Expert-Endorsed Techniques for Effective Chinese Learning

A lot of people are interested in Chinese learning but are afraid to do so because of a much publicized difficulties in learning the language. However, experts say that Chinese is not as complicated as they say it is.

If you are ready to challenge yourself and learn Mandarin effectively, these expert-endorsed tips might be a big help.

• Connect your Character Memorization with Radicals – You can’t master the Chinese language without being able to read its characters, and you can’t pronounce it’s characters if you don’t know about the Chinese radicals. In Chinese, the radicals are very crucial. It is, more or less, the equivalent of the English alphabet. Radicals are often used as a semantic indicator that will help you guess the meaning of the character. The radical combinations or the addition of radicals to pictographic characters will change its meaning entirely. In some cases, radicals can also be used as a phonetic component, which brings us to the next point.

• Learn How to Spot the Phonetic Components – As mentioned earlier, radicals help you identify the meaning and the pronuncation of the word. Some Chinese words even if they have different character combination can sometimes sound the same if they have similar ‘phonetic component.’ The phonetic component is a special element of Chinese characters that help you identify the pronunciation of the word. Learning how to spot the phonetic component of Chinese characters has proven to be very efficient, especially if you are not familiar with the character. Just look for its phonetic component, then you already have a hunch as to how to pronounce the word.

• Focus on the Chinese Tones – One of the most challenging aspects of Chinese learning is the tone. It is usually a good indicator to test whether a person is a first speaker or a second learner. Most Westerners find Chinese a difficult language to learn because it is a “tone language.”To overcome this difficulty, be an active listener, learn how to listen to Chinese tones, and eventually learn how to distinguish them. Chinese people won’t understand you if your tone is incorrect.