Unlike what you might think, learning chinese is not that difficult. However, you must have a clear structure. Without it, you will wander around and get nowhere. It is important to have a clear vision of what you want. Then, dedicate the required amount of time necessary and stick to it until the results show-up.

Of course, if you want quick and easy solutions, don’t be surprised if you end-up thinking it’s very difficult.

• Just as illustration: To read 90% of chinese newspaper, you must master 1,000 characters.
  • That’s the equivalent of learning 5 characters everyday for about 200 days.
  • If you spent 2hours/day, you are guaranteed success.
  • We can provide a clear guideline regarding what you should learn etc… Just Get In Touch

Once you have decided you wanted to learn chinese, the next step is to find the right technique. The third step being perseverance (see article Learn Chinese Fast: Yeah Right for the steps). You can either go to a Chinese university and spend at least 2 years there. Or you can learn with Eazzychinese. We do something most chinese schools do not do. We teach you why characters have the meaning they have. At first it might look like a waste of time, but over the mid- to long- run, you will understand the full benefit as you will be able to recognise, remember and guess what the characters you encounter mean. We made great videos that teach you the origin, meaning and intonation of your first 250 characters. After you get comfortable with these 250 characters, you can move into learning how to construct phrases. If you need a full advice, write to us and we will provide a tailor made proposal that fits your need. 

The short answer is 2 years minimum. However, it all depends on the level you want to achieve. Let’s imagine you want to be able to converse, read, write the most common chinese words and phrases (in other word you want to read 90% of chinese newspapers), you will have to master 1000 chinese characters. If you pace yourself with 5characters a day for 2hours minimum everyday, within 200days (or 7 month) you will be able to read, speak and write the most common phrases. Because it is essential to remember the characters constantly, let’s add another 100days (or 4hours a day for 200days), and within 10 month you will have a level of proficiency to manage yourself in China.

Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken of all chinese languages and dialects. Therefore, it makes sense to be able to master this aspect of Chinese. Note that, the written characters of Taiwanese and HongKongese are more traditional than in mainland China. This is an extra reason to learn mandarin.

YES! If…

This is the biggest trap laying out there. Many companies offer software and services that promise mastery of Chinese language all by yourself. This is disingenuous at best. You need support, however small it might be at the beginning.

• First of all; after you have decided the amount of Mandarin Chinese you want to learn (for example be able to read basic chinese newspapers); you need some guidance into the most common words to learn.
• Secondly, you need a framework that monitors progress versus a specific timeline. If you do not have a timeline, you will circle around and will end-up discouraged at your lack of progress. We can support you for this initial stage, teaching you the most common characters, their origins (so you can recognise and remember them easily), your tonality, hearings and writing.
• Thirdly, you need to learn how to construct phrases and read phrases.
• Only then, can you try and learn on your own. 

In short, the answer is YES. Now that you have decided on a timeline, your next step is to decide on a level. 3 months will realistically allow to get 1,000 characters; which is enough to read normal chinese newspapers, speak with chinese people etc… The way you need to break it down is:

• 1,000 characters divided by 90 days = 11 characters a day.
• Between memorisation, tonality, hearing, speaking; you need to dedicate at least 4hours/day for these 90 days.
• The first month will be a bit steep, so look for 5-6 hours/day during that time. That might sound like a lot, but it’s easier to scale back to 4hours once you have spent 6hours than the other way round.