General Discussion and Useful Links > Ask An Experienced Member
Re: Need suggestions for learning or communicating in Chinese
Irishman:
I cannot recommend Pimsluer Mandarin highly enough, I have little natural language ability (I work in tech) and am finding it great, progress is slow, but there is progress!
Its pretty expensive but I'm told there are torrents out there for it..not that I or chnlove.info its mods and admins etc condone that kind of thing.
Rhonald:
There is a web site called mandarintube.com that give lessons that use videos. Also in youtube just search for mandarin lessons and you can get a good selection of basic level stuff to get started and hear the proper intonations.
Vince G:
I myself? I'm looking for a class to attend. Even with learning a few words off a program, it may sound correct to me but how does it really sound? Don't want to find out after it's to late. :roll:
Hans:
Like Arnold I recommend taking classes if you are really interested in learning the language, not just learn a few phrases. It takes dedication, but Mandarin is not harder to learn than any other language. It is just different. Finding short cuts may get you through a short stay in China, being able to order some food or greet people but it won't give you an understanding of the strcuture of the language, the characters and the extreme importance of the tones and thus it will not work in the long run. You need a teacher to correct your mistakes because to someone who speaks Mandarin it is so obvious when you are using the wrong tone while it may be hard for a newbie to hear it (and the tones change depending on which tone that follows or precedes it etc). Using the wrong tone is like using a completely wrong word.
I just regret not having studied Mandarin before I visited China (as a tourist) because it would have made things so much easier. But it's never too late. 8-)
Jadams79:
Want to know if your vocalization sounds correct, cheap MP3 player and record yourself talking while listening to a language tape, then compair, then call your girl and have her laugh at you err with you ^_^
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