NikkiR

21 hours ago, petesede said:

That is an amazing site as far as the quantity of languages taught and the amount of incoming languages.  Has anyone actually tried it.  My concern is that with that quanitity, they will be cookie cutter classes and very shallow.

I agree. It looks like a fantastic site, but I would love to hear from someone who has used it about how well it actually works. Also it would be nice to hear from someone fluent in a couple of languages to see if the site content is accurate. Often sites do not keep up with the actual way people speak in a country.

Another great one for learning is 'friends'. It uses a lot of common vocabulary. Usually you learn most of the vocabulary and grammar in this song in the first year of a language class. The lyrics are easy to hear, so any words you don't know you should be able to look up.

9 hours ago, kurdapia said:

I recently had the interest to learn Chinese Mandarin, I also came across the idea of simplified and traditional. With you expressing your worry now I am torn between choosing which route to go. Is it simplified or traditional or should I learn the easy one as a beginner or dive to the traditional right away? Anyone else having this issue?

It depends on your purpose for learning the Language. Simplified are much easier to learn and are used in mainland china. I would recommend simplified to anyone planning to spend time in Beijing or read mainland news.  I did have a friend who learned simplified characters and then moved to Taiwan. Taiwan has not adopted the simplified version. He had to relearn how to write everything in the traditional characters.

My favorite Chines song Is by Richi Ren. We listened to it In my Chinese class while learning directions.  It is great for learning since it is slow and has clear pronunciation.

I learned A lot of Chinese by watching children's shows while babysitting my nephew. While kids are learning to speak, a foreign language cartoon keeps them just as interested as any other. Kids cartoons also have the benefit of  simple grammar and vocabulary. These shows often have very simple plot lines, making it easier to follow along without subtitles.