Coursera offers a lot of free Chinese courses through Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. (If you’re a beginner, I recommend starting with Chinese for Beginners.) Like edX, these courses are fairly flexible.

Similarly, How can I learn Chinese by myself?


What’s the Best Way to Start Learning Chinese?

  1. Step 1: Determine if Learning Mandarin Chinese is Right for You. …
  2. Step 2: Find Some Chinese Learning Materials. …
  3. Step 3: Learn Pinyin. …
  4. Step 4: Start Speaking in Chinese. …
  5. Step 5: Start listening to Chinese During Your Commute. …
  6. Step 6: Get Your Head Around Chinese Tones.

Additionally, Is Chinese hard to learn? The Chinese language is often considered one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn, but this sentiment is a major oversimplification. Like any language, learning Chinese has its challenges. As a language learner, placing yourself in an ideal learning environment is key to learning Chinese.

Is Chinese easy to learn?

When it comes to the issue of grammatical complexity, Chinese is really one of the easiest languages there is to learn. Unlike most European languages, it does not feature complicated constructs like cases and genders. It also treats tenses in a very simplistic way.

Is Du Chinese free?

Pricing. The basic version of Du Chinese is available for free and includes a limited selection of lessons. This is great if you want to try the resource out before buying to see if it’s for you.

How long will it take to learn Chinese?

According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) scale, it will take you 88 Weeks (2,200 hours of active learning) to reach native/bilingual Chinese proficiency. Chinese is one of the 5 languages which is most challenging to learn for native English speakers.

How quickly can I learn Chinese?

It takes a learner with average aptitude only 15 weeks to reach level 2 for Spanish or French, but about 50 weeks to reach a similar level of the Chinese language. If you want to be fully fluent in Mandarin, you’d better plan to spend about 230 weeks, which is about 4 years.

Can I learn Chinese in 2 years?

FSI says you will need 88 weeks, somewhere between 1.5–2 years. Another yardstick is the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK)—the standard proficiency test for Mandarin Chinese. … Anecdotally, most students who study language full-time at a university in China are able to pass the HSK 5 after 1–2 years.

How hard is it to learn to speak Chinese?

Mandarin Chinese

Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. … But writing isn’t the only difficult part of learning Mandarin. The tonal nature of the language makes speaking it very hard as well.

How can I learn to read Chinese?

The best way to learn to read Chinese tones properly is by using 拼音 (pīn yīn — literally, “combine sounds”). Pinyin is the romanized version of Chinese. Beginner Chinese classes have nothing to do with characters at all because of how important accurate pronunciation and tones are.

What happened to decipher Chinese app?

***Update: The Decipher app is no longer available***

It’s a no frills app but loaded with just the right features for beginners. The articles are short and mostly about Chinese culture with some world news. The best part of the Decipher Chinese app is the touch dictionary/audio feature.

Why is the Chinese language difficult to learn?

The main thing that makes the Chinese language difficult for foreigners to learn is that it is tonal. Mandarin operates with four different tones, meaning that the way that you say a word can give it four different meanings!

Can I learn Chinese in 3 months?

With the right work and attitude, you can make massive progress in your Chinese learning in three months. And if having a conversation in Mandarin Chinese is your primary goal, it can be achievable with just three months of study, even if you’re starting from zero.

Can I learn Mandarin a year?

If you were to study hard in a classroom or immersive setting with at least 1-3 hours a day, you are likely to acquire intermediate-level fluency within a year. Different people learn at different speeds, so you can’t take this as a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s a good metric to help set your expectations.

Is it harder to learn Japanese or Chinese?

Chinese grammar is generally considered a lot easier to learn than Japanese. Chinese is an isolating language, even more so than English, with no verb conjugations, noun cases or grammatical gender. … Chinese has a larger inventory of phonemes and each syllable has its own tone.

How can I learn Chinese in 6 months?


How I Learned to Speak Mandarin in 6 Months

  1. I believe with dedication, hard work and these seven steps, anyone can learn any language in six months.
  2. Move to China (for six months at least)
  3. Enroll in a Chinese Learning Program.
  4. No Partying.
  5. Get a tutor.
  6. Get a Language Partner (or 3)
  7. Watch Chinese Movies and TV.

Is Mandarin a difficult language to learn?

Mandarin Chinese

Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. … But writing isn’t the only difficult part of learning Mandarin. The tonal nature of the language makes speaking it very hard as well.

Is it possible to learn Chinese in a year?

If you were to study hard in a classroom or immersive setting with at least 1-3 hours a day, you are likely to acquire intermediate-level fluency within a year. Different people learn at different speeds, so you can’t take this as a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s a good metric to help set your expectations.

What is the hardest language to learn?

Mandarin

As mentioned before, Mandarin is unanimously considered the toughest language to master in the world! Spoken by over a billion people in the world, the language can be extremely difficult for people whose native languages use the Latin writing system.

What is the hardest language to learn in the world?

Mandarin

As mentioned before, Mandarin is unanimously considered the toughest language to master in the world! Spoken by over a billion people in the world, the language can be extremely difficult for people whose native languages use the Latin writing system.

What is the easiest language to learn in the world?


And The Easiest Language To Learn Is…

  1. Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. …
  2. Swedish. …
  3. Spanish. …
  4. Dutch. …
  5. Portuguese. …
  6. Indonesian. …
  7. Italian. …
  8. French.

Is English or Chinese harder to learn?

It’s official: Chinese is more difficult than English. The Chinese need both sides of the brain to grapple with challenges of Mandarin, but English speakers listen with only half their minds on the job.

Can you just learn to read Chinese?

Learning to read Chinese is not impossible, but it’s not easy either. Exactly how difficult it is depends on a lot of factors, some of which are beyond your control, but ShaoLan definitely has a point when she argues that learning Chinese needn’t be as hard as people think.

How can I get better at reading Chinese?


#1 Read more

  1. The only way to improve Chinese reading skills is to read more, and read more level appropriate materials.
  2. In this aspect, the world is friendlier to high level students. …
  3. To use my Chinese Reading and Writing series as an example. …
  4. On top of reading more, read aloud when possible.

How long does it take to learn to read Chinese?

As Group 5 languages, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese need a good 2200 hours of study to properly learn. For most people, however, the goal is to learn enough Chinese to carry on conversations and read Chinese menus, magazines, and other publications — which takes a lot less time.