How to start learning!

When it comes to learning another language, your main options are to either teach yourself or to enrol in a class. If you are thinking about following the class route, check with a local university or college for classes. Generally speaking, they will be held as an evening course and will cost in the region of £150-200 for around 25 lessons. If you're going to teach yourself, having a decent book (and accompanying CD) and some time to spend are important. For beginners, a book/CD set worth getting is Kan Qian's Colloquial Chinese: A Complete Language Course. For a slightly more advanced series, try the Teach Yourself Chinese [With 2 CDs] (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill)) (Paperback).

Which route you follow is a personal decision - chose which is best for you. But regardless, you need to consider wheter you have the drive and determination - without it, you can lose your focus and initial interest. Having a purpose will help to keep your drive and determination. Purposes vary, but an example would be the goal of becoming an interpretor, or to teach English (or your own native tongue) in China. Although not a necessity, knowing someone who speaks the language you are learning, in this case, Mandarin Chinese, can be a real benefit. It is easy to develop bad habits when it comes to pronouncing words. If left unchecked, these habits can hinder your later progress. So knowing a native speaker who is willing to give you some advice is a really useful!