→ Be patient. Our brains need time to adapt to tones. Pressure and feeling of frustration don't help at all.

→ Pick study materials with good pronunciation (such as Chineseffect SMART Sentences). When you learn a new word and a new sentence, make sure to repeat the sounds as close to the original as possible.

→ Make sure that your tutor corrects your pronunciation (including tones).

→ Forget about the numbers. Don't try to remember that the word XY is in the third tone for instance. Just focus on the sounds and let your brain build its sensitivity.

→ First step: Study the composition of characters.When you understand the radical part and phonetic part, you are closer to remembering. A great tool for that is tofulearn.com/dictionary.

→ Second step: Write each character several times with dedicated focus. Not with the intention to remember how to write it, but to recognise it. Writing characters is also a great way to calm yourself down and feel better. Chineseffect's MAGIC PLAYBOOKs give you beautiful writing templates that use the original font, that was specifically designed with learning and relaxing purposes in mind.

→ Expose yourself to characters as much as you can. Not just by reading textbooks, but also by watching Chineseffect's SMART Animations and Presentations - they are built to imprint the characters deep in your memory. They are a part of every Chineseffect Guided Class.

First of all, I suggest the idea that no one needs to be able to write characters these days, unless they want to impress someone or write calligraphy.

Writing characters should be a part of the learning process and it is also a great way to relax your mind. However, the ambition to actively remember how to write each character might be a little bit unrealistic and at the end frustrating, if Chinese is not your main field of study.

→ Focus on being able to recognise characters when you see them or when you input them into a digital device using pinyin.

→ If your teacher (or exam) forces you to have this skill, consider whether this is the right setup for you.

This problem shouldn't occur with an experienced teacher that knows how to present the actual simplicity of the grammar using human language (as opposed to overcomplicated linguistic terminology).

If you struggle with grammar and find it difficult, I suggest using the service of a tutor with a different approach to grammar explanation, because really, it couldn't be any easier. 🙂

→ Disassociate yourself from your original cultural background as much as you can.

→ Forget about your mother tongue as much as you can.

→ Don't compare Chinese to the languages you know.

→ Don't pass judgements.

→ Just accept the differences and absorb them as much as you can.

→ As Stephen Kaufman says: When I learn Chinese language, I'm Chinese. When I learn French, I'm French.

This is of course one of the most challenging aspects of learning Chinese.

→ Fortunately there are great podcasts and videos that will help you. Recently I have discovered for instance teatimechinese.com

→ Be patient. Chinese people do speak fast and many words sound similar.

→ Even though it may sometimes feel like you are stagnating, your brain gets sharper with every new listening session.

Why not think about it this way: Each Chinese character is a unique entity, which means that being able to read obviously takes longer, because you don't deal with universal letters without any meaning, but with complex ideas.

It is only natural that getting to know complex ideas takes more time, so foster the feeling of gratitude towards every new character that you become familiar with.

Btw., the root of our frustration always lies in comparison, so stop comparing your actual reading progress with an imaginary ideal progress that you made up in your head or with the reading progress in another language.

Instead, just appreciate the fact that the way Chinese language works boosts your brain on levels that you might not even realize yet.

Actually, with the right guidance, this shouldn't be a problem at all.

Expanding vocabulary is what actually speeds up the learning process big time and makes Chinese learning super fun, as everything in Chinese is interconnected and learning new words is just learning new combinations of ideas that you often already know.

The POWERFUL CHARACTERS part of the Chineseffect SMART System is based exactly on this principle.

This is a very common problem of students that learn under teachers that rely heavily on textbooks, make students read and read without guiding them to actively form sentences and speak.

→ If it is your case, consider changing your teacher.

→ Also switch to an active mindset and use every opportunity to translate the thoughts that run through your head during the day. Ask yourself: How would I say this in Chinese? Then consult your translation with your teacher or with ChatGPT.

Even though the issue often uncovers cultural or psychological barriers, the solution can be quite simple.

→ Learn as many common sentences by heart, so that you are sure that you will say them right. That will boost your confidence and it will also record the sentence structures in your brain, so forming new sentences will be just a question of altering the words. And even if you make some mistakes there, it will be alright, because you will know that you already said something 100% right.

→ Also, think for a second about the idea that the only person who actually cares about your mistakes is you. Every reasonable person will just admire you for trying. People who want to point at other people's mistakes are people who don't try anything for themselves, they are toxic and they just want to push you down to their level. It is much better to disconnect yourself from them.

The fix here couldn't be simpler.

→ Just talk to AI, have a nice chat and let it correct you.

This is normal. A good teacher and good learning materials should have a smart system of repetition implemented. In the ideal case you should be reviewing and repeating old stuff without even realizing it. That is how the Chineseffect SMART System works 🙂

The biggest progress is when you start. The difference between NOTHING and SOMETHING is always the most visible one. Then it is only natural that the progress takes on a more subtle, sometimes even invisible shape.

Just make sure that you are enjoying the whole process, that you find the talks with your teacher inspiring and uplifting and that you like spending time with your learning materials.