r/learnchinese

In short, I heavily min-maxxed my learning and only learned in order to read. Initially, I did try to learn the tones of words, but they wouldn't stick, so I only kept memorizing the 'toneless' pronunciation.

Now, 5 years after, I want to work on my speaking and I need to fix this. BUT. They still don't stick 😓 Interestingly, at this point my listening comprehension is not too bad, but it doesn't help at all.

I do remember the tones of the most common words, and I can memorize the tone of less frequent words through a lot of repetition, but it still becomes kinda 'vague' in my head over time? It's very hard to explain, it's like my brain fails to assign meaning to them, so it becomes a blur, since there are no boundaries.

I also struggle to read properly - even if I know the tones of all the words in the sentence 'by heart', I still can't read it normally? I need to pause before every word to adjust my base position, so to speak, I've no idea how do you smoothly transition from one word to the next. I also don't understand how sandhi happens automatically.

I think a lot of the problems I have is because I'm either complicating things or not thinking about them in the right way.

Any way, I'm really struggling and I don't know what I should do, nothing seems to work. I've tried the TonePerfect app, it seems like a good pronunciation practice, but it always shows the tones by default, defeating my goal of having something force me to memorize them, and it's also virtually paid and I can't afford it.

I've also tried the Ka app but it also doesn't really force you to memorize the tones of specific words, only to distinguish them in principal, which I have no problem doing, generally.

Thanks for reading, I'd appreciate any advice 🙏

Hello!!! Before I begin, please don’t tell me to “go do research”; I already am! I just graduated from high school, and whilst I was preparing for my uni exam I was trying to find details on how to learn Chinese and did find many posts and videos about it useful, but they were very technical so I did feel confused whilst trying to keep everything in mind. This is my first time attempting to learn an East Asian language and I want to really make sure I’m prepared to the best of my abilities. Learning a language isn’t easy, especially when you have little to no familiarity with it. I know some redditors see these help posts like spam, but I’m sorry I need help. I certainly wouldn’t be writing this if I was dead sure, I don’t have any ill intention. So before you downvote me for being amateur, please keep this in mind!!!

Little side note: I’m definitely not trying to get a language certificate. Therefore I don’t want to learn strictly by book!!!

Little side note #2: As for my language background: Turkish (mother tongue), French, English, German

I really need your guys’ opinions and advice on learning grammar, vocabulary and Simplified Chinese.

Grammar - Since I have strictly learned European languages, Mandarin grammar is going to be really different from what I know. I would really appreciate any media you feel is beginner friendly. Grammar books, videos, playlists all really appreciated. If you guys know anything that would help westeners grasp Mandarin grammar more pleaseeee mention it in the comments!

Vocabulary - When I was learning languages, this is the part I had the most problems with. I will try journaling and watching videos in that language like I did before. But I really need your guys’ experiences and advice also! I know Chinese drama shows are very popular for young Chinese learners. Do you guys have any recommendations on top? Especially specific recommendations? (Writing some stuff here for inspiration: YT/bilibili channels, game shows, films, shows, books, blogs, news outlets, social networking apps, language exchange apps…)

Simplified Chinese - OK so this section was the one that I really struggled finding tips for. Probably since it is really hard, but everyone seems to have their own way of learning Chinese characters. Like, I saw one dude say he practices on paper, some other person on yt says he uses anki, some guy said notion etc.. Well what do you guys recommend?

I encourage everyone who has the time to give their advice or complaints about learning Mandarin. Even a few words could be useful to someone. I remember jumping through website after website trying to find anything that could help me prepare. Thank you for reading through! I hope you have a nice day!!!