From Zero to Basic IN Chinese:Teri’s Step-by-Step Language Journey

When I discovered my passion for languages, I would have never imagined that I would ever feel interested in learning Chinese. I had always heard it was the most difficult language to learn, and I wasn’t particularly interested in the culture (in fact, I knew very little about it).

It wasn’t until I felt that years of studying Korean were showing results that I thought I could start learning another language (while, of course, continuing with Korean).

So that happened this year. This year, I realized my Korean had reached an intermediate level and decided to start learning a new language. However, I didn’t know exactly which one. None of the options really caught my attention, and I didn’t want to force myself to study something that I might eventually give up on. So, for a while, I just researched the most spoken languages in the world. I considered Italian but wanted something a little more challenging.

One day, while scrolling on TikTok, I came across a video of a girl speaking Chinese, and it blew my mind! I thought it sounded really cool. That led me to watch more videos on YouTube about China. Then, I saw my very first Chinese drama and fell in love with the language and the little parts of the culture I was discovering.

Around March, I started learning Chinese on my own without a teacher, but it wasn’t until June that I established a consistent study routine. Here are the first things I did—and that I recommend you do—if you want to start learning Chinese!
1. Study the intonation/tones as much as you can, and don’t take them for granted.
It can be a little frustrating at the beginning. Chinese has four tones, and depending on the tone you use, you could end up saying something completely different. That’s why it’s so important to practice and practice! To be honest, it’s a constant effort. I still struggle with some tones, but I can see a lot of progress—and if I can do it, you can too!
2. Study the radicals.
Chinese characters are formed by radicals. Learning these and their order will help you not only with handwriting but also with understanding the meaning of the character. This way, you’ll remember them more easily.
3. Practice the characters.
Chinese has thousands of characters, but you don’t need to worry about learning all of them. It’s all about progress and learning at your own pace. Memorizing and practicing the most commonly used characters—and the ones relevant to your life—will make the process more enjoyable. For example, if you’re a teacher, you might find it easier and more fun to focus on vocabulary related to teaching. If you like art, then focus on words related to art, and so on.

Around four months ago, I started taking Chinese lessons at university, but they didn’t really help me. So I tried Preply because Seolhwa recommended it to me. They have lots of native and non-native Chinese teachers. It was hard to choose at first, but I eventually found a teacher who suited my needs and budget. She’s really nice and patient. She always reminds me how important intonation is, and we practice it a lot in class. She also teaches me new characters and words. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress since I started taking lessons!

Here’s an example of how important intonation is:
• Mǎ (third tone) means “horse.”
• Mā (first tone) means “mom.”
If you’re not careful with your intonation, you might end up saying one instead of the other!

So far, I’m really enjoying my Chinese learning journey, and I can’t wait to see how much progress I’ll make next year. Just like Seolhwa, I’m trying to speak Chinese faster, even if it’s just basic sentences or isolated words. You don’t have to be fluent overnight—in fact, it’s impossible. Set yourself challenging but realistic goals!

Speaking is one of the most challenging (if not the most challenging) parts of learning a language, but don’t wait years to start speaking. Try saying sentences or words with your friends or even practicing them out loud to yourself. Practice makes progress!

I hope this helps someone out there. Let us know if you’re learning a language and how your experience has been so far!