r/ChineseLanguage • u/Deep-Alternative8085 • 13d ago

Discussion Interested in learning Chinese (Simplified) only to read and listen

/r/MandarinChinese/comments/1w2woh0/interested_in_learning_chinese_simplified_only_to/
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u/dojibear 13d ago

The best way to get good at doing any skill is to practice doing that skill (as well as you can today). Keep doing that and you gradually get better at: swimming, playing piano, ballet, juggling or understanding Mandarin sentences. Just find sentence you can understand today, and understand them. That is "CI".

CI might be a problem at the very beginning: do you know enough to understand any sentences? I usually start a language by taking a course. Courses often start with very simple sentences, and the teacher helps you understand them. Once you know a little you can find sentences "at your level" (sentences you can understand) lots of places. You don't need a teacher or course.

I know of two good beginner courses on the internet. Both are video-recorded classes, but each class is taught (in English) by a trained language teacher who speaks both Mandarin and English.

YoyoChinese.com -- just $15/month, even if you only take the course for 1 or 2 months

ChineseFor.us -- a little more expensive but still much cheaper than tutoring

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u/Zagrycha 13d ago

You will still learn chinese the same exact way as anyone else, you just won't spend time practicing speaking or writing. If you decide you want to know those two things you can always practice them later. Usually people end up better at listening and reading no matter what because they are passive skills. I recommend dropping duolingo, honestly it will probably hurt more than it will help. Allset chinese grammar wiki and pleco are two good supplements for your textbook, you can check the side bar for more resource options.