Where do I start??

[rdl81]

Hi all

I would be grateful for any help you could provide. I am a recent graduate who has just started working in banking and finance. I have no foreign language skills at all apart from some basic Spanish I learnt at school. I would like to learn Chinese (reading, writing and speaking) but I am struggling to find any courses locally I could attend. That leaves teaching myself but there are loads of resources available and I really don’t know where to start.

Please could someone help. I don’t mind what media or combination of media I use, just whatever works best.

Any help or advice gratefully received.

Regards

Rich

[xuechengfeng]

http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/online.htm <-- online site for learning which encompasses all your goals

Also, my college (Ohio State) uses the John DeFrancis: Beginning Chinese series for reading and writing, which I have found to be pretty helpful. Although, in my opinion, makes sure you learn to speak and have a decent amount of vocab down before you learn to write.

[yonglan]

There's a lot of stuff out there, especially for starting with. While some books/series may be better than others, the most important things are 1) start, and 2) go forward.

I say this having started learning Chinese at least twice over the years before I got serious. Also, I kept going from book 1 in this series to book 1 in that series. So, I recommend starting and moving forward. Even if you're using a so-so series, you'll be happy in the long run.

There are a bunch of computer programs out there as well.

A lot of people (including me) have Lists and Guides for this on Amazon. Go to a large bookstore. An important prerequisite to my two suggestions above is that you find something that you will want to use.

Good luck!

[trevelyan]

If you just want to get your feet wet listening the pimsleur tapes are a great start. If you want to use Chinese for career purposes you'll probably want to know how to read and write.

In addition to the suggestions above, you can always try to find a Chinese tutor -- any local university will almost certainly have some Chinese student who could use the cash and can give you a few hours a week. Try finding the Chinese student association and putting an ad out through it.

Good luck!

[lpascoe]

I definitely recommend a tutor, at least once in a while, if not regularly.

Just to make sure your tones are clear. Also, to let you know how people really talk because some text books have pretty stilted ways of saying things.

[rdl81]

Thank you for all the advice. I got a book to start having a look through and I have found out that my compnay have some interactive CD roms that I can take home which should also help. I have never thought about a tutor but that is a great idea so I will look into it.

No dobt over the comming months there will be many more posts by me!

Thanks Again

Rich