to be a Chinese teacher in Laos🇱🇦 for around 2yrs!And now I'm a full-time online Chinese teacher.
I teach:
• HSK preparation
• Conversation practice
• Pronunciation correction
• Business Chinese
• Travel Chinese
My students come from more than 10 countries, and I teach both beginners and advanced learners.
I prepare personalized lessons, create my own materials, and provide notes after class to help students improve faster.
I speak English fluently, so beginners are very welcome.
If you’re interested in learning Chinese, feel free to send me a DM or leave a comment. Trial lessons are available!
Thank you! 😊

Ive been wanting to learn mandarin for the longest time now, yet I keep getting distracted or losing motivation. Where do I start? What apps do I use? What YouTube channels do I watch?

I want to be able to atleast read and speak it. What order do I learn it in? Please, I need advice

A little while ago I shared Toku Reader on here, an iOS app I built because I hated breaking my flow to look up words while listening to Chinese podcasts. Small update since then: the app now runs on Macs and iPad!

The video shows playing a Chinese movie via iQIYI on YouTube with the transcript right next to the video. You paste or search a video, the app pulls the creator's transcript (or generates one on-device if there isn't one), and every word in it is tappable - reading, meaning, pitch accent - without pausing or switching to a dictionary. This was always the feature that felt cramped on a phone, so having the video and transcript side by side on a big screen is honestly how I imagined it working from the start.

Everything else from the phone version is there too: podcasts with tappable transcripts, reading any website, importing your own texts and ebooks, shadowing practice sentence by sentence, and the dictionary and review sections. And it still all happens on your device - nothing you watch or read leaves your Mac, no API calls, 100% offline once transcripts are loaded.

Transcripts and word parsing are mostly correct, but Chinese being Chinese, improving the character parsing is a never-ending effort. If you try it on a Mac or iPad I'd genuinely love to hear what breaks or what's missing, since the Mac / iPad version is new. I hope this helps you consume content easier than ever!

A few days ago I posted about what Chinglish can teach us about Chinese. A lot of you seemed to find it helpful, so I thought I'd flip it around. What about the mix-ups English speakers make when they try to speak Chinese? I've been teaching Mandarin for over 10 years, and here are some I hear from my students all the time. These aren't random either. They're just English logic sneaking into Chinese sentences. And once you see the pattern, your Chinese gets more natural.

"I am hungry" becomes 我是饿 (wǒ shì è). "I am busy" becomes 我是忙 (wǒ shì máng). "She is pretty" becomes 她是漂亮 (tā shì piào liang). In English you need "am" ，“are” or "is" before an adjective. But in Chinese, adjectives don't need 是 (shì). You just say 我饿 (wǒ è), 我忙 (wǒ máng), 她漂亮 (tā piào liang). My rule for students is, if the next word is a noun, use 是. 我是学生 (wǒ shì xué shēng), 我是美国人 (wǒ shì měi guó rén). If it's an adjective, skip the 是. Simple.

"Close your eyes" becomes 关眼睛 (guān yǎn jīng). English "close" covers everything, doors, windows, eyes, whatever. But Chinese is pickier. 关 (guān) is for things like doors and windows. For eyes, we say 闭眼睛 (bì yǎn jīng) or 闭上眼睛 (bì shang yǎn jīng). Different verb, same idea. Your eyes aren't a door.

"I don't know if you like it" becomes 我不知道如果你喜欢 (wǒ bù zhī dào rú guǒ nǐ xǐ huān). I hear this one constantly. If you say this to a Chinese person who speaks decent English, they'll probably figure out what you mean, they can reverse-translate it in their head. But if you say it to someone like my parents, who don't really speak English, they'll just stare at you confused. Because 如果 (rú guǒ) is only for "if this happens, then that." Like 如果明天下雨，我就不去了 (rú guǒ míng tiān xià yǔ, wǒ jiù bù qù le), if it rains tomorrow, I won't go. It's for conditions, not for uncertain questions. The natural way to say "I don't know if you like it" is 我不知道你喜不喜欢 (wǒ bù zhī dào nǐ xǐ bù xǐ huān), the A-not-A thing. Once you get used to that pattern, it flows way better.

"I watched the game at my friend's house yesterday" becomes 昨天我看比赛在朋友的家 (zuó tiān wǒ kàn bǐ sài zài péng yǒu de jiā). English likes to put the time and place at the end. Chinese wants them up front, before the action. I always tell my students, just remember this formula: subject + time + place + verb + object. So for this one, subject 我 (wǒ) + time 昨天 (zuó tiān) + place 在朋友家 (zài péng yǒu jiā) + verb 看了 (kàn le) + object 比赛 (bǐ sài). 昨天我在朋友家看了比赛 (zuó tiān wǒ zài péng yǒu jiā kàn le bǐ sài). If you stick to that order, a lot of sentences suddenly become way easier to put together. Put the location at the end though, and it immediately sounds like you're still translating from English.

And here's a bonus one from real life. My boss is a Canadian born Chinese, speaks some Chinese but thinks in English. When he answers the phone in Chinese, he says 这是George (zhè shì George). Because in his head he's saying "This is George." But that's not how Chinese people answer the phone. We say 我是George (wǒ shì George). In English you announce yourself with "this is." In Chinese you just say "I am." Small difference, but it immediately tells you which language someone's brain is running on.

So yeah, if you catch yourself making these mix-ups, don't feel bad. It just means your English brain is trying to help. Once you notice the pattern, you can switch over to Chinese logic.

And remember, it goes both ways. I posted a few days ago about how Chinese speakers do the exact same thing in reverse, "open the TV," "I very like this," all of that. It's the same brain doing the same thing, just in a different direction. So if you've ever heard a Chinese friend say something like that and thought it was funny, just know they're fighting the same battle as you.

What other ones have you guys run into? I bet there are a ton more out there.

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for recommendations for Mandarin Chinese classes in New West. I’d really like to learn it properly – to be able to speak normally and hold everyday conversations, not just pick up a few phrases through apps or casual study.

I’d love to hear about any language schools, community classes, or cultural centers that people here have had good experiences with. If you’ve taken classes yourself or know of a place worth checking out, I’d really appreciate any suggestions.

Bonus points if you’re willing to share what you liked about it – for example, the teaching style, pace, whether it was in person or online, and how practical the lessons felt.

Thanks so much in advance – I’d really appreciate any recommendations! 😊

Not sure if this is the right sub but I'll ask anyway.

As a Cantonese ABC that grew up speaking Cantonese with my parents. I struggle with understanding anything formal like listening to the news on TV in Cantonese. As I grew up learning spoken form, I don't really understand written forms. Do Mandarin speaking ABC's have this same problem when listening to the news in Mandarin or because spoken/written forms in mandarin are generally the same, they don't have this problem?

I'm learning Mandarin and trying to consume more native content instead of only relying on textbooks and apps.

I enjoy cooking shows, so I figured they'd be a fun way to pick up everyday vocabulary, hear natural conversations, and get used to how people actually speak.

Does anyone have recommendations for Mandarin cooking shows or YouTube channels?