I was studying Japanese and looking for music to help me learn when I stumbled upon Mandopop.
For years I listened without understanding at all. But I was learning a little bit as I translated song titles. Finally, I decided to try learning Mandarin. I’ve been working on it (with various degrees of diligence) since 2015. Now at least I can say 中文非常难 (Mandarin is very difficult).
I blame Yangyang Cheng for getting me into this!
Her YouTube videos made it seem so easy! She will tell you that learning Mandarin is easy. She is a liar! But a very good teacher!
Her course is a great place to start. I completed her first level and then the second level was taught by someone else who was not as gifted. That may have changed now.
I took a semester of Mandarin at a local community college. I don’t recommend that route if you don’t need the credits and you actually want to learn. Lots of ABCs looking for an easy class. And my class moved at a snail’s pace.
Then I decided what I really needed was immersion. So looking around, I found The Chinese Language Institute in Guilin China. I took two months off work and studied for six weeks in Guilin. My wife joined me for the last two weeks and we vacationed.
It was a terrific experience and I did learn a lot. Unfortunately I had unrealistic expectations of what would happen in six weeks. I did meet some students there that had achieved the fluency I was hoping for. They had been there for seven months or more!
For me, the four hours a day of one-on-one training was too much at once. My brain was exploding! I may go back one day but I feel CLI is best for younger students who plan to stay a while. Or those at an intermediate level. Get your basics down at home and your experince in China will be better.
Before I went to CLI, I had also started taking one-on-one lessons on Skype from Laila Yang, a teacher I met on iTalki. This has been the most effective way for me to learn. She lives on a farm in Southern Hunan (with high-speed internet). While I was in Guilin, I was able to buy a bus ticket (in Mandarin!) to her small town. She was a very gracious host and I continue to study with her every week.
I’ll also mention four apps that have been very helpful to me. DuoLingo and Ninchanese both help gameify learning Mandarin.
Pleco is a great dictionary app. And Anki is a free flashcard app.
There is also the Chinese version of Peppa Pig for listening practice. You can usually find the corresponding English version to compare.
One last that I don’t wholeheartedly recommend but it did help me get the ball rolling. Pimsleur.