| Although no matter what, language learning takes | | | | characters on flash cards and are able to name |
| time, there are some things you can do to | | | | the word in Chinese and English, you may not be |
| accelerate the process. You may not be able to | | | | able to look at an English word and come up with |
| put all of these things into practice, but by taking | | | | the character in Chinese for it. Drill yourself |
| action with even a couple of these suggestions | | | | multiple ways. Hear Chinese, and translate to |
| you can greatly decrease the time it will take you | | | | English. Hear English and translate to Chinese. See |
| to reach fluency. | | | | pinyin, and try to come up with the character. |
| 1. Build a schedule | | | | See the character and try to come up with the |
| The most important part of learning any language | | | | pinyin. The more ways you practice it, the deeper |
| is consistent practice. This goes without saying. | | | | and more solid your memory will be. |
| However, many people undervalue the importance | | | | 5. Memorize the hard stuff |
| of consistency and routine. It might not seem like | | | | Some things you can't just wing. If you're |
| much to practice for a half hour, five days a | | | | confused about grammar, or if you have a hard |
| week, but it's twice as effective as practicing for | | | | time with certain words or characters, just sit |
| two and a half hours once a week. No matter | | | | down with it and memorize. If you went to |
| how busy you are, you can fit language learning | | | | college, think about what worked for you then. |
| into your everyday routine. Whether it's during a | | | | It's dull, but slogging through it will bring rewards |
| commute to work, during your lunch break, or in | | | | when you're confident about the way you build |
| a quiet space in the evening - make the time, | | | | sentences. |
| make progress. | | | | 6. Make games for yourself |
| 2. Set Realistic Goals | | | | If it's not enjoyable, you'll eventually stop doing it. |
| I know, I know. The whole idea is to learn | | | | You can find ways to make learning Chinese fun. |
| Chinese FAST. However, Rome wasn't built in a | | | | Think about word games in English that you can |
| day and no one is going to reach fluency in a | | | | replicate in Chinese. List all the words you can |
| foreign language in a week. Set realistic goals for | | | | think of that start with a certain sound. Find |
| yourself that you believe you can reach. Make | | | | exercises you like and make them as fun as you |
| them ambitious, but don't set yourself up for | | | | can. |
| failure. Space out your goals so that you have | | | | 7. Speak! |
| short term and long term objectives. Aim for a | | | | This is the most important point. If you don't |
| certain number of vocabulary words every week, | | | | have an opportunity to speak, you won't progress |
| and give yourself more exciting goals. Say to | | | | quickly. This is the number one reason why text |
| yourself something like "I will learn enough to | | | | and audio based language programs fail. You don't |
| order food in a restaurant this week". Shaping | | | | have to worry! In the age of information there |
| your goals around situations makes your learning | | | | are no problems finding people to talk to, |
| more rewarding in the short term, because you | | | | especially when you speak English - a language in |
| really master something concrete. | | | | tremendously high demand. If you use a program |
| 3. Immerse yourself | | | | like Rocket Chinese, you'll already have |
| Even if you only have a half hour a day, and even | | | | opportunities to speak. If you're using a different |
| if you don't know a single Chinese native speaker, | | | | program than there are still lots of resources for |
| you can immerse yourself in a language by | | | | you. Download and install Skype to begin with. |
| reviewing things in your mind throughout the day. | | | | Skype allows audio and video chat in real time, |
| The more often you practice, even silently, the | | | | from across the world, for free. |
| better you will absorb the language. Try posting | | | | Next, consult a language exchange program online. |
| Chinese phrases or words in places you'll see | | | | Do a google search to find a network where |
| them, and when you're walking around try to | | | | people are trading language lessons. You can |
| name as many nouns as you can in your mind. | | | | arrange a schedule where you help a Chinese |
| When you say something in English, ask yourself - | | | | speaker with their English and they help you with |
| Do I have the skills to express this in Chinese? | | | | your Chinese. If you're really ambitious, make a |
| 4. Engage in multiple ways | | | | couple of friends and chat with Chinese speakers |
| The brain is a funny thing. If you learn something | | | | a couple of times a week. The progress you'll |
| one way, you won't necessarily be able to | | | | make will speak for itself. |
| reverse it. For example, if you look at Chinese | | | | |