Hi all,
Some great discussion in this thread above. I will continue a few remarks on my approach and resources I’ve used in case they are helpful to others.
My approach to learning Mandarin (Putonghua), is best described as “haphazard”. And I have become comfortable with this approach, because it meets my goals. And I think this is the most important point I could contribute: The reason you are learning Chinese (in any of its forms) should drive your engagement with the language and the approach used.
Learning Chinese to read Tang poetry is different from wanting to understand Chinese investment in AI and still different from only wanting to have a casual conversation and order a bowl of noodles.
I previously offered a few resource recommendations here.
Additionally, I’d recommend the You Can Learn Chinese podcast, from the team at Mandarin Companion. Perhaps start with episode 13 on Paul Nation’s “Four Strands” of language learning. The Mandarin Companion readers are good as well.
The Chinese Grammar Wiki is a terrific resource when needing plain language explanations of complicated grammar points.
The r/ChineseLanguage subreddit is often hit or miss, but has some excellent contributions such as this post detailing the author’s journey to HSK 5 in 15 months.
It’s easy for me to get over-engaged and lost in the technical minutiae of optimal methods to encode and decode semantic and phonetic character components. I now try to resist that approach and almost only engage in methods that I find engaging and/or fun. Often that means taking a long walk while listening/responding to Pimsleur recordings or listening to Chinese language podcasts (even if I only understand a small fraction of what is discussed).
Finally, I would recommend having several private tutoring sessions on iTalki or other platform. These can be surprisingly cost effective compared to formal group classes. Find a tutor who will help you engage with what you would like to learn.
Your results may vary!
Bjorn