I'm hoping on getting some information on the best ways to learn a language. The different tools and techniques that the people here have come across, so that I can give them a shot. I have a system I use right now, though I'm always looking for ways of improving it. My goal is for long term retention, and in a one year period I'm aiming for over 5,000 characters (Hanzi). It's closer to 7,000 characters (20 a day), though I overestimated in case I couldn't study some days or I just wasn't feeling up to it. Right now, the learning process has been a lot easier then I thought it would. Though one thing to keep in mind, I do have a very, very good memory. I can remember strings of numbers past 30 digits and recall them hours later (without the aid of a memory tool). Anyway, here is the system I'm using below. Phase 1 - 214 Radicals Phase 2 - Level 1 HSK - LVL 6 That is the basis of what I'm studying and plan on studying for a year, at least vocabulary wise. I'm learning the Hanzi, along with the Pinyin. This isn't the only way I'm studying ether, which will be listed through out here. This is just the vocabulary I'm using. I use Anki as my main source of study. I add the words from the net (double checking sources to make sure they are valid). I add the character, then on the back I add the Pinyin, and the English meaning; along with some other details. I don't pay too much attention when adding them other then glancing at them once or twice. From here once they're added (I only add 20 at a time) I stare at the character of the card I'm studying first for a few moments before reading the meaning of it. Then I try to make it a pictograph in my head; something to do with the meaning. I try my hardest not to associate English with it. I've found that remembering isn't the problem, I can remember the meaning of the images easily. Remembering the terms in Chinese is a bit more difficult. I will say that to go through 20 new cards takes me less then an hour; and this is having rather good recall of them. I do this at night, a few hours before bed. I think the biggest thing that helps me is that knowing I'm a visual learner. If someone does something I'm pretty good at duplicating it and I've always learned best this way. So, seeing the characters as pictures works really well for me. If I can reference anything in my past with it, such as the Radical for "dog", I think of my favorite pet dog that I've had. My goal is to tie as many different things to that word and character in my head; to make it more difficult to forget. I do this before bed because for me, it helps me remember better. I'm not sure why, but sleeping after learning makes me retain it a lot more (not cramming though, I never go for more then an hour at a time, some of the time less if I feel myself getting tired). The next day I generally review the cards again, all the cards that I've added. I do this mainly to keep them fresh. I've read from blogs and on reddit that a lot of people who study characters end up forgetting the ones they started learning; this seemed common. Right now I'm a stay at home father who works part time from the house teaching martial arts and I take care of my son outside of that. So this gives me some time through out the day to devote to this. Earlier today I went through 80 cards, in under an hour. I don't rush the process. If I mess up on the card I stare at the character and repeat the Chinese word 5 to 25 times; while visualizing an image to link it to something if possible, and creating a picture out of the character. I do this to all of the words, and I do it after getting a word wrong each time. Even if I do get a word right, if it wasn't "good", then I'll redo it. I got through all 80 of the cards in under an hour. Later today I added 20 more (about 3 hours ago) and went through them all. Tomorrow I'll do the same thing I did earlier today, I'll review them all again. I can say that this has definitely helped me with retention of these characters. One of the most interesting things is actually thinking in a different language. Outside of studying like this, I watch 1 TV show in Chinese per day, usually 45 minutes to 1 hours per day. This helps me with listening quite a bit. I have the PA for Mandarin, and I use this for spoken. Though I'm not focusing on this right now; it is something I will add in at a later time. I also have a friend that is in China, me and her Skype and she helps me with pronunciation to make sure I sound correct and I'm not learning wrong. Grammar wise, I'm using Modern Chinese. It's pretty nice so far. I'm taking notes in a notepad on my laptop, and I will be turning these into flash cards in the future. Though not right now, I don't want to add too much. I'm using a book called "Reading and Writing Chinese - 3rd edition" as well. Though writing isn't as important to me with computers and all. My goal to help keep these characters is consistent use of Anki and reviewing often enough, though reading is something I think is going to help a lot. Use it or lose it. After I get done with HSK 3 I think, is when I'm going to start trying to read small books. Like child stories or something; something at that level. I would think at that level I should be capable of reading to some degree. Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading this. If you have anything else that you think will help, please do share!