Mandarin Chinese language lessons
What is the best way to learn Mandarin?
Find a conversation partner
Speaking and listening is one of the best ways to improve your language skills. With Eszett, you can have one-on-one Mandarin lessons with a native Chinese teacher. Using the online learning platform, these lessons can also be recorded, allowing you to repeatedly listen to the words and phrases which arose in the course of the conversation.
Devote time to learning the characters
One of the unique aspects of the Chinese language is its character-based writing system. No letters are used to make up words. Indeed, no Chinese alphabet exists. Instead, words are represented by either one character or a mixture of several. Though the total number of Chinese characters numbers in the tens of thousands, most university educated Chinese speakers will know between three or four thousand characters. Spending the time trying to learn the characters yourself will help facilitate your reading comprehension.
Chinese TV and film
Chinese TV and film does not just assist you with your language learning – it also offers a window into another culture. Showcasing Chinese history and tradition, films such as Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon are considered some of the best Chinese films.
Practice every day
There is no doubt that languages, like any skill, are best learnt by practice. Setting aside half an hour to focus on the language will ensure you make fast progress.
Why you should learn Chinese
China’s growing influence
China has swiftly become one of the world’s largest economies and economists predict that this rapid growth is only set to continue. In order to work and live in China, expats must learn Mandarin as without it, options for work and socialising are incredibly limited, if not non-existent. Moreover, Chinese has the largest population in the world, making Mandarin the most widely spoken language in the world.
It is a challenge
There are many aspects of Chinese which render it difficult for foreigners to learn, particularly those whose native language is from a different linguistic family. One of the difficult aspects of the language is its use of tones. Mandarin Chinese has four tones, meaning one word can be pronounced in four different ways to elicit four different meanings. Getting the pronunciation right is thus highly important. Learning such a challenging language is not only personally very satisfying, but shows your impressive intellectual capabilities.
