More than a billion people speak Mandarin Chinese across the world. The 21st century belongs to China, and knowing the Chinese language will allow you to compete effectively in the global economy of the future. China has become an enormous market. International businesses and companies are looking for people who can talk in Chinese and operate successfully in China’s cultural context. Since very few people speak Chinese in India, proficiency in Chinese may give you an edge when competing for a vital position in any firm. Beyond the five most popular foreign languages in India, the following five other useful ones are Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Arabic, and Korean.

 

Learning a new language means your brain has to cope with complexity as it makes sense of and absorbs new patterns. As our brains work out the meaning, endeavoring to communicate, we develop key learning skills such as cognitive thinking and problem-solving.  In a globalized world, where mobility is facilitated, learning a language is a wonderful benefit. Not only does it help when traveling, it is also a great advantage for studying in general and for career prospects abroad. Acquiring a second language enables us to develop various mental abilities at all ages. In this blog, we’ll talk about a few ways through which you as an Indian can learn to speak Chinese without any hustle:

1. Start with some basic vocabulary and phrases: Before you start mimicking tones in Mandarin, you’ll want to learn some conversational words and phrases to use in your practice. A handful of greetings and common phrases are a great place to begin so you can get a feel for Chinese pronunciation.
2. Get the Rhythm of the Language to Master the Tones: One of the challenges of Mandarin is the tones. We learn the tone of each character as we acquire vocabulary, but it is difficult to remember these when speaking. It is important to internalize the tones as part of phrases. Listening carefully helps in this case.  The intonation and rhythm of Mandarin, or any other language, can only come from listening to the native speaker. You can’t learn it theoretically.
3. Speak Chinese daily: As we mentioned before, Mandarin is a “stressed-time” tonal language, so practicing pronunciation until you feel confident is an essential first step in speaking Chinese. Your commitment to learning Chinese is important, but that doesn’t mean spending hours a day pouring over vocabulary lists and verb conjugation tables. 
4. Listening to Chinese songs: I listen to some of my favorite Chinese/Taiwanese artists because we think Chinese is really beautiful. You can learn a lot by listening to popular Chinese songs. On top of that, try karaoke! Don’t let the embarrassment of messing up or your frog-like voice prevent you from a fun evening out with a small group of friends at the local Chinese karaoke bar. It’s truly entertaining and a great way to learn the language.
5. Find your favorite medium to work with: Mandarin is primarily spoken in mainland China as well as Taiwan (R.O.C.). You will also notice at your city’s Chinatown (if you have one) that the owners and workers there will speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, usually. You know yourself best. You also know how you learn new languages the best. And even if you don’t, try all the various learning methods out there. See what works. It’s never too late to start learning a new language in whatever medium you prefer.

Set aside time daily and commit to learning the language, but understand you may have to build slowly towards confidence rather than racing towards the elusive goal of fluency. Like any language, the ease and speed at which you learn Mandarin Chinese will depend on the time you have to commit to learning and the quality of your language learning program.

Good luck!