So you think you're ready to learn Chinese, eh? Then perhaps you are! Chinese is becoming more valuable every day, and shows signs of continuing to be even more widely used in the coming decade. If Chinese children can learn this, then certainly YOU can!
Chinese does not have an alphabet, true, and nobody can READ Chinese, but it is possible to memorize the Chinese characters and their meaning, to find the meaning in passages of Chinese script. More importantly, Chinese children learn to SPEAK and UNDERSTAND Chinese long before they begin their studies of written Chinese, and you can, too! In fact, their very lack of a simple phonetic representation in an alphabetical form makes them easier to memorize as whole, distinct ideograms.
But enough of written Chinese for a moment, let's focus on spoken Chinese. Can you, a teen or young adult, learn it quickly? I say, Yes! Having the desire to speak it, to use modern Chinese in order to reach someone else, to understand their emotional heart and conscious mind, to influence them and, in turn, to be influenced BY them... THIS is a strong motivator and enabler of your Chinese-learning powers, indeed!
So what should you do to begin? Just go to your local Borders Book Store and snatch up "Chinese for Dummies"?
Uh, no. A little searching (a week or two, max) can yield results well worth their cost in time and effort, to both locate a personal guide/tutor to begin your journey, and to source some learning resources that will stand you in good stead.
What is your desired outcome? WHY do you want to learn this ancient and dragon-infested language? Do you have friends in college you want to speak with on THEIR terms? Have a job waiting next year IF you can pick up a few hundred words with minimal fluency? Or have you longed for years to delve into the mysteries of Chinese literature, in Chinese, now that you've read dozens of translations?
Each of those outcomes requires a different approach to learning, from the heavily reading-weighted final option to the almost-totally spoken language option number one. Determine what you REALLY want with Chinese, and why, and then the questions are "How much can you afford to invest" and "How soon do you want to have it?"
If you're near broke, you may have to find your teacher by using CraigsList. Do it. Ain't no shame there, but be up front about how much you can pay or what you offer in trade for your guided learning time.
And while we're on the subject, one of the best learning options I've found is 90 minutes M-W-F, for a 45 minute session, 5 minute break and 45 to finish, three days a week. If you can't do M-W-F, there's T-Th-Sat. Next down in my experience is T-Th, just the two days, and T-Friday comes next.
But be assured, ANY two-day combination, separated by at least one day, is better than ONE DAY a week! Think for a moment, learning ONE or TWO HOURS a week on one day gives you two hours to learn followed by 166 hours to forget before your next session. To learn Chinese you really must commit to a few hours a week in order to optimize the returns on your time and effort!
And with the Rosetta Stone © -type CD and DVD programs available today, you get audio, visual, reading and writing and contextual clues all wrapped in a well-planned, well-paced program of learning designed to have you speaking Chinese in very short order! So if you're not broke, test and select your automated Chinese-language guide and learn Chinese!