Best way to learn conversation Mandarin?
September 1, 2011 8:34 AM Subscribe
Good, fast, and cheap way to learn basic conversational Mandarin?
My wife and I are going to visit Beijing in a few months. I speak Mandarin pretty well (though I can't read/write much Chinese these days), but she just knows a few select words. She'd like to be able to converse at least a little bit with my grandparents and other relatives that we're going to be meeting. What's the latest and greatest in learning Mandarin? Good and fast are more important than cheap, but I'd still prefer to not have to spend too much. Is Rosetta Stone really all that good/worth the price? Books, websites, online classes, etc are all welcome.
My wife and I are going to visit Beijing in a few months. I speak Mandarin pretty well (though I can't read/write much Chinese these days), but she just knows a few select words. She'd like to be able to converse at least a little bit with my grandparents and other relatives that we're going to be meeting. What's the latest and greatest in learning Mandarin? Good and fast are more important than cheap, but I'd still prefer to not have to spend too much. Is Rosetta Stone really all that good/worth the price? Books, websites, online classes, etc are all welcome.
ChinesePod and Popup Chinese are good podcasts that have lessons for absolute beginners in Mandarin.
Lonely Planet's Mandarin phrasebook is also great for your wife to learn how to get around Beijing if she's ever on her own.
Rosetta Stone is decent for beginners but it is not worth the price if you are learning the language just for a single trip, IMO.
posted by elisse at 9:50 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Lonely Planet's Mandarin phrasebook is also great for your wife to learn how to get around Beijing if she's ever on her own.
Rosetta Stone is decent for beginners but it is not worth the price if you are learning the language just for a single trip, IMO.
posted by elisse at 9:50 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Rosetta Stone is the gold standard, and for good reason. Check your local library - mine carries the Rosetta Stone series. Yours may as well, or may be able to request it through interlibrary loan.
posted by ErikaB at 10:28 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ErikaB at 10:28 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Your local Confucius Institute may have some relatively cheap Chinese classes. I think in person classes are valuable for language learning, as it gets you to speak with actual human beings instead of repeating things heard on a tape. Here in Portland OR, the fall quarter weekly classes are from Oct to Dec and cost about $100.
posted by Pantalaimon at 12:58 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Pantalaimon at 12:58 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Just to add to the resources linked above that CCTV has a few learner's programmes up on line - beginner's here and here. Might be useful too.
posted by Abiezer at 1:41 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Abiezer at 1:41 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by calumet43 at 8:58 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]