Total beginner, help me decide

[Balthazar]

Background:

I am an absolute beginner. I can count to ten, I know some 50-odd characters and that's about it. I'm currently doing an MA in Hong Kong (not language related), and will soon be done with my first of two semesters. That means: I will stay here for one more semester, and then I'm going back to my home country (Norway), where I need to complete another degree (which I have one year left of) before I can proceed with my language learning plans more seriously.

[/url]Okay, so here's the deal. I want to learn Chinese, but I'm well aware that this is no simple feat, and that “learn” tells you little about my ambition level. To be honest, I'm not sure about this level myself. What I was originally planning to do was to set of one day every week to studying Chinese for the next semester. I have two textbooks New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook 1 and Integrated Chinese: Simplified Characters Textbook, Level 1, Part 1 this, and I wanted to use this as an introduction to learning the language. I've never studied any language seriously (unless English from primary through high school counts), so I have no favored approach. I've just read that having a Textbook to guide you in the beginning can be useful.

Now, I know one day a week is not much. But with full time studies one the side, I feel like I would be hard pressed to find more time. I was thinking of continuing with this through the following academic year as well (when I'll be finishing my Mphil in Norway), and then, if I am serious about learning Chinese, I'd want to move to Mainland China for an unknown period of time (I have nothing holding me back, at least not as the situation currently looks).

Today I found out that my university (Chinese University of Hong Kong) offers Putonghua classes. From the information PDF it looks like the “Elementary Putonghua I & II” would be a good introduction. However, I fear that this one the side of full-time studies might be too much. On the one hand, I want to make as much of the six months I have here, but on the other, I don't want to burn myself out (and end up associating language learning with stress and irritation). (Also, these classes would set me back 5870 HKD / 4716 CNY. Not that the money is a huge issue, but it factors in.)

So I guess what I would like is to hear some experiences from other people (who are further in their language studies than me). More specifically: How would you compare the two approaches? Obviously, the class based one requires more time and is structured by professions, obviously making it more effective. But I've also heard people say that self-study can be quite useful until you get somewhat acquainted with the different aspects of the language. Furthermore, my girlfriend is a native speaker (as in a mainlander), and she's definitely willing to help out.

Do you think “jumping in” will be counterproductive if I have too much other stuff going on? Or, more in fashion with the Benny-trend, should I stop worrying so much and just “go for it”? Different strokes for different folks, obviously, but some thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I'm only 24 years, and I'll be 26 when I'm finished with my current programs and ready to move on to language study more seriously, so I don't feel like time is running out or anything.

[li3wei1]

the CUHK course may be stacked with native Cantonese speakers learning Mandarin, which will mean it will be going at a faster pace than you're probably looking for.

Also, I would suggest that rather than scheduling a whole day every week, you find 10 minutes every day to at least work on flashcards of some sort, and make up for that with an hour of something else on your 'chinese' day. That way you're not forgetting everything for six days before you start all over again, and you give yourself a little 'break' on your designated day.

And take full advantage of your girlfriend!

[Balthazar]

That's a good suggestion, thanks. Ten minutes a day for some recap on what I went through the previous "Chinese day" should be no problem. (Neither should ten minutes or so on Memrise with my morning coffee be.)

Hadn't even though about the possibility of HK'ers going to these classes (always assume that their Mandarin is on an intermediate level or above), but you're probably right.

[Silent]

Obviously, the class based one requires more time and is structured by professions, obviously making it more effective.

I only scanned through the pdf so I may very well missed something, but the lessons are only 3-4 hours a week. So the question is mainly how much time do you need for homework and reviews? If it takes too much time you might choose to spend less time on homework and reviewing. Of course this makes the lessons less effective, but may still be better then selfstudy as you still go through the material in a structured way, can ask questions and you may still feel motivated/obliged too perform. Unless of course you need the credits there is no need to earn decent scores and you may choose to concentrate on a certain aspect of language learning. E.g. concentrate on speaking and reading and don't bother about (hand)writing.

What is better/more effective is a personal thing. If you have the discipline needed for selfstudy and have some competent people around you to ask questions and/or correct you every once in a while their is little use for classes. Many people however feel more motivated and are better able to keep going when some structure is 'forced' on them.

For the rest I second the above. Daily a little study is far more effective dan 1 day of straight study. So, if possible cut up that day/week and make it an hour a day instead.

[大肚男]

you also might want to invest in some sort of audio course, pimsleur is good for a beginner, but is pretty expensive. I also like popup chinese podcast.

as for the girlfriend, she will be more helpful once you have more Chinese under your belt.

[Balthazar]

Thanks for the replies!

Silent: I think it's more like 5-6 hours a week of classes (each module is 40 sessions, each session is 50 minutes, and it's between January and late March (save for Saturday classes which run through April), so in total it's 67ish hours). You're right about not having to perform well, though. But I am one of those people who feels obliged to do my best (to the extent possible) in most study endeavors, so I think it might interfere with my other studies. I didn't notice this yesterday, but the classes are not at university campus, but at TST (will take me a good 45 minutes each way to get there), so I'm starting to think this will just take up too much of my time even if I do very little of practicing at home.

大肚男: Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.