Learning a new language, like developing any new skill, can be fun and easy or frustrating and mentally draining. Before you even begin your language learning experience, I suggest that you first start by answering these two questions:

What are your learning goals?

Do you want to learn to read and/or write? Are you interested in learning simplified or traditional Chinese characters? Do you want to just recognize Chinese characters, or be able to handwrite?  

What type of learner are you?

Are you a visual, auditory, or tactile learner? Do you prefer repetition? Are you going to write notes? How do you review your notes?  

In order to avoid as many future roadblocks as possible, the key is to understand 1) yourself and 2) your goals.

How did I pick up mandarin as a new language?

1. Find a show that interests you

I'm a firm believer in, learning because you want to. There’s no way that I would “for the sake of learning”, watch something I’m uninterested in. I don’t think that strategy would have been able to retain my attention for long, and in the long run, forsaken my interest in learning mandarin entirely.

I’m an extremely picker viewer. For example, I don’t like shows with horror, too much suspense, too much drama (ahem, like one misunderstanding after another), and bad endings. What I’m trying to get at is, don’t mindlessly search for a drama. Figure out what you like and set your standards. Learning should be fun, not laborious.

2. (if you’re using Netflix) Enable Learning language with Netflix

3. Find something to take notes

Some people are gifted and learn quickly without ever needing to take or review notes. Unfortunately, I’m not gifted in that department, and your job is to figure out what learning style works for you. After years of schooling, I know which study method works best for me - repetition. Specifically, repetition in differing formats. To properly process new information and store it away in my long-term memory I would need to look, listen and write. The more senses I use, the better the results.

If you’re like me and you need to take notes, then you would need to decide what the purpose of these “notes” are? You have to ask yourself a few questions: Are these notes a one-hit-wonder? Are you planning on reviewing them, and if so, how? Do you plan on adding to them in the long run? How much are you going to write?

Notebook writing:

PROS:

- This method works best for me when it comes to solidifying new information. I found that actively writing down what I’m interested in better stimulates my long-term memory and understanding of the concept.

CONS:

- Just how much are you going to write though? With all the notes I have now I could easily go through two 500 pages worth of notebooks. My hands would’ve been tired, and the cramping of my muscles would have been my limiting factor to learning mandarin.

- Do you plan on reviewing your notes? How are you going to easily find the words you wrote before? Writing doesn’t offer an easy method to find previously learned concepts (especially if you’re unorganized like me!)

- Are you going to add to your previous notes? If so, how? It’s not simple when you’re writing them down in ink.

Electronic notes         

PROS:

- Amazing for if you write a lot

- Easily search through your notes

- Forces you to maybe… learn to write or use pinyin? If you prefer using a tablet or phone you can easily type Chinese characters either by handwriting or using pinyin. If you’re using your computer to study, you might find it easier typing with pinyin. I prefer the latter option as it’s faster. While my end goal isn’t to be able to handwrite characters, I do want to be able to recognize words. Therefore typing with pinyin coincides with my end goal. Again, it is important to at least consider what your goals are now so that you can design a study plan that works for you.  

Flashcards  

- This is my preferred method of notetaking. I use Flashcard Hero, an Apple application. My flashcards are organized into different topics such as pronouns, questions, adjectives, verbs, nouns, time words, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, idioms, bad words, miscellaneous  

- In the example above, the word “video” is a noun, and I’ve placed it under the topic “Noun”. Whenever I see come across something that I find interesting but is also related to the word “video” I’ll place it in the “video” card. One side of the card will include the English translation, and the other side will be the Chinese character and pinyin. This way if I ever decided to quiz myself, this could be easily accomplished.  

4. Begin watching your show!

I’ve tried watching an entire episode or movie while taking mental notes without pausing and then rewatching it just to take notes. I’ve also tried watching and pausing just to take notes. I didn’t find one method more superior, I think it just depends on how intriguing the video is~

Conclusion

The main takeaway should be that before you start watching dramas to learn mandarin do some introspection. Know what your learning goals are to direct you in the right direction. Know what type of learner you are so you can effectively manage your time.

Best of luck, from one language learner to another!