There is a certain period in early Mandarin that is very frustrating for learners. You keep learning new words and listening to audio and trying to speak, and yet you feel like you are not improving. Tones slip again, familiar…
Speaking and hearing Chinese at the beginning can feel ungrounded. You could recognize a word when you see it on the page, be able to read it pinyin-wise, but still not be able to hear it if it’s said aloud.…
At first, Chinese characters might seem difficult because they are not quite like an alphabet. The beginner looks at a sheet of characters, then tries to attack the problem with brute-force memorization. That is why characters are often memorized with…
Mandarin is easy in parts, but it is hard to start because you cannot get over not knowing how to say the first thing. Many new students keep collecting words and trying to pronounce them without saying them in front…