Chinese

[kgsbaduk]

Where and how can i start learn Chinese online for free ?

[Tommie]

Where and how can i start learn Chinese online for free ?

Speaking and/or reading?

Try at least ChinesePod.com, which is good.
Whatever your choice - it is work.

[cdybeijing]

You can go a long way by combining ChinesePod audio lessons with Anki spaced repetition software. However, if you are going to try and learn hanzi, you must start learning to write them from the very beginning.

[Tommie]

You can go a long way by combining ChinesePod audio lessons with Anki spaced repetition software. However, if you are going to try and learn hanzi, you must start learning to write them from the very beginning.

CDYBeijing, could you please tell me more about Anki spaced repetition software ?

How do you use it? I would like to use it. Where do you get the character sets from? etc.
(I have an Android HTC and also an old iPod touch)
Many thanks in advance!

[kgsbaduk]

Someone has using Rosetta Stone ? I know its not free

[jts]

If you're literally just starting, I would suggest starting with tone drills until you hear the four tones (and for that matter, the Chinese vowels and consonants). Then start drilling characters; maybe write each one about 100 times, and quiz yourself every week. It's probably worth buying an introductory textbook for your grammar lessons; who knows whether a free Chinese tutorial on the internet is accurate, let alone pedagogically sound.

There's no good substitute for a trained language instructor, imo. It's very important to have someone (i) who gives you an accurate model to copy, (ii) who knows how to nip any mistakes in the bud, before they become ingrained, and (iii) with whom you can practice copious conversations. Even having a Chinese friend to talk to isn't as useful. Our instinct when we hear someone talking funny is to say "No, don't say it like that, say it like this," as though good pronunciation spreads by osmosis. --- But failing that, your next best bet is to download a lot of Chinese movies and watch them constantly, without subtitles (make sure they're speaking Mandarin! ) and make some Chinese friends who are willing to humor you by speaking in Chinese.

[Tengen]

The best online Mandarin language training resource happens to be free, but unfortunately it isn't for beginners:

http://www.slow-chinese.com

Aside from the usual books, I'd suggest using your local library to get your hands on some Pimsleur and/or Rosetta Stone if possible until you get up to speed for more advanced resources.

You'll also want to frequently look things up in a Chinese/English dictionary, but whether it's online or in book form is up to you.

[cdybeijing]

You can go a long way by combining ChinesePod audio lessons with Anki spaced repetition software. However, if you are going to try and learn hanzi, you must start learning to write them from the very beginning.

CDYBeijing, could you please tell me more about Anki spaced repetition software ?

How do you use it? I would like to use it. Where do you get the character sets from? etc.
(I have an Android HTC and also an old iPod touch)
Many thanks in advance!

You can download Anki here: http://ankisrs.net/. You will need to install the pinyin toolkit through the plugin menu inside the program. Once that plugin has been installed, you can read about it here: http://batterseapower.github.com/pinyin-toolkit/.

Note: Anki 1.2 has recently been released, but I believe the pinyin toolkit is only compatible with 1.1 and lower for the time being.

Once you have installed all of the software, there are hundreds of premade character decks available for download through the program, but I strongly discourage you from using them. Invest time in making your own decks. If you read the guide I linked too, you can learn about how to develop flash cards, but in general there are two kinds:

(1) The program prompts you with hanzi; when you reveal the answer, you see your native language translation and the pinyin.

(2) The program prompts you with your native language or pinyin; you try writing the hanzi on paper and then when the answer is revealed you see the characters.

I am not an expert but you can also include premade audio files in your flashcards if you want to hear the proper pronunciation.

In general I have three pieces of advice for using Anki or any other SRS program: (1)invest at least 2 hours in understanding the program before you consider giving up on it; (2)always make your own deck; (3)use it daily or no less then 5 times per week no matter what.

[cdybeijing]

If you're literally just starting, I would suggest starting with tone drills until you hear the four tones (and for that matter, the Chinese vowels and consonants). Then start drilling characters; maybe write each one about 100 times, and quiz yourself every week. It's probably worth buying an introductory textbook for your grammar lessons; who knows whether a free Chinese tutorial on the internet is accurate, let alone pedagogically sound.

Your advice is good but I would like to point out that chinesepod.com is not free and that it is developed by native speakers in Shanghai. The main foreigner involved with the project is a comparative linguistics expert.

The biggest drawback of Chinese Pod lessons is also their biggest strength - they are explicitly and exclusively focused on oral language.

[HermanHiddema]

My girlfriend has been learning Chinese (Mandarin) for about three years now, here's some tips from her:

General
A good general beginner's book is "Colloquial Chinese" by Kan Qian (Routledge). It a.o. clearly explains the sounds and tones of Mandarin.
In general, though, I prefer different methods for the different aspects of Chinese (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

Speaking and Listening
A good audiocourse is Pimsleur Mandarin Chinese

Chinesepod.com is useful to practise listening, and you can do exercises online (paying)

Watching Chinese/Taiwanese tv or movies with subtitles is also good for your listening skills. Online watching is facilitated by a.o. sugoideas (http://www.sugoideas.com/search/engsub), mysoju and tudou. pplive and ppstream stream Chinese mainland tv, but the site is in Chinese only (I think). Asian torrents can be found through asiatorrents.com (membership site)

As for really speaking to someone, you can find a language instructor through the internet, but this is never free. I found it more useful to look for a language partner near me, that is, a Chinese person who is learning my native language, and set up a language exchange. When I did this, my active speaking improved tremendously. Good places to look/hang up notes are universities and Asian shops/supermarkets. Also, a Chinese (Students') Association may be able to help.

Reading
Tuttle's "Learning Chinese Characters" is a very good method for learning characters.

If you want to read books, I can recommend Chinese Breeze (汉语风) - readers at the 300- and 500-character level (more levels to come). The Bookworm (书虫) series is good value for money. Ordering books can be done through amazon.cn or sites such as studychineseculture.com . A useful term to know is 英汉对照 which means a reader that has the text in English on one page and in Chinese on the opposite page.

Writing
I don't have specific resources for this. Just look up the stroke order, draw some squares on paper, and start copying.

Grammar
I found Routledge's Chinese grammar clear and helpful.

Dictionaries
I have good experiences with the Oxford Pocket Chinese Dictionary

Helpful online dictionaries are:
yellowbridge.com (includes a Java applet to draw the character and look it up)
mdbg.com (includes a radical index)

Miscellaneous
I found the Before You Know It flashcard program useful for learning words (Lite version is free); Mandarin wordlists are available.

There are lots of online resources, for practicing words, listening to podcasts, following lessons online, etc. Some are free, some not.

As for slang, there's "Making out in Chinese", and the (in my opinion) better & more extensive "Niubi! The real Chinese you were never taught in school"

Good luck! - Gineke

[jts]

If you're literally just starting, I would suggest starting with tone drills until you hear the four tones (and for that matter, the Chinese vowels and consonants). Then start drilling characters; maybe write each one about 100 times, and quiz yourself every week. It's probably worth buying an introductory textbook for your grammar lessons; who knows whether a free Chinese tutorial on the internet is accurate, let alone pedagogically sound.

Your advice is good but I would like to point out that chinesepod.com is not free and that it is developed by native speakers in Shanghai. The main foreigner involved with the project is a comparative linguistics expert.

The biggest drawback of Chinese Pod lessons is also their biggest strength - they are explicitly and exclusively focused on oral language.

I wasn't meaning to impugn Chinese Pod - it's just, as you say, it isn't free.

[cdybeijing]

If you're literally just starting, I would suggest starting with tone drills until you hear the four tones (and for that matter, the Chinese vowels and consonants). Then start drilling characters; maybe write each one about 100 times, and quiz yourself every week. It's probably worth buying an introductory textbook for your grammar lessons; who knows whether a free Chinese tutorial on the internet is accurate, let alone pedagogically sound.

Your advice is good but I would like to point out that chinesepod.com is not free and that it is developed by native speakers in Shanghai. The main foreigner involved with the project is a comparative linguistics expert.

The biggest drawback of Chinese Pod lessons is also their biggest strength - they are explicitly and exclusively focused on oral language.

I wasn't meaning to impugn Chinese Pod - it's just, as you say, it isn't free.

Well, you can sign up for a 7 day trial and download enough lessons to get you started.

[Javaness]

I just started classes in Mandarin, I can't get over being really irritated by hanyun pinyin everytime I see it in the notes.

[kgsbaduk]

too bad that im live in small town where there are no chinese people ;( I'd loved too take a serious course with native speaker IRL. Maybe later i'll have possibility to do it.

[shogun1234]

Where and how can i start learn Chinese online for free ?

An open course ware service - http://ocw.nctu.edu.tw/riki_detail.php?pgid=102&cgid=5

Hope it helps.