Interactive Mandarin for Beginners
For Sinica listeners who are learning Chinese and are stuck at beginner level
A few weeks ago I was talking to a notable guest on Sinica about learning Chinese. You might know who I’m referring to!
What struck me was how he described the experience.
Learning Chinese, he said, is a deeply physical process, laying things down inside your body and your brain. Slow and incremental, but profoundly satisfying when things start to click.
And when characters begin to unlock, when you can suddenly decode a term in a Chinese political science text and realize you understand it more deeply, because you know the characters behind it, that is a remarkable feeling.
My guest was focused on HSK materials. These can work well to help build foundations. But they tend to have limited connection with real life and how people actually speak in China today.
Which brings me to something I want to share with you today.
For the last four years, Andrew Methven has been writing the Phrase of the Week for The China Project and then Sinica. Every week he takes real language from Chinese news and makes it accessible to people who want to understand China more deeply.
That’s the philosophy behind everything he builds at RealTime Mandarin, which has helped 1,800+ intermediate to advanced learners get confident reading and engaging with real Chinese news.
It’s just the best resource I know for learning Mandarin in context: you not only learn new vocab, but get a deeply-informed guide to how it’s used in real life. Great way to keep up on usages, and keep your finger on the pulse of modern China.
And now Andrew has created something new — a course designed to help beginners.
It’s called Interactive Mandarin for Beginners.
It’s a fully interactive 12-week program that teaches you characters, vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and speaking — all together, all through real Chinese news stories.
This is for you if you’ve been learning Chinese for a few months or years but never found something that felt right. If you’re still stuck at beginner level and struggling to find engaging, real-world content at your level.
You’ll be learning in a community of learners like you, getting direct feedback from Andrew and his team of native speakers throughout the program.
The program kicks off on Sunday 3 May and the deadline to join is midnight Saturday 2 May.
→ Find out more and join here! You’re helping Sinica when you sign up — and learning Chinese the right way!
https://sinica--realtimemandarin.thrivecart.com/interactive-mandarin-for-beginners/