{"id":14099,"date":"2018-01-15T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14099"},"modified":"2018-01-09T14:16:11","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T18:16:11","slug":"new-years-resolution-learn-chinese-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/new-years-resolution-learn-chinese-2\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Resolution – Learn Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

The start of the year is a popular time to work on some New Year’s Resolutions<\/strong> (\u65b0\u5e74\u8ba1\u5212 – x\u012bn ni\u00e1n j\u00ec hu\u00e0). As Ayana discussed in her recent post<\/a>, some popular resolutions are to lose weight or quit smoking. If you’re reading this blog, then chances are one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to learn Chinese<\/strong> (\u5b66\u4e60\u4e2d\u6587 – xu\u00e9 x\u00ed zh\u014dng w\u00e9n). With its complex characters and tones, Chinese can be an intimidating language to attempt. We’re here to help you start the year off right and get your Chinese studies rolling. Here are some tips and resources to help you learn Chinese in the New Year.<\/p>\n

Learn Pinyin<\/h2>\n
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Characters are tough, pinyin is not.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’re a beginner to Chinese, you’ll want to do the same thing that little Chinese kids do and start out by learning Hanyu Pinyin<\/strong><\/a> (\u6c49\u8bed\u62fc\u97f3 – h\u00e0n y\u01d4 p\u012bn y\u012bn). This is basically the phonetic alphabet for Chinese, and it’s a lifesaver if you’re just getting started and don’t necessarily have time to put in the hours every day to learn the characters. Of course you should do that eventually, but if your goal is to get started speaking sooner than later, pinyin<\/em> is your best friend.<\/p>\n

Focus on the Most Common Characters<\/h2>\n

You really can’t learn Chinese without the characters, so you might as well start out with the most common ones. Thankfully we’ve already done all the ground work for you! Check out our post on the 100 most common Chinese characters<\/a> and make flashcards or do whatever works for you to get them down. You can even follow along with our 5-part video series for more practice:<\/p>\n