Like a lot of us here, I’m trying to learn Mandarin Chinese. I’ve been casually doing apps for a while now (Duolingo sucks, HelloChinese seems better, language exchanges are fun but scary) but I recognize some serious limitations to my methods. My reading and typing is getting better, as is my listening, but I still suck at speaking and tones are still hard to remember sometimes. This seems directly related to my learning methods - lotsa reading and listening exercises mostly, not as much talking. If I want to actually be able to speak this language, I’m going to need some more varied education I think.

My first thought was to check the local community college - we have a large Chinese population here so the classes are probably good, but the scheduling doesn’t work well with my boring adult 9-5. I do well in a classroom environment though. One-on-one tutoring might not be a bad option, but I’d prefer to go through the embarrassment of learning a new language as a group, you know?

Anyone else in the same boat? What do you use to learn?