Me After 1 Year of Learning Chinese

Welcome to my channel!

🌏 About Me:
Hi, I'm Andre江健! I’ve been living in China for the past 3 years, exploring its diverse culture, vibrant cities, and unique experiences. From Zhengzhou to Changzhou and now Hangzhou, my journey across China has been incredible, and I’m excited to share it with you!

📹 What to Expect:
On this channel, you'll find a mix of content, including:

Life in China: Daily vlogs, cultural insights, and personal experiences living in various Chinese cities.
Travel Adventures: Tips, guides, and highlights from my travels around China and beyond.
Food & Cuisine: Exploring the rich and diverse food culture, including street food, traditional dishes, and more.
Lifestyle & Tips: Practical advice for expats, language learning tips, and more.

💡 Why Subscribe?
If you're curious about life in China, love travel adventures, or want to learn more about Chinese culture and lifestyle, this is the channel for you! I aim to provide engaging, informative, and entertaining content that will inspire and inform.

🔔 Join the Journey:
Subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a new video! Don't forget to like, comment, and share your thoughts—I love hearing from you all!

🎓 Learn Chinese:
Interested in learning Chinese? Check out these great resources and get exclusive discounts!

Use the link above when signing up for courses.
Code: ANDRE30
Offer: 30% off the first month of any Flexi Classes subscription

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🌐 Support the Channel:
If you enjoy my content and want to support the channel, consider becoming a patron on Patreon or buying me a coffee on Ko-fi! Every bit helps me create more and better content for you.

Thank you for watching and being a part of this amazing journey!

[kendo]

i think i spend more time watching videos about how to learn chinese than actually learning chinese lmao

[Blueberryminty]

I would only add: do waste time on writing. It actually really helps to solidify new characters and words in your memory. If you spend time deliberately writing down a character, it helps to focus on the components the character is build up off and just the mere physical interaction and movement of your muscles will help your memory. the more senses you involve with learning, the better the retention. It has helped me a lot in distinguishing characters that look similar, when writing them you become more aware of their differences.

[VELVETVOICE]

Peppa Pig is by far the best series for learning a language, because of the easy structured sentences and the easy vocabulary

[wmqitki]

If you learn to read the Chinese characters, you will be able to read the Chinese novel and trust me, its the gate to another galaxy.

[MandarinVista]

I love Andre's strategic tips like listening to Chinese media, getting a language exchange partner, reading material at your level, etc. I've found all those things crucial as well. My one addition would be singing along to Chinese songs! It really builds flair for tones and vocabulary.

[nomadsoulkarma]

My experience is that -no matter how much you've practiced your pronunciation and tones, when you use it they don't understand you even when you are certain you've said it correctly. But when I speak quickly without worrying about correct tones they understand me. This was advice I got from an American I met whose Chinese was quite fluent. When I speak slowly they never understand what you say. I don't know why this is but I've seen this with others too not just me. The problem with this is that when you speak fast the response is fast from the native.you're conversing with. You can ask them to speak slowly but one minute later they are back to speaking normal speed. For character memorization I find that staring at a character for 5 or more minutes solidifies it for me. You may forget how to pronounce it but you'll remember the shape, a bit like recognizing a face.

[elllllllle]

I don’t why I feel somehow happy to see mandarin learners suffering. 😂 because I see myself in you guys. It’s just for me it’s learning English but the pain is the same.

[etiennerastoin]

Congratulations man! I've been living in Xiamen for one year now and so many people never give Mandarin a proper go. Not uncommon to meet people who have been there for 15-20 years and speak virtually zero Chinese. The feeling of reward you get when you've put in so much effort and you finally get to some "non-trivial" conversations is priceless! Thanks a lot for sharing your insights.

[nagu]

Haha, I watched Peppa pig to learn English many years ago:)

[creativesoul]

I admire folks that can learn to read hanzi without handwriting them. I would never be able to distinguish between similar characters such as 己 and 已

[Henry-teach-Chinese-in-jokes]

I’ve spent about 100, 000 hours studying English humor and Western culture, and many years studying Chinese culture. My native language is Chinese. I teach Chinese in humorous way and with cute pictures.
Hope somebody recommend my videos to those who want to learn Chinese.

[e-genieclimatique]

in brief:
The video titled provides insights into the creator's experience of learning Chinese after living in China for a year.
1. **Introduction**:
- Andre marks one year since he moved to China and shares his experience with learning Chinese.
- He mentions the challenges of learning Chinese, especially for native English speakers, due to the vast differences between the two languages.

2. **Challenges**:
- Chinese is often considered the most difficult language to learn, especially for English speakers.
- Learning Chinese to fluency requires approximately 2, 400 hours.
- Pronunciation is tricky due to similar sounding characters differentiated by tones.
- Chinese doesn't use tenses like English; instead, it relies on word order.

3. **Motivation**:
- Initially, Andre was motivated to learn Chinese because of the unique experience of being a white person speaking Chinese.
- However, motivation fluctuated, especially during challenging times. He emphasizes the importance of having a solid motive.

4. **Experience in China**:
- Upon arrival, Andre knew only a few phrases but felt like a "helpless child."
- Over the year, he adapted to life in China and found speaking even intermediate Chinese very helpful.
- Despite China's focus on English education, there's limited English information available, especially in smaller cities.

5. **Learning Tips**:
- Living in the right environment helps. For instance, living in a third-tier city where fewer people speak English can be beneficial.
- Engage with Chinese communities, even in your own city.
- Listen to Chinese audio and video content.
- Having Chinese friends or partners can aid in language learning.
- For reading, choose material suitable for your level. Andre uses a translator pen to help with unfamiliar characters.
- Focus on speaking, listening, and reading rather than writing. Typing in Pinyin is more practical than writing Chinese characters.
- Andre recommends apps like Pleco, Quizlet, and Hello Talk for learning.

6. **Conclusion**:
- Learning Chinese is rewarding, especially as foreigners aren't expected to speak it.
- It's fulfilling to communicate with locals, understand their culture, and connect through their language.
- Andre encourages viewers to have a genuine interest in learning for success and thanks them for watching.

[sara-hyxy]

English is complicated for Chinese people too😂😂. There are so many grammar rules!!

[ramiabouhamdan]

Thanks for the episode. You are absolutely right

[alchemist_one]

Best of luck to you and I love the enthusiasm! That said, I do think writing is worth it. Writing Chinese every day has helped my reading a lot and also transformed my brain in a sense. I think it's worth it.

[pembepenguen]

Thank you! I'm learning Chinese for the past couple of months and I love it, even though it is difficult at most of the time. I feel like I don't see a progress to my studies (and tbh I can't say I spend so much time on it outside of my school curriculum, but still I'm trying my best) I was feeling a bit demorilazed about it and your video made me feel better <3

[Iisdabest]

100% agree. Total immersion is the best way to learn, especially if you're a lazy person like me. It motivates you more, and you very quickly get used to the speed in which native chinese speakers talk. If I was in Shanghai or Beijing I'd have let my laziness get the better of me and resort to English whenever I encountered a problem. At least here I have to use Chinese if I want to see the doctor, dentist, order meituan, buy things etc. And locals are very tolerant and willing to help you improve.

[tatyanaparakhina]

English and Chinese have much in common, because they are both analytical languages, where parts of words don`t change so much to show the relations between the words. In Chinese it`s just more obvious.
And I wouldn`t agree that writing is a waste of time. It really helps me to memorize characters and recognize them afterwards. I am also finishing HSK 4 after one year of study from zero

[mukaij]

My daily Chinese homework as a 3rd grade student: read a new passage—write down the new words—look them up in dictionary and write down their meanings—find 10 synonyms for each—write them for 10 times

[alma]

Hey! I agree with most of what you say. I just wanted to add that I'm studying traditional Chinese over 6 months in Taiwan and writing didn't help me at the beginning (that's what i thought back then) and i can remember the caracteres so easily now. I see one caracter on the street and i can write it right away. It also helps with my memory, different ways to save information on our brain helps more