The study of any language must consist of the basics; vocabulary, grammar patterns, alphabet (if the language has one!)pronunciation etc... but the rate you progress with your learning can be helped if you have a particular interest within the culture.…
Okay, so you're getting there with the pronunciation, the tones still give you a headache (maybe they always will!?) and you're getting to grips with the grammar. So far, so good. But, now, what you really need is to boost…
So, you've started the long interesting path called 'learning Mandarin Chinese', but what should you learn first? Characters and how to write them? Or would spoken Mandarin serve better? Really, it depends on what you want from the language and…