Easy Ways To Learn Chinese To Make Your Life Better

It doesn't matter what you want to learn, you must put time and effort into it. This is especially true of learning Chinese.

Here are some ideas to make the time you spend learning more effective and efficient:

1. Integrate new material with more familiar material to make your basic level of learning stronger.

2. Develop a concept map, to identify characters or groups of characters which are similar
(groups of characters should have similar meaning and in similar clusters).
a. Words which fit into the same sort of pattern.
b. Those characters which share the same sort of radical or same sort of phonetic (similar
pronunciation) components.
c. Those characters which share any other type of component that is similar.
d. Look at placing those characters together which have a shared idea, such as colors,
activities or places.

3. Create hierarchical chart to break down single characters into smaller and more meaningful
components.

4. Make a mnemonic device to help remember particular parts of your character. One way of
remembering it is through using a picture, which will suggest the characters particular
strokes.

5. After each lesson, wait 15 minutes and go back over what you just learned. Studies have
shown a quick review shortly after a lesson helps retain the lesson better.

6. Read out loud. Reading out loud is a great way to practice and helps to discover particular
words and phrases which need more work. Plus if you ever have to read out loud , you will be
better prepared.

7. Don't study for long periods of time. Study a little each day, and you will find it is easier to
learn the language (you will more likely retain what you learned this way).

8. Break up learning new vocabulary into several small sessions. You can do this while travelling
to school or work, or even when you are waiting in line to pay for your groceries.

9. The most effective way to learn Chinese characters is to memorize them. A great way is to
write them down. (Don't write the same word over and over again, write each word down once
or twice, then go to the next one. Then go through the list again until you are comfortable
with it. This helps to put the words more firmly into memory and your mind.)

10. If possible, practice with a partner. Each person read a line, like a conversation (but do
not use your books or study notes). To understand what has been said, each person reads the
response a second time in English.

11. When reading Chinese, cover the pinyin (the way it sounds) while reading the text to understand the characters better. If unsure of a character, write down notes on a separate piece of paper to refer to
later.

Developing the above habits will make learning Chinese so much easier!