Many people are trying to learn a new language. Some of them consider it as a hobby, while others have to learn a language because it is required by their jobs or study. As a foreigner who is really interested in Chinese culture, I like learning Chinese.
It is thought that a person needs to know at least 3,000 Chinese characters (汉字) to understand most Chinese newspapers. The problem for most foreigners, however, is that knowing 3,000 characters sounds like an impossible task, for many of the Chinese characters look the same. That's why some people give up halfway. It's the most difficult part for me, too. But I manage to learn how to write each character by watching videos online. Whenever I saw a character I didn't know in the street or on a menu, I would just write it down on my phone and then look it up. Slowly I've learned the characters that are common in daily life.
It's also important to listen to Chinese as much as possible. I downloaded (下载) a lot of listening materials onto my phone and listened to them on the way to school, work and even dates with my friends. I also watched a lot of Chinese TV shows and films, where the words were not so difficult and there were always subtitles (字幕). In this way, I've also learned how to express myself like a native.
As for speaking, I practice talking about different topics in Chinese when I am cycling around, effectively talking to myself or in my head, thinking through different conversations and scenarios (场景). For example, whenever I was going to a shop, I would think how to say that in Chinese. It helps me to think in a Chinese way, which is really important.
Learning a language is never easy. Basically, I just use every tool on hand and take my learning step by step, and I'm still learning new things to this day!
