Are you interested in learning Chinese either for personal development or a business requirement? Do you have enough time and energy to enter a formal language school or training center either in your country or in China for a Chinese language certification? Or would you rather master the language in an easy and cost effective manner? If you prefer learning Chinese by yourself but are hesitant about which books to choose and how to study effectively, here is a practical guide to help you reach your Chinese language goals.

As an experienced Mandarin teacher, I have met several foreign students who either work in Beijing or in other countries who studied Chinese by themselves. The first problem for them was how to effectively arrange their time to study, and the second problem was how to choose good books and other materials to start the learning process and to be able to progress step by step in a meaningful way.

As we all know language learning is different from learning science and technology. It not only takes time and energy, but a lot of practice to successfully master it. I was a fan of English learning when I was in high school. In addition to the formal English course at school, my favorite way of learning the language was by listening to English programs on the radio along with language books. There used to be several interesting programs for me to improve during my spare time such as Everyday English, Tuning in the USA, Listen and Speak English by Radio, and Easy F.M. (an English Music program). With the help of native English speakers and language experts who hosted these programs, I mastered more of the language than my classmates. My language skill were also improved through my interest in learning about another culture and the history of that culture. Learning the language and about the culture went hand in hand so studying the language was never a tough, boring and tiring job for me. That was about 15 years ago when there was no Internet, free radio English teaching programs with accompanied published paper books was a very effective and inexpensive way for self-taught learners. But a very important shortcoming of this was there was no flexibility for people with varying time schedules. They had to make time to catch the broadcasts of these programs.

More recently the Internet entered our lives. It is more powerful and flexible than radio broadcasting. A good Chinese learning website with good language teaching programs and accompanied professional e-books plus other services, such as a supporting forum should be a great way for you to learn Mandarin by yourself from the beginning Pinyin to Daily Dialogues, basic grammar and character writing. With a traditional language book plus CD, it is often difficult to find where the sentence spoken on the CD is in the book especially if you are a beginner. But with a high quality sound embedded language e-book, you never have that problem; simply click on the sound icon at the end of the sentence and you will hear the proper pronunciation. For those who are interested in learning how to write Chinese characters should find a detailed language e-book concentrating on teaching the methods of learning Chinese characters with vivid cartoon pictures, then the toughest job of learning the language is made much easier. Also, you can listen to the free online Mandarin audio programs (teaching and music) anytime in your own home or wherever it is convenient, save time and gas. With the help of native Chinese speakers and qualified teachers who hosted these programs, wrote and created these e-books, you can benefit from all the advantages of effective self-taught online learning.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Apple Mao is an experienced Mandarin teacher and professional editor and author on the subject of online teaching and Chinese language e-book writing. Her website, http://www.AppleChineseOnline.com, provides a wealth of free Chinese language programs and resources on everything you will ever need to know about self-taught Chinese online from total beginner to advanced learner.