17 Tips to Learn Chinese by Yourself

Are you struggling to learn Chinese by yourself? Many people can learn a phrase here and there but can’t reach their goal of achieving fluency, and then they feel like giving up. Self-study of Mandarin is no small feat. While students in a formal class setting have the advantage of a curated curriculum, those learning Chinese independently don’t have a step-by-step study plan.   

You’ll need to make a study plan to learn Mandarin. It won’t be easy, but with the right tips and determination, you can make remarkable progress quickly.

This post will help you avoid pitfalls many self-study language learners make. Read on to unlock the best way to learn Chinese by yourself.

How hard is it to learn Chinese by yourself?

Chinese is notoriously difficult to learn. According to the United States Department of Foreign Service Institute, it takes native English speakers 2,200 hours to learn Mandarin, whereas it only takes native English speakers 600 – 750 hours to learn French.

But don’t despair. In truth, learning Chinese isn’t as hard as you might think.

Chinese can be intimidating when you’re starting out because of two components:

Firstly, Mandarin uses an entirely different writing system from European languages. It doesn’t even have an alphabet like Korean; instead, the Chinese language relies on characters.

Secondly, Mandarin is a tonal language. Each character has a tone attached to it. If you use the wrong one, you change the meaning. You may have heard the widely used example to illustrate the importance of tones of mistakenly calling someone’s mother (媽mā – first tone) a horse (馬 – mǎ third tone).

But don’t worry, I’ll give you tips to overcome this hurdle. With the various tools and apps, learning Chinese is more achievable than ever.

How long does learning Chinese take?

Learning a language isn’t measured in days, weeks, or months but by hours. Every learner dedicates a different amount of time to studying each day. Needless to say, if someone studies fifteen minutes a day by listening to a podcast while brushing their teeth, they will take many more years to learn a language than someone who sits at a desk with a notebook in hand and studies two hours a day.

Therefore, study time to master a language is measured in hours. As mentioned earlier, according to the US State Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI), it takes a native-English speaker 2,200 hours of an intensive language course to master Chinese.

Taking the information from the FSI, if you were to study two hours every day, it would take you 3 years to reach Mandarin fluency.

Many learners are discouraged by the time it takes to achieve fluency in a foreign language. But I hate to break it to you, but learning a language, especially Chinese, is a commitment. To really master any language, you need to read, speak, or write every day to maintain fluency. You might be able to hold a conversation, but there are different levels of language mastery.

Learning Chinese is like solving a puzzle. Take joy in uncovering new words and what they mean to the people in their native language. Language is tied to culture, and learning a new language opens the door to another way of understanding and thinking about the world.

What NOT to do when learning Chinese by yourself

Before we dive into the top tips for mastering Chinese yourself, let’s talk about what not to do when undertaking self-study. I learned some common mistakes to avoid from my own trial and error. Even if you’ve already learned the basics, it’s never too late to go back and strengthen your foundation in Chinese.  

1.  Don’t ignore tones!

The biggest mistake I made when learning Chinese was ignoring tones. I was living in Taiwan and eager to speak to people. I needed to because, let’s face it, a girl’s got to eat. Being a vegetarian necessitated me talking to people about the food I purchased.

At the time, I was in Changhua, a small city in central Taiwan where many didn’t speak English. I gained confidence speaking because I could order food, buy tea, and haggle at the night market. Thus, my confidence grew… until I moved to Taipei and realized my lack of learning tones made it hard to converse on more difficult topics. Also, people in the capital weren’t as warm and friendly as the Taiwanese people in the country. If I said a tone incorrectly, people would switch to English or not have time to listen to my accented Chinese.

Long story short I had to spend hours relearning tones, focusing on them and really applying them. So a word to the wise, save yourself the hassle of relearning the basics and build a strong foundation in tones from jump.  

2. Don’t avoid learning Chinese Characters!

After hearing my story about something I did wrong (neglecting to learn tones), let me tell you something I did right. I never shied away from learning how to write characters. From day one, I practiced writing, and this not only committed characters to memory and helped build vocabulary but also enabled me to read much sooner. Being able to read is a game changer. There is no other way to spin it.  

3. Don’t be afraid to mimic!

Modeling your speech after native speakers is one of the best ways to get used to working your mouth differently. When learning any foreign language, you will encounter sounds that are different from your native tongue. It takes time and practice to get used to learning those sounds. Some people may feel silly mimicking, but it is the best way to train your mouth and tongue and really get yourself in a state where you are ready to speak.

4. Don’t be afraid to speak!

While some discourage speaking immediately, getting used to speaking in a foreign language and forming speech is a great beginning to language acquisition. While getting used to listening to a foreign language and training your ear, it is good to start building your ability to make different sounds.

5. Don’t be afraid to sound ridiculous!

Every learner of a foreign language will have, at some point, felt ridiculous. It is hard because you want to be able to speak, but you are bound to say the wrong thing. Don’t get discouraged; when you find you are saying things incorrectly, analyze what needs improving. But if you are too self-conscious and are afraid to sound ridiculous, afraid to mimic, or afraid to make new sounds, you won’t improve. Learn to laugh at mistakes, remember them, and improve them. No need to be a perfectionist, but there is a need to be self-aware. If you find you are saying tones incorrectly even if you are still being understood, don’t ignore it, and, don’t stop speaking, but look at how to improve this. We’ll talk about how soon.

How to learn Chinese by yourself: 17 tips to reach your goal

Now that you know what to avoid while learning Chinese solo, you’re ready to learn what to do while undertaking your journey to Mandarin mastery. So, let’s start this party and explore how to learn Chinese correctly.

1. Decide if you want to learn simplified or traditional Mandarin

When people think about learning Mandarin, they usually automatically learn the Simplified Chinese characters used in Mainland China. However, you may want to consider learning Traditional Mandarin characters. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan. Although considered more complex than simplified, traditional characters are deeply rooted in Chinese culture.

Consider your purpose for studying Chinese when deciding whether to learn Traditional or Simplified Chinese. What are your goals? Do you have a specific food, television show, or writer you admire? I learned Traditional characters because I love Chinese calligraphy. But if your goal is to learn Chinese to do business in Mainland China, then you might want to opt for simplified.

Whatever your decision, know it will affect the media you consume. Based on your needs, you will need to decide which books to purchase for study. You could also learn both simplified and traditional characters simultaneously. Many language apps have the option to view simplified and traditional characters and switch between the two. But early on, it is good to be aware of the difference between the character sets.  

2. Learn pinyin and characters at the same time

Pinyin is the official phonetic system used in mainland China, whereas Bopomofo is used in Taiwan. Knowing pinyin is essential for transcribing characters in the Roman alphabet and is the basis for typing Chinese characters.  When memorizing characters, you need a way to remember their tone and pronunciation. Pinyin allows English speakers to do just that.

The pinyin system is intuitive for most native English speakers. Although the letters don’t have the same sounds as they do in English, you can use pinyin to learn the necessary sounds to communicate in Chinese effectively. To learn every sound in Chinese, you might want to consider learning Bopomofo.

As I studied Mandarin in Taiwan, Bopomofo was taught. I might be biased, but I think it is a great tool. That said, I do not suggest everyone learn Bopomofo as it is time-consuming. Bopomofo relies on 37 characters and five tones that are created to transcribe all possible sounds of Mandarin phonics. Learning another alphabet system may seem like a big ask for native-English speakers.

However, Bopomofo is a good tool for improving pronunciation and reading Taiwanese children’s books. However, it isn’t necessary to know Bopomofo to learn traditional characters. That said, if you love learning every aspect of languages, learning Bopomofo might be right up your alley.

Regardless of whether you learn Bopomofo, learning pinyin is a must. It is the first step to learning Chinese by yourself. When you have pinyin down, you can pair it with learning characters.   

3. Focus on Tones

Pronunciation is vital to communicate in Mandarin. Building a strong foundation for correct pronunciation is key. Learning pinyin is only half the challenge. Chinese is a tonal language. Therefore, learning tones is essential if you want to communicate effectively in Chinese.

Once you’ve mastered the pinyin chart, it is easy to rush into speaking Chinese. But ignoring learning to distinguish tones can make differentiating between similar-sounding words a massive headache. If you aren’t using the right tones, chances are a native Chinese speaker won’t be able to understand you unless they can divine from context what you’re talking about.

Chinese tones do have some regional variances. Mandarin spoken in Taipei won’t be the same as Shanghai and even regional variances exist between a short span of distance like Taipei to Taizhong.

Again to reiterate the importance of tones, different tones equals a different word. So you really want to get your tones sorted before you call someone’s mother a horse.

The Four Tones

The good news is that there are only four tones in Chinese, five if you count the neutral tone, as they do in Taiwan.

1. The first tone is a flat tone near the top of your range, remaining at a constant high pitch.
2. The second tone rises from a low to a middle or high pitch. It is like the inflection commonly used to indicate questions in English.
3. The third tone falls to the lowest point in your vocal range before rising slightly. Non-native speakers often find it tricky to differentiate between the second and third tones, so pay close attention to these two.
4. The fourth tone starts high and falls rapidly. It sounds like an English command.

As mentioned, there is a fifth tone in Chinese, referred to as the “neutral tone.” Just state the syllable without any emphasis, and you’ll be fine.

Record yourself to master tones

The best way to learn to differentiate between the four tones is to listen to a native speaker saying the tones slowly and practice mimicking them, also known as shadowing. One trick I picked up is to record myself while shadowing. When you playback the recording of your practice session, you’ll be amazed at how vastly different your pronunciation of the tones is from that of the native speaker you are shadowing.

Worry not. The more you practice shadowing and listen to your recording, the more progress you will see until your tones are spot on. Hurrah!

But I cannot emphasize enough the power of recording yourself when practicing pronouncing a foreign language. When we speak, we do not hear ourselves. By recording our voice, we can really hear how we pronounce words. So, this is a vital exercise for Chinese practice that will level up your Mandarin early on.  

Tone Pairs

One last thing that is easily overlooked when trying to master pronunciation is tone pairs.

After you learn to pronounce tones correctly, you still have to know how to string words and phrases together. Even if you can pronounce a tone together in isolation, your tongue gets tired when stringing together multiple characters with their own tone.

Most Chinese words are formed from two syllables. Therefore, learning tone pairs is essential to pronouncing Chinese accurately.

Since the first syllable in a word never has the fifth tone, you need to learn 20 tone pairs. The most effective way to learn Chinese tone pairs is by selecting familiar words as tone pair anchors. For example, let’s say you’ve decided to use 說話 shuōhuà (“speak”) as your anchor for the tone pair of the first and fourth tones. Practice this word until you can say it perfectly. Then, the next time you need to learn vocabulary that has the same tones, you can use 說話 shuōhuà as an anchor—map the new word onto the one you’ve already mastered. As well as helping you improve your spoken Chinese, this process simplifies learning and memorizing new vocabulary.

4. Start learning Characters from day one!

While working on your pronunciation, don’t neglect learning characters. The sooner you can tie sound to text, the quicker you can start reading. DuChinese is a fabulous app when learning Mandarin by yourself. You can listen, read characters, opt for pinyin, and use the dictionary option when encountering a word you haven’t seen before.

Using an app that allows you to listen, read, and translate meaning is a great way to learn through story. When starting Chinese, many textbook dialogues you learn are stale. How many dialogues about an American meeting a Japanese person and saying they like China can you listen to? Seriously, what a snooze fest!   

5. Think Before You Speak and always Record

Some will discourage new language learners from speaking until they are ready. My advice is to think before you speak, and ask yourself, am I pronouncing the tone correctly? Is my syntax right?

Now, if you haven’t recorded yourself, you won’t be able to verify if you used the right tone or if you inadvertently switched up your syntax. When practicing speaking Chinese, have a snippet of audio of a native speaker, shadow them speaking (speak at the same time or almost right after.

After you have done this several times and worked your mouth, listen to them, and repeat after the native speaker has completed saying the phrase. Record yourself while doing this practice and playback what you’ve said.  

Remember to listen with intent to the native speaker’s pronunciation. When it’s your turn to talk, speak carefully, paying attention to your tones. When you listen to your recording, actively listen to where you sound different from the native speaker and pay particular care when shadowing to the spots you had trouble pronouncing.  

6. Learn Characters’ Semantic and Phonetic components

Every Chinese character is made up of a few hundred components. Learning these building blocks will help you decode characters. Semantic components are important to learn a character’s meaning. Chinese is built from pictographs. Semantic components are characters that draw on pictographs to allow for readers to determine the meaning.

Semantic Components

For example, 木 means tree. It is a pictograph, meaning someone drew a tree, and it became the character 木. If two trees are combined, it becomes 林, which means forest. When we combine three trees, we have 森, which also means forest. If you combine 森 and 林 we have the character 森林, which is the modern Chinese word for forest. Therefore, the meaning of the character is easy to guess if we understand the meaning of 木.  

We can see the semantic component 木 in other modern characters that all relate to trees, such as 樹 (tree), 根 (root)， and 果 (fruit). The character 木 is also present in things made from trees, such as 床 (bed) or 桌 (table).

Learning semantic components will help you unlock a character’s meaning without knowing the exact meaning you can guess if there is a 木 present that the character has something to do with wood.

Phonetic Component

Another aspect that is notoriously difficult is knowing how to pronounce characters. However, there is a phonetic component to characters. This means there are sets of characters that include the exact same pronunciation and tone. Therefore if you memorize the pronunciation of 馬 and learn that characters that belong to this phonetic set, which are as follows: 嗎, 瑪, 碼, 螞, 獁 you will already know how these words are pronounced. A great resource to learn phonetic character sets is from Hanzicraft.  

Learning the semantic and phonetic components of characters will help you level up your Chinese early on, ensuring a strong foundation.

7. Memorize characters by writing them out

I’m sorry, there’s no other way to spin it. People learn by writing things down, especially characters. I know everybody is different, but writing characters is one of the best ways to memorize them. Flashcards are an effective tool, but the kinesthetic approach to applying writing to memorizing characters is a great way to commit a character to memory.

8. Memorize Character Components

Maybe tip number six was a bit disheartening. Many don’t want to face the fact that learning Chinese involves hours of practicing your calligraphy skills. Or maybe you love characters, and that’s one of the reasons you are invested in learning Chinese.  

But there is one way to make the memorization process easier.

As mentioned above, characters are built up of individual components. Memorizing these individual components makes writing a character much easier. If you memorize how to write 木, then when that component appears in the character 桌 it will be easier to write that character because you already know that the base of the character contains 木.

And if you are looking for resources, Hanzicraft offers a great selection of tools for learning character components.  

9. Learn new words in clusters

Learning words alongside characters is an efficient way to save mental energy and time when learning Chinese.

Many Chinese words are made up of two characters. If you memorize one character like 心 (heart), then you can memorize a cluster of words that contain the character 心. Some common words beginning with 心 are:

• 心裡 xīnlǐ (“heart in” – in mind)
• 心理學 xīnlǐ xué (“heart reason study” – psychology)
• 心情 xīnqíng (“heart affection” – mood)

Some common words ending with xin:

• 中心 zhōngxīn (“middle heart” – center)
• 關心 guānxīn (“connection heart” – caring)
• 決心 juéxīn (“decide heart” – resolve)

10. Learn grammar through immersion

Although Chinese has a reputation for being difficult, its grammar is far less complex than that of most European languages. There isn’t any gender agreement to worry about, no tenses to conjugate, and no plurals. While grammar still exists in Chinese, it is much less rigid than learning the subjunctive in French.

The best way for me to learn Chinese grammar was through immersion. By actively reading, I began to see patterns that I could mimic. However, this isn’t for everyone. So if you are set on delving into Chinese grammar, I found that a good resource is learning Chinese grammar in the Chinese Grammar wiki book.

But if you’re like me and have a “child brain” or are open to learning without understanding the grammatical rules behind a language, my advice is to understand the meaning, not the grammar.

Example of immersive learning

Often, I heard and saw the characters 因為…所以. I knew 因為 meant “because” and 所以 “therefore.” I intuited the use of this grammatical pattern from seeing it multiple times in different mediums. Before I knew it, I began using this grammar structure without thinking.

It became second nature for me to say phrases like, “Because I am vegetarian, I therefore don’t eat meat.”

The logic became innate. I didn’t have the grammar explained, but I knew what 因為 and 所以 meant, and the more I read and listened to Chinese, the more I started thinking in Chinese.

Again, that is my experience with Chinese. I am sharing this tip for those who, like me, don’t love learning grammar.

11. Read Children’s books  

Reading is one of the best ways to increase your vocabulary and build proficiency in any language. It is important to start reading as soon as possible. Don’t think you can’t pick up a book because you’re starting out. Just remember to find a book that is your level, which, when beginning, will most likely be children’s books.

As a lover of children’s literature, I loved revisiting the kids section in Chinese bookstores. It is a great way to learn grammar through immersion. The syntax is geared towards an early reader and, therefore, not as complex as if you read something for adults. Moreover, fairy tales follow a certain structure that is repetitive and moralistic enough for most readers to commit to memory. Many psychologists, such as Bruno Bettelheim and Alan Dundas, have written about the psychanalytic nature of fairy tales.

Reading a fairy tale in another language written by a native speaker gives you valuable cultural insight. Bonus, many tales are cross-cultural, such as Little Red Riding Hood, which also has a version popular in Taiwan of Auntie Tiger that follows the same structure. Though things change in translation, a wolf becomes a tiger, and the narrative devices of the stories remain the same.  

12. Read translated texts

This might sound like a strange tip. You want to learn about another culture and another language, so why read a book translated into that language? Well, there are several reasons.

Firstly, by opting for a translated text, you are likely already familiar with the story. I read Harry Potter in Mandarin and found myself devouring the text with the same fever I had when I read the book in elementary school. I was able not to get discouraged because even though when I read Harry Potter, it contained many words I hadn’t encountered. Because I knew the story, I could learn new words through context. Also, being a translated work, the Chinese text is still fluent, but it doesn’t contain as many proverbs and cultural elements that make a work of literature hard to understand. You might understand the words you are reading but not yet be familiar enough with the culture for certain things to click.   

13. Watch Movies Dubbed in Chinese

Dubbed languages, although not always fun to watch because the lips don’t sync, provide content that is easier to understand.  When I started learning Chinese, I rewatched Disney cartoons dubbed in Mandarin with Mandarin subtitles. I found myself memorizing The Circle of Life in Chinese.

The familiar storyline allowed me to absorb and memorize phrases.

Later, I moved on to Chinese content with native speakers, bringing us to tip number fourteen.

14. Familiarize yourself with Netflix’s Mandarin Soaps

Netflix has a fabulous selection of binge-worthy Chinese dramas. Immersing yourself in the language and culture has never been easier. Recently, I binged Boss and Me (杉杉來了). The Shanghai accent (quite different from the Taiwanese accent I am used to) was fun to listen to.

When starting out, watch kids’ shows or romance dramas in Mandarin. The repetitious nature and limited vocabulary will have phrases drilled into you. Shows about mythic China with fairies and demons have more complex vocab.

Listening to content designed for native English speakers is also essential when beginning your Chinese learning journey. ChinesePod is a great resource for newbies to Mandarin masters, with content on every topic under the sun.

Immersing yourself in the Chinese language and culture as much as possible is a fast track to thinking in Chinese. When you achieve fluency, you’ll find you automatically process in Chinese without effort. Television is a great way to excel in your path towards excellent Mandarin comprehension.

15. Get Social

Learning a language is about communicating. Find someone with whom you can exchange languages. If you have something to offer or trade, you can find a like-minded learner who will be as serious about learning English or whatever language you have to offer in exchange for Mandarin.

If you live in a large city, chances are there’ll be local meetups you can attend or groups where you can find a language exchange partner. Try asking your local library if they offer language exchanges. If they don’t see, you can start a language exchange there,

If you’re in a rural area, you will likely have to hunt for your language exchange partner online. Try looking at Conversation Exchange.   

16. Buy a Book or Online Class to Give you Structure

The name of the post is How to Learn Chinese by Yourself, but that doesn’t mean not following a self-paced online class or buying a book to give you a framework.

I think that having either a textbook or a class is essential. There are so many options out there. Maybe you don’t have a schedule aligning with live online classes. You can still watch many pre-recorded video lessons. And you can open a book anytime.

When choosing which book to buy, first select whether you want to study Traditional or Simplified characters. Most Taiwanese language centers recommend Practical Audio-Visual Chinese for those interested in learning Traditional characters. The series goes from Books 1 to 5 and provides a comprehensive structure for learning Chinese.

16. Review Daily

To remember what you’ve learned and keep progressing in Chinese, you’ll need to review it. It’s easy to want to cram in new information, but make sure you don’t neglect to review what you’ve already studied to make it stick.

Cycling through flashcards daily can be a great way to refresh what you’ve studied. Keeping a notebook where you practice writing sentences with vocabulary is another way to stay on top of the new vocabulary you are learning.  

Daily practice is key. The best way is to find a way to review that makes it fun. If you like bright colors like me, try color coding your flashcards to make picking them up something joyous.

17. Have fun!

Learning a language alone can get lonely, which is ironic because the point of language is to communicate with others, which is a social activity. But the long hours spent studying are often solitary, especially if you’re learning Chinese alone. You won’t have a class to keep you accountable. So, how do you maintain momentum?

Keep learning fun! Remember why you want to learn Chinese. Is it so you can understand Chinese idioms, like learning the story behind Lord Ye’s passion for dragons? Or is it so you can read about the latest buzzword taking the Chinese internet by storm, like the term involution? Maybe you want to travel to Nanjing to try Meiling’s porridge or go to Beijing to try stinky tofu?

Whatever the reason, keep this in mind, and remember that learning a language is the key to unlocking another culture.