Logographic scripts seems like a pain in the ass, but if I can remember all the 150 pokemons
The only thing that is completely non-negotiable is the Pleco dictionary app. There’s no real competition. The basic functionality is free, but it also has a bunch of single purchase add-ons that I think are worth it if you’re
psychotic like meserious about learning the language./r/ChineseLanguage has a bunch of resources in their wiki. I haven’t checked it all out but a lot of it is good. The sub is pretty active as well, and surprisingly free from sinophobia (although there is of course some).
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If you have some disposable income, it might be worth it getting a tutor. I've been thinking about it
I would love but free things first,
Years ago I made the stupid decision of learning fucking german in Duolingo and it got me to a level where I'd have skipped at least 2 or 3 whole semesters of real classes.
Put a straw into your ear and blend a copy of a chinese dicti0nary, pour it in tje straw
I started by using HelloChinese to learn; it was difficult at first but learning a new language is difficult. I know if you are okay with talking with people you can try and find the apps that let you talk with native Chinese speakers, I ran into the issue though where they just wanted to practice English and their English was much better than my Chinese, so, maybe let yourself get conversational before you start using talking apps.
In addition, I use Pleco for my flash cards and for a really accurate English <--> Chinese Dictionary (it may support Spanish as well). I have a premium account, if you'd like premium features DM me and we can swap Matrix info to get it on your account.
really like Pleco, it has handwriting character recognition, dictionaries, and flashcard system with spaced repetition
the ideograms are built from smaller, familiar pieces referred to as
"radicals""components" so you'll start to recognize those building blocks pretty fast and the visual complexity goes way way down
Sorry to be that guy but “radicals” specifically refers to one of many systems for categorizing character components for the purpose of dictionary indexing. A better more generic term is “component”, since components can serve many purposes, usually meaning or sound, but sometimes also iconic or other.
A radical is often a component, but not always, and a character with multiple components can still only have one radical, and radicals usually hint at the meaning, but not always. They’re made up by some guy in history who didn’t have access to good science on character origins.
TL;DR: components can have many functions and radicals are insufficient for learning purposes.
I use Anki flashcards for the language learning I do (not mandarin, though), you can download a mandarin deck and use that.
Agreed, Anki is great for other languages. I've tried some Chinese on it and I'm either not impressed with the methods, the app (as applied to Chinese), or didn't find great sets. But that is to say, I love it for learning intermediate Arabic but hate it for Chinese. Do with that what you will. It's amazing for other things though
Ah, gotcha, good to know! Figured it would be similarly useful but that's set-dependent.
I use HelloChinese and Pleco too and they've gotten me to a level where I can actually do language exchanges without feeling completely foolish. I really like Pleco because if you see a word out in the wild that you don't recognize, you can just draw it.
When you're ready for language exchanges, HelloTalk has been my most convenient app for that. The built in translation tools are nice.
Also like, learning hanzi can be really intimidating at first but eventually it will start to kinda make sense. There are patterns.
lingodeer is ok, it has a good chinese course in both english and spanish
the HSK apps are OK i think, i used the hsk4 to review/learn vocab, i guess you can start at hsk1. there are also good ebooks for the hsk system, i used to have the paper books and workbooks for level 3-4 i think
