More people decide to learn Mandarin Chinese, as it is considered one of the best languages to know in recent years. The Chinese language is beautifully complex with a rich history. Of which, Mandarin has gained increasing international recognition, especially in school and business settings, and it is now the second most spoken language in the world.
That is to say, recently, we had an article on Chinese, introducing basic Chinese writing systems, grammar, and 4 tones in Mandarin. We also gave some fun facts and quick tips on how to start learning Chinese. Check it out if you haven’t yet because it was a great hit 😉
Today, we decided to share 10 useful tips to help you master Mandarin Chinese.
Note: Since Mandarin is a spoken form of Chinese, we will focus on boosting your speaking and listening skills that will help you speak like a native in no time!
1. Find out your motives & set measurable goals
Before you start learning Mandarin, our advice is to find out WHY you want to learn this language. Is it because you are doing business in China? Or are you interested in Chinese history and culture? It is essential to know your motives to set good goals.
A good goal is measurable and realistic; it usually involves numbers, for example: “I want to learn 10 new words per week,” which helps a lot to track your progress. Contrarily, a goal like “oh, I just want to be able to say something in Mandarin,” is too vague and hard-to-measure.
Things to keep in mind: Your goals need to be realistic, meaning that you take your current level, resources, and time into consideration. If you work 8 hours a day and go to the gym 3 times per week, then aiming to study Mandarin 3 hours per day is probably unrealistic. Setting realistic goals is important to keep you going.
How do I identify Mandarin Chinese tones?
2. Ensure a solid understanding of the 4 Mandarin tones
The 4 tones in Mandarin can be confusing for new learners whose native language is non-tonal. But since the meaning of a Chinese character really changes depending on the tone, spending time to get a solid understanding of the 4 tones, in the beginning, will carry you a long way. Listen to them repeatedly, try to imitate, and distinguish the differences.
Things/Goal to keep in mind: There are 20 combinations of the tones. Our tip is to master these different combinations using this tone-pair chart.
This tone-pair chart does wonder to train your brain and tongue to become familiar with the tones. Once you have learned the 20 pairs, you can easily pronounce any 2-character Mandarin words.
3. Learn the 4 Mandarin Chinese tones in phrases, not individual characters
Related to tip #2, it is better to learn the tones for phrases or compound words rather than just individual characters. Why? Because when you speak in Mandarin, you usually don’t just speak in singular words. It helps you to see how the characters sound, or even influence one another when they are together in a phrase or a sentence. That’s the reason why we gave you the tone-pair chart above.
Things to keep in mind: There are some tone-changing rules in Mandarin. Take a common word as an example,「一」(“one”) is naturally in tone 1 “yī”, but its tone changes when it is placed with other characters.
- It changes to tone 4 (yì) when it is before another character in tone 1, 2, or 3. For example:
| Chinese | Pinyin (tone 4 + tone 1/2/3) | English meaning |
| 一千 | yì qiān | One thousand |
| 一年 | yì nián | One year |
| 一百 | yì bǎi | One hundred |
- It changes to tone 2 (yí) when it is before another character in tone 4.
| Chinese | Pinyin (tone 2 + tone 4) | English meaning |
| 一位 | yí weì | One + measurement unit for a person |
| 一樣 | yí yàng | same |
| 一次 | yí cì | One time |
How do I improve Mandarin speaking and listening?
4. Practice with a Native Mandarin Speaker
This is our SwapLanguage philosophy: always find native speakers to practice with because they are naturally the best teachers.
Whether you are in Denmark, Germany, or France, you can easily find a Chinese language partner to practice your Mandarin with. They can teach you not only the Chinese language but also the cultural aspect of it as well. More details on SWL webpage and Facebook page.
Goal to keep in mind: When you meet up with your language partner, you can come with questions or little observation you have gathered in daily life to ask him/her.
Also, especially if you do not live in a Mandarin-speaking environment, remember to take full advantage of those few hours you spend with the language partner and REALLY SPEAK as much as you can.
5. Watch Chinese or Taiwanese TV shows (listening)
There are PLENTY of Chinese dramas and shows out there — from historical to modern dramas and from reality to talk shows — just choose one that appeals to you. In addition, you can choose to put on English, pinyin, or Chinese subtitles depending on your level and what you want to focus on learning (e.g., pronunciation or characters).
Goal to keep in mind: When watching the TV show, feel free to pause and take notes on new words or expressions in Chinese as well as their pronunciation. Write down questions you may have; for example, how it is different than what you learned from the textbook.
If you have time, you can rewatch the same episode with different focuses in mind. The English subtitles can help your brain to match what is said with the English translation (subtitles). The Chinese Subtitles can help with synchronizing your reading (character recognition) and listening (pronunciation and tones) in Mandarin.
6. Learn Pinyin Through Mandarin Songs
Who doesn’t love MUSIC? Music transcends language and cultural barriers. The music industries in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are huge, which means you have tens of thousands of songs to choose from. (Yes, even Hong Kong produces significant numbers of Mandarin songs too).
Below are some good, popular ones if you don’t know where to start:
| Song | Artist | Place of Origin | Note |
| 月亮代表我的心 (The Moon Represents My Heart) | 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng) | Taiwan | A well-known classic song from the 70s that every Chinese community around the globe knows. |
| 小酒窩 (Small dimples) | 蔡卓妍 + 林俊傑 (Charlene Choi + JJ Lin) | Taiwan Hong Kong | A collaboration between a Hong Kong and Taiwanese singer in 2009 |
| 老鼠愛大米 (Mouse loves rice) | 王啟文 (QiWen Wang) | China | A well-known song in global Chinese communities since 2004. |
| 七里香 (Common Jasmin Orange) | 周杰倫 (Jay Chou) | Taiwan | Jay Chou is one of the most famous contemporary singers and songwriters in every Chinese community. |
| 對面的女孩看過來 (girl from across look over here) | 任賢齊 (Richie Ren) | Malaysia Taiwan | Another well-known fun song that gained popularity since 1998. |
Things to keep in mind: Listening to songs is an effective way to learn Mandarin, especially pinyin and listening. It also gives you an insight into the pop culture in Chinese-speaking countries. You can easily find music videos of these songs with lyrics and pinyin on Youtube. For example, just search “月亮代表我的心 pinyin.”
How can I learn Mandarin Chinese characters effectively?
7. Convert Chinese characters to pinyin
Another tip to help you with pinyin! Sometimes, when you see something in Chinese in a newspaper article or on food packaging, you may wonder how to pronounce it in Mandarin.
Subsequently, we want to introduce a great tool to help you convert any Chinese characters to pinyin. All you need to do is enter the Chinese characters and click “convert.” Now you can pronounce any Chinese words you see anywhere with this tool!
Goal to keep in mind: It is always a good idea to combine the learning of two areas, such as reading + pronunciation in this case, to stimulate your learning.
8. Invest in a Chinese writing workbook
Since Chinese characters are entirely different than the usual alphabets, it is a good idea to invest in a writing workbook because it has boxes and dotted lines to guide you on writing the characters properly. Not to mention that if you want to memorize those Chinese characters and understand the stroke orders, hand-writing them yourself is much better than just typing or looking at them.
Things to keep in mind: There are some general rules as far as the stroke order of Chinese characters. “Unfortunately,” the stroke order matters, especially for aesthetic reasons.
- From left to right
- From top to bottom
- First horizontal, then vertical
- Initially central, then left and right “wings” for symmetrical characters
- First frame, then content, then close frame
- Begin with the Top or upper left dot first,
- Inside or upper right dot last
Once you remember these rules, it is not that hard to write Chinese. There are some exceptions, but when in doubt – this stroke look-up tool can help you verify!
Last But Not Least…
9. Ask lots of questions
Curiosity doesn’t always kill a cat, it helps you learn Mandarin too! Furthermore, when you are learning a widely different language than your native language, both in terms of intonation and writing, there must be some things that you wonder about, right? There is no such thing as a stupid question. In other words, the more questions you ask, the more you are actively observing and thinking about what you learn and the fastest you will come to learn Mandarin Chinese or any other language.
Things to keep in mind: A native speaker will be a perfect person to answer your questions. Asking your other Mandarin learners (especially those who are more advanced than you) is a good idea too. Because they can understand you better from a learner perspective and you guys can exchange tips too.
10. Travel to or live in China or Taiwan
Last but not least, seriously consider making a trip to China or Taiwan. Such a trip will play huge role in your process off learning Mandarin Chinese. As a matter of fact, it is a whole different story when you learn Mandarin in a classroom or at home comparing to when you completely immerse yourself in a Chinese environment. You get to see it, hear it, and speak it every day, for as much as you want. As a result, your Mandarin will improve significantly!
If you are a student, check out the study abroad programs your schools offer. In case you’re a native English speaker, teaching English in China or Taiwan can be a fun option. If you are neither, saving up money and vacation time will also do. Just go!
Things to keep in mind: We specifically suggest China and Taiwan because both places have Mandarin Chinese as their only official language. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau also have a significant Mandarin-speaking population as well.
However, bear in mind that these countries/cities are very multilingual where English, Malay, or Cantonese are almost equally spoken as well. Therefore, they may not be as ideal of a Mandarin environment as China and Taiwan.
We Can Help You Learn Mandarin Chinese
Let’s start learning Mandarin Chinese as soon as possible! Here is our guide for beginners that will help you get started right away! We have more and more native Mandarin speakers in our Swap Language community. They are happy to help you put these tips into practice. Sign up for free today – even under COVID-19, you can still meet and learn Chinese over skype or zoom!
