How to learn Chinese in a month
Ok, so perhaps you’ve decided to learn the Mandarin Chinese language and now you want to get going! That’s great! Because for many Chinese learners, their initial motivation runs out if they don’t progress fast enough.
There are multiple ways to learn Chinese in a month, but it won’t be easy, nor do we think it’ll be possible to achieve fully fluency in that time, not even if you learn all day long. But in one month it is possible to learn up to HSK 4 (so you’ll have finished HSK 3), and you’ll be able to talk about everything in Mandarin, albeit on a basic level.
Click here for more information on how long it takes to learn Chinese.
Week 1: Skip Chinese characters, for now
If your goal is to speak Chinese fast, then focus on Pinyin pronunciation, basic Chinese vocabulary and sentences. You need to get a feel for the language!
GoEast has a dedicated beginner Chinese language course that includes HSK 1 and HSK 2, but if you want to self-learn you can start with the resources listed on this page.
Aside this, our to-do list for you includes:
- Learn Chinese Pinyin
- Learn how to say Ni Hao (and learn it properly)
- Learn numbers in Chinese
- Learn basic travel Chinese
- Greetings in Chinese
- Good morning (and afternoon, evening)
- How to use ‘Hao’
This week is all about getting your building blocks in place!
Week 2: Continue with HSK 2
Continue building up vocab and sentences. Still, skip the characters for now. Focus on learning the 150 HSK 1 and 150 HSK 2 words in Pinyin first.
- Learn how to end conversations in Chinese
- Comment s'adresser aux gens en chinois
- Learn useful phrases
- ‘With’ in Chinese
- How to say ‘Get well soon’
- Learn how to say ‘How are you?’
- Instructions en chinois
And if you’re ready for it, learn romantic Mandarin phrases!
Some grammar points to learn:
- How to use 还是háishì and 或者huòzhě?
- Différence entre '两 liang' et '二 er'.
- Différence entre 过 (guò) et 了 (le)
- Huì (会) et Néng (能) : Mots d'aptitude en chinois
- Comment utiliser 跟 gēn en chinois mandarin ?
- Comment utiliser '和 hé' (et) en chinois ?
- '有点儿' (yǒudiǎnr) versus '一点儿' (yìdiǎnr)
- La différence entre "méi" et "bù".
- Chinese measure words
These are all key points of the Chinese language.
Week 3: Get into characters into HSK 3
Now you can start learning Chinese characters. GoEast has a dedicated Chinese Hanzi character course, but you can also learn on your own. There are many Chinese Hanzi characters but at this point you’ll only have to learn about 3oo to 600.
Add more complex vocabulary with:
- Vocabulary about shopping in Mandarin
- Comfort others in Mandarin
- Fruit names in Mandarin
- Photography terms
- Learn how to order coffee
Also, focus on more complex grammar:
You can start immersing yourself with more video materials such as GoEast’s Beyond Class.
At the end of your one month
Finishing HSK3 within a month is fantastic, because this level allows you to speak simple yet meaningful phrases in Mandarin. You can comfortably speak about directions in Chinese, say hi and goodbye, order food and coffee, and introduce yourself and your hobbies, and more. You may also be able to read some basic street signs in Mandarin. Pretty good, no?
Although we’ll say: Unless you’re in a hurry, it is not ideal for learning Chinese this fast though, but better to spread out the classes with a few hours every day instead of cramming 10 hours into each day. But you can learn definitely a lot of Mandarin in a short time, especially if you’re just starting. The first 50 hours of class you spend will