Mandarin Chinese Is The Hardest Language In The World To Learn

Did I scare you away? I guess not or you wouldn’t be reading this now. That’s a good indication you have what it takes to learn Chinese. It is true however that Chinese is the hardest. While there are several languages competing for the top spot according to the U.S. government and many language learning platforms. For native English speakers, Chinese is second to none is not in dispute.

Let me set the stage a little for my own story with learning Chinese. I didn’t make my first trip to China until I was nearly over the hill and I spent 10 days tying to remember the Chinese for thank you (谢谢, xie4xie4). It seemed like an impossible task but I eventually managed it. I was never a language guy and I had poor hearing so from the start I underestimated my ability to learn Chinese and that was my biggest mistake. When it came to learning Chinese I was my own worse enemy. I really regret several years of wasted time. Additional, I want to add that the younger you are the quicker the learning curve, If you are in your 20’s-30’s you won’t have a hard time getting it down however as you wade into you 40’s on up things will slow down. Start today and stay focused my friends you can do it!

Soon after I moved to Shanghai from the US I put in my first of many on again off again efforts at learning Chinese, I hired a young girl fresh out of college whose English name is Gig from Guangzhou (I still keep in touch with her from time to time on WeChat). She was a great girl and a good teacher, and now an international trade specialist and mother. She started me off learning pinyin, which is the standard pronunciation guide for Chinese characters. And I learned pinyin very well, to this day my pinyin is better than most Chinese people. But honestly I didn’t put in the time to cement my lessons into my head.

The hardest thing for me (and most people) were the tones, there are four major tones in Chinese for each pinyin sound therefore you have four ways to pronounce every sound. The tones make a big difference because the meaning changes a lot from tone to tone. Plus each pinyin tone likely has many different characters and therefore many different meanings associated with it. That makes context very important to being able to follow an in-depth conversation. In other words, Chinese has a ton of homonyms so many, if fact, that even Chinese get them confused. I have heard on many occasions Chinese people having to explain which character they are referring to by using common co-locations. For example, if I was giving you a spelling exam in English and the spelling word was “here”, I would have to help you understand if I meant “here” or “hear” by referring to it in a sentence like “here we go.”

Anyway, I could go on and on about these things but you will learn them as you are exposed to the language. Instead, I would rather impress upon you that your time in China will be so much more enjoyable for you if you put in the effort to learn at least enough Chinese to carry on a simple conversation. The average Chinese person will be amazed at your ability to speak Chinese. It’s a good feeling.

There are many ways to learn Chinese these days, like a billion more than when I first started. After getting to Shanghai I was able somehow to find and hire a private teacher I remember we held lessons in my car (haha). One on one training is one of the most efficient ways to learn Chinese, in my opinion. In China, there are a mountain of young girls fresh out of college looking to make money teaching Chinese online or in person. The problem is finding them, making sure they can provide good learning materials, and then negotiating a fair rate.

My last online freelance teacher (Mavis), a couple years ago, was charging me 70rmb ($10) per 50 minute lesson. And she was an experienced Chinese teacher on a major commercial language learning platform when I was lucky enough to meet her. We became good friends and I even traveled to her hometown to meet her friends and husband in western Hubei. That was great fun. Anyway, I would have paid double what she charged me if I had went through a recognized platform. Assuredly this will be the lest expensive option for live teaching. If you email us we may be able to offer up a freelancer or two that you can contact if you are feeling lucky as well.

However, the safest way is to sign on with a good language learning platform with strong Chinese teachers. It is safer because either way you will need to pay at least one month in advance. With freelancers you may find out they are nowhere to be found after you pay them or when something changes in their life. However, if you are signed up with a good platform they will just hook you up with another one of their instructors (problem solved). These platforms have a bank of available teachers that they manage online, so you can try a few sample lessons with different teachers to find the right fit for you. They also have excellent materials already prepared waiting for you at the appropriate grade level for you. Their teachers are trained on the materials and don’t won’t have any ramp up time to get going. Check the end of this article for our recommendations for a top of the line language platform if you are feeling this vibe.

Another option, If you are have enough time for traveling back and forth to class, and you are able to afford more money, is an in-person learning environment. Classroom learning is generally the best way to go because you have other students that are eager to learn and help keep your motivation strong. Plus you are sure to make a few new friends along the way. You also get to hear your teacher and your teacher you more clearly than you would online. If you are staying in a first or possibly a second tier city in China you will have many options for good in-person Chinese schools. Most of these schools will offer days long retreats with full day intensive Chinese training. I would highly recommended one if you can swing it. I have included links to schools that we personally have known about for years below if this sounds right for you.

Lastly, I should talk about the plethora of language apps that are available now-a-days but I won’t as this article is getting too long and too boring (hehe). Don’t worry I will put that topic on a list of things to write about in the near future.