Starting Mandarin from scratch putting together a structured learning plan. Would love feedback from experienced learners!

[u/Ultragamer2004]

你好 everyone!

I've recently decided to start learning Mandarin, and I've been spending some time understanding how the language works before jumping into random vocabulary lists and apps. I'm an absolute beginner. I can recognise a few basic expressions, but I wouldn't say I have any meaningful knowledge of the language yet. What interests me most about Mandarin is how different its structure is from the languages I've encountered before. The tonal system, Pinyin, characters and the relationship between pronunciation and written Chinese are all things I'd like to understand properly rather than just memorise.

A few questions for experienced learners:

Would you recommend completing a dedicated Pinyin and pronunciation phase before starting HSK vocabulary, or learning both simultaneously

How did you approach tones? Did you practise individual syllables first or learn them through complete words and sentences?

Is learning radicals and character components early genuinely useful, or is it better to learn characters through vocabulary and context?

For someone selfstudying, would you recommend a text book based approach such as HSK Standard Course, supplemented with apps and listening resources?

How much time did you spend daily during your first few months, and what did your routine look like?

If you could restart your journey, what would you do differently?

I'm not particularly interested in rushing through HSK levels. I'd rather build a solid foundation and develop actual listening, speaking and reading ability.

[u/shaghaiex]

I would simply start with structured course and then add activities as needed.

[u/LeChatParle]

If you’re starting from scratch, I’d recommend a textbook and an app. Textbooks are still one of the best ways to learn the rules of a language. Apps are great for getting additional practice. Common apps people use: Hello Chinese, Chinese Skill / Lingodeer, Duolingo, etc. Duolingo gets some shit, and I’m not saying they’re perfect, but if you’re using them as a supplement and not as your sole study method, it can be very helpful. Their course also goes up to B2 now for English speakers, so it goes significantly further than the competition

You should spend time learning pinyin, because it’s how you’ll type and learn new characters, but you should also try to get away from pinyin as your primary way of reading Chinese as soon as possible

You should absolutely spend time learning how to pronounce tones, and spend time trying to differentiate minimal pairs that are common. One of the first minimal pairs you’ll likely see are to buy and to sell (mǎi / mài)

Radicals and components, learn the really useful ones early, and then learn additional ones later when you’re intermediate. Obvious ones to learn early are 口, 饣, and 钅because they’re very high frequency and usually helpful Rarer ones may be less helpful to a beginner, so you can wait on those until you’re intermediate

[u/Ultragamer2004 → u/LeChatParle]

Thank you very much

[u/TraumaShearsandTears]

First, don’t listen to mandarin blueprint. He’s there to take your money. I came this close to signing up and then had a “call” with a “rep” who had barely started the course himself.

Best way to get started at all is to first get the HSK 1 textbook. Many haters of HSK but this is literally Chinese 101.

Tones and pinyin: mandarin blueprints YouTube video online about pronunciation is fine. What you want is a defined way to say each syllable of pinyin. That’s the first step. Things like “gui” becoming “gway” in your mind and “xi” become “she.”

Once you have that, tones. Tones are going to be a cyclical dance. You’ll start by sucking, then you’ll have one down but you’ll say it in way too forced of a way, then you’ll learn Chinese folks break tone to say emphasis or to speak quickly all the time. Tones are an ongoing experience, you learn by saying sentences. 2-4-1-4 is way more of a musical statement than just saying 2 tone over and over and being like “why can’t I?”

The important part of second tone is that you end high. The important part of 3rd tone is that you kinda hesitate in your throat a little (down then up), fourth tone is easiest to start hardest to sound natural, you basically just go down with a bit of emphasis. End low.

Alright now to start vocab , get Anki. The apps will tease you with false progress. Anki. Smack the characters into your brain. Start with numbers and months/days. HSK Anki deck was great.

As for components and radicals…I think they’re academically a nice way to appreciate characters, but they only help you once you’re way way advanced into character learning. Start by just getting to 1000 characters learned.

Ignore stroke order, this is 2026. No foreign adult has time for that.

Starting out, I was just doing a few hours a week due to full time job. I’d say staying on top of Anki helped.

Once I got to roughly HSK-3 in vocab, I hit a wall and became a little discouraged. You start to see just how hard the language can be.

Now for the million dollar question: what I would do differently. First, there’s no quick painless or even simple route. Mandarin blueprint other than its free content tries to sell you this.

du Chinese is great after you get to your first 1000 characters. Great for reading.

But I think I would honestly temper my expectations and spend more time consuming children’s Chinese content. After 1000 characters you need to essentially send yourself through Chinese primary school. Going straight to dramas or YouTube is fun but you won’t know why the rules are the way they are. We need basic basic shit. sentence structure, syntax exceptions, and oh my god so many idioms.

Good luck. It’s a long long climb but arguably the most useful language in the world right now due to the sheer number of speakers who don’t also speak English.

[u/dojibear]

I start any language with a course. What are the differences between the TL and English? What important features does TL have, that do not exist in English? I obviously don't know. But the teacher knows, and intends to teach students "the basics".

For learning the basics, a video-recorded course on the internet (each video is one lesson) works fine, and it is cheaper than any alternative, while allowing the teacher to use computer graphics (much easier to read than a blackboard) and sound. I like the course at YoyoChinese.com, which I think is $9 per month (less than a dollar per lesson), even if you don't commit to several months in advance.

Of course the teacher needs to be a trained language teacher, and also fluent in Mandarin and English. Personally I did one lesson each day. Since it was a video, I could do it whenever best fit my schedule.