Five Tips for Learning Mandarin Chinese

People often say that the fastest way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in the culture — surround yourself with the language, and you’ll be fluent in no time. So why is it that, even when we follow this advice, our Chinese skills often seem to plateau at ordering the same dish at our favourite restaurant or asking where the toilet is?

As an avid language learner, I can tell you this advice isn’t wrong — it’s just incomplete. Think of it like this: if you want to master Chinese cooking, of course you should go to China. But once you’re there, what do you do? You get into a kitchen and start cooking! The same principle applies to language learning.

So how do you go from saying, “Chinese? Erm… kind of, yeah, I picked up a bit,” to confidently putting “Advanced Mandarin Chinese” on your CV?

Here are a few tips to get you into the linguistic kitchen and start truly learning Mandarin Chinese.

Often, when we're surrounded by a new language, we don't know where to begin. Well, here’s a good place to start: have simple conversations with yourself, such as “Hi, how are you?”, “I’m fine, thanks”, “Do you have plans tonight?”, “No, want to grab dinner together?”. If you can’t translate these naturally, then that’s your starting point! You’ll likely find yourself wanting to practise more and more — perhaps even pretending to take phone calls, just to talk to yourself in a socially acceptable way!

Studying Chinese can take many different forms, especially when you're living in China. Practise every day — whether it’s an intense study session in a coffee shop for hours, or simply memorising one new word on the subway. Just make sure you do something, however small, every single day until it becomes part of your routine.

Living in a major Chinese city and teaching English as a job, it’s easy to go quite some time without speaking any Chinese at all. If you want to learn the language, this is exactly the habit you need to break. Start by reading Chinese children’s books (wrapped in a handy book cover to avoid awkward looks on the subway), watching the latest Chinese films (most have English subtitles), and what I consider most important — memorising Chinese songs, even if you don’t understand the words, to prepare for your next KTV debut.

This one’s simple. Once you learn a Chinese phrase—take “What time is it?” for example—refuse to let yourself ask the question in English from then on, even in your head. Thinking in Chinese seriously helps improve your fluency and even your tone!

Learning Chinese is truly a challenging test, and the best tool you can use is persistence. Don’t let yourself give up or take a break just because you find yourself thinking, “Oh, what was that word again?” or “Ugh, is that the second or third tone?” Don’t hesitate—reach for your flashcards or dictionary and check straight away. Be relentless in your studies, and the payoff will be priceless.

So there you have it. By diving into the language headfirst, you can learn Chinese. Remember, you don’t have to live in China, but it certainly helps. Since I started teaching English in China, my Mandarin has gone from strength to strength. I would definitely recommend making the move!