Learning Chinese Mandarin: An Exciting Journey Into Arts, History, and Music

Join me as I explore the challenging path of learning a new language!

I have recently completed a diploma course in Chinese Mandarin through Alison (thanks, Alison team!). The complete title of the course is Diploma in HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) Level 1 Conversational Chinese and the instructor is Ms. Yoyo Wu. The course brief indicates that it requires 6 to 10 hours of learning but I think many will agree that in order to be more confident in HSK1 and the fundamentals, one needs more than 10 hours, even beyond 20 hours. My Alison records revealed that it took me 24-26 CPD hours to complete it and this does not count the hours that I am spending in other online resources and my hanzi practice sheets. Therefore, with the availability of resources these days, including YouTube and blogs, I encourage beginners like me not to rush through it.

I find the learning journey immensely exciting and enjoyable. I did not rely on the Alison course alone as the wealth of resources motivates one to take advantage of various multimedia tools. Nevertheless, I recommend that one still enroll in a formal or structured course to benefit from the mentorship and guidance of a professional educator while experiencing a more disciplined approach.

Through this post, I’d like to share my experiences so that interested learners may also learn from them. But first, let me share this beautiful Chinese song titled, 万物不如你 [in pinyin, Wàn wù bù rú nǐ] [in English, Nothing is better than you (at least based on many YouTube posts)] which is currently a favorite. It is among the theme songs of a Chinese drama series (available in Netflix), 长相思 [in pinyin, cháng xiāng sī] [in its English release, Lost You Forever]. I did my best to practice my Hanzi writing but please pardon my lapses. 🙂 (Do note that I am not yet very familiar with many of the more complex characters so I used pencil first to guide me. Nevertheless, I took this as a chance to practice calligraphy as this is among my motivation.)

First Chapter: Why Motivation is Your Companion in the Early Days

I think one of the first questions that interested learners ask is whether Chinese Mandarin is an “easy” language to learn. I have enclosed the word easy in quotation marks because I think it is always challenging to learn a foreign language. I began learning French (completed Level 1 while I was stationed in Bangladesh for work) and have 4 semesters (12 units) of Spanish and both languages are challenging. Comparing my earlier learning journey then, I could say that Chinese Mandarin is a tough language to learn. In fact, I was overwhelmed at first. Imagine swimming through all these: nuances and differences in tones, the differences in the spoken and spelled-out pinyin (this is not typical of the Filipino language or even many of English words), and as if these are not enough, the complexity of hanzi (the intricate Chinese characters) and the stroke order. Whew! I almost gave up! But because I have a very strong motivation, I knew I could not give up. It is now or never.

My strongest motivation is experiencing life in China or at the very least undertaking a PhD study there. I always believe in the wisdom of our higher selves as connected to the Source so I’m also considering other Asian countries. But should destiny bring me to China, I’d consider it as an answer to an unexplainable connection when it comes to the country and its people and culture in general. This may be partly explained by what my grandfather (father’s side) once told me. According to my grandfather (Lolo Norberto), his ancestors are direct migrants from the mainland. When I was younger, I didn’t really give this much thought because I somehow expected that many Filipinos will have Chinese blood in them knowing the long history of trading and friendship between China and the Philippines.

However, when I got older, this interested me further because, for one, I also learned that Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero and with whom I share a birthday, is also a direct descendant of Chinese immigrants. In fact, Dr. Jose Rizal is honored in China. There is a monument for him in Jinjiang. Interestingly, it is the tallest Rizal monument outside the Philippines. Visitors shared that a marker in front of the park indicates that Rizal’s great-grandfather, Domingo Lam-Co (said to be Ke Yi Nan in Chinese), was a Chinese immigrant from the Shang-gou Village in Jinjiang. The source article, The world’s biggest Rizal Park is located in China, offers further details.

Recently, and because of my growing curiosity, I searched for more historical notes. As many Filipinos already know, the early Chinese migrants came here even before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines (which began in 1565 and ended in 1898; note that Rizal was martyred in 1896). I found a book chapter that narrated how Chinese migrants in Paracale, which is my Dad’s hometown, settled there due to the rich deposits in gold. And so, what Lolo Norberto was saying makes a lot of sense. This chapter, The Ethnic Chinese in Paracale (1571-1995), may just have confirmed what my Lolo (grandpa) was saying–that his line of the family are direct descendants of Chinese traders and settlers in Paracale, Camarines Norte (Southern Luzon, Philippines).

As one could imagine, my motivation in learning the language is deeply rooted. There is so much to discover about my ancestry and by learning Chinese Mandarin, discovering my Chinese roots becomes more meaningful and profound. I have other important motivation but they deserve another post so let me focus now on what are the ways through which I am embarking on my learning journey with the hope that they will help those of you who are also keen in learning Chinese Mandarin.

Chapter Two: Know Your Radicals

At least for those who are keen in learning hanzi, too, beginning with the radicals will likely make the learning process more efficient. The HSK1 course did not really require learning the radicals first but, along the way, I felt the compelling need to study them before pursuing the first-level courses. I surmised that I could better teach myself to understand the characters in a more intuitive way by learning the components first. I think this is a better way for learners who also wish to gain skills in the Chinese calligraphy. Of course, there is no “right” or “wrong” way. However, in my case, it is helping me tremendously.

Radicals are often defined as the components or the smallest unit of the Chines characters. In the English language, we have the alphabets. In Chinese, the basic unit is not an alphabet but more of a syllable. Therefore, the characters that typically mesmerize us new learners would often correspond to a combination of radicals. Just to give an example, the Chinese radical 人 (rén) means a person. If you see a character with this radical, oftentimes, it will be about a person. Say, the Chinese word 女人 (nǚrén) means women. I have not memorized all of the 214 radicals yet but simply learning to write them is already helping me with the fundamentals.

By the way, it is also important that when writing the characters, the correct stroke order must be followed. By learning the radicals first (with the correct stroke order), it gives one more familiarity with how the more complex characters will be written later. For example, in the case of the song above, while I’m not very familiar yet with many of the characters there, it helped a lot that I am familiar with many of the basic radicals already. Here are some of my practice sheets in radicals. (Do note that my husband purchased the practice sheets online—I believe the supplier imports them from China. You can use ordinary paper or notebooks but these sheets with squares do help a lot in understanding the ratio and spacing of each radical and character.)

For my favorite resource in learning the radicals, I relied so much on the website called Chinese Radicals (by Chen Hui Tsai). Go to “Lessons” and you will see the stroke guide for each radical. The site, Chinese Stroke Order Dictionary, is also very useful. Later, I will make a compilation of the resources I have used and share it here, too.

Chapter Three: Enjoy Chinese Series /Films and Music

One thing that is really helping me get used to the tones and pronunciation (even if I still don’t understand many if not most of the words) is by watching Chinese films /series in Netflix and listening to music (many are already in YouTube). With the English subtitles, you still get to understand the story but the real deal is allowing your ears to get used to the sound and tones. You also get to imagine being with Chinese people and hearing their day-to-day conversations. It’s also a big bonus that many of the historical films and series have excellent cinematography. I assume many Chinese films and series are hugely-funded—the beautiful sceneries and meticulous costumes and props in period dramas, for example, are testament to how their filmmakers take their craft very seriously. Later, I will paint some of the scenes and share them here so please come back!

Thus far, my favorite film is 奇迹·笨小孩 [in pinyin, qí lì · bèn xiǎo hái] [released in English as Nice View]. My favorite period drama series is from where the song above was used. Again, it’s called 长相思 [in pinyin, cháng xiāng sī] [in its English release, Lost You Forever]. For contemporary ones, I enjoyed 点燃我 温暖你 [released in English as Lighter & Princess]. These are still available in Netflix (at least in my region). I enjoy great films but I’m actually more of a reader than a TV watcher. In my entire existence, I seldom watched TV. But because I realized that learning Chinese Mandarin requires mindfulness in the intricate tones, I optimize my downtime by watching these series. Another key takeaway for me is understanding Chinese culture and society in general. As human beings, we all behave in the same ways and believe in the same ideals for the most part—but experiencing life in China through the characters brings profound learnings. I have been deeply touched by the powerful story of 奇迹·笨小孩 [Nice View]. It’s the kind of film that I could watch over and over again.

Chapter Four: Incorporating the Language in Your Daily Life

Let’s admit it, we only have about 8 hours a day to devote to work and then another 8 hours for leisure and other tasks. Therefore, it’s challenging to even find 30 minutes for a language course. Thirty minutes to an hour is ideal but even 15 minutes will be good already. What helps me is integrating the lessons with daily tasks. For example, I learned counting 1 to 10 by incorporating it as I exercised. You could learn the days of the week and the calendar days by writing the characters on your English desk calendar. You could also write words (in Chinese) characters on pieces of paper and tape them on the specific objects that they refer to. Again, it’s advisable to write radicals and characters every day. Practice, practice, practice. Listen, listen, listen. YouTube vlogs are also very helpful. Watch them as you brush your teeth, clean your room, or other daily chores such as the doing the laundry. It also helps if you have someone with you who is also interested in learning it. In my case, the hubby is my learning buddy so it helps a lot to be able to say simple things to him like, xièxie [谢谢] [in English, thank you or thanks] or zǎo shang hǎo [早上好] [in English, good morning]. If you’re alone in your house, try chats and public forums through learning apps. I haven’t tried them yet but I read that there are sites that offer these services.

Of course, another way to practice speaking the language is to simply travel to China! Admittedly, I didn’t have the chance to speak it during my first travel there—it was a very short work-related trip and I haven’t had the chance yet to enroll in HSK1 back then. Nevertheless, the short stay in Beijing and the encounters with the locals—I remember most especially the musicians in a public park—left indelible memories in me.

I have another important reason to travel again to China. This year, I feel so blessed that I met a soul-sister through her magical home in the cosmic field (her website) and she is, serendipitously, based in China. Nothing is ever a coincidence, right? It is truly magical, for lack of a better term! We share so much in common, I felt like she is truly a sister in another lifetime or even lifetimes. She and her works (she writes books, too) deserve a separate post so let me first stop myself from fan-girling, and simply say, what a joy to be gifted with the presence of a beautiful being! I bow to her, and the divine, the skies, stars and planets to say, xièxie [谢谢].

The Chapter-in-Progress: Our Learning Journey Continues

Ahhh, what a nice way to end-begin this piece. Our journey continues. And as we walk together, I hope you never stop believing in rewarding yourself in every important milestone…and just because you deserve it! It doesn’t have to be ‘big’ all the time. A warm mug of your favorite tea or a bar of chocolate will already be enough to boost your spirit especially during the hectic days. It’s also good to explore online and find books that you would one day be able to read…in Chinese! This is one of my motivation and lift-me-up. I always dream of reading Chinese novels in the original language. For example, many Chinese series are based on novels. I surmise that the English translation may not always give full justice to the original text of the authors. This typically happens even in other languages, right? There is always something lost in translation (as how an American film was titled!). Therefore, it gives me sheer joy that one day, I’d be able to read a book in the original Chinese language, from cover to cover!

What about you, what are you learning right now and what gives you joy about it? For Chinese language learners like me, what are your tips and favorite resources? I would love to hear from you. Stay inspired and keep well!

---