Possible to learn Chinese while working?

[TSE]

Hi guys,

I got sick with COVID in march, lost my job, and then proceeded to move to a new city and start afresh.

One hobby that I enjoyed before I got COVID was learning Chinese - I had a tutor and spent about half an hour a day learning it. I earned the HSK2 and was working towards the HSK3 when I quit.

However, I cannot afford a tutor anymore, and I have become quite rusty which has been very saddening.


I work as a mailman now and want to see if it’s possible to practice and learn while working - I work about 60 hours a week and have only a day off a week, every Sunday.


If you were me, how would you go about learning Chinese with so little time and money?



Thanks!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

For starters, I'd spend less time on Internet Q&A forums...

 

[johannnn]

- There are tons of good free websites (https://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/, https://characterpop.com/, https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/ etc etc etc)
- There are tons of free youtube channels
- There are tons of good books (google them as PDF, your local library, Amazon)
- There are tons of good apps

 

[HDFan]

Lots of courses out there. I have used

Rosetta stone which usually has accompanying CDs which you could rip and put on your watch/iPhone.

The FSI courses (Foreign Services Institute) are very intense, lots of audio but rather old:

FSI - Cantonese Basic Course

FSI - Cantonese Basic Course

www.amazon.com

 

[AngerDanger]

Jesus, I’m so sorry to hear about your illness and job.

On the off chance you haven’t already heard of it, I’d recommend the app Duolingo. It’s free, good for intermittent practice at your leisure, and unlike CDs and completely textual language guides, I’m pretty sure it uses mic input to gauge your pronunciation.

 

[kazmac]

Hi @TSE glad you are feeling better and found another job & home. I was looking at the Drops app (which has in app purchases). Never used it but it looks interesting.

In addition to the great recommendations above, maybe you could learn during your commutes? Or watch some free shows/movies in Cantonese or Mandarin? The few words I know in Mandarin came from this.
Perhaps buy a used copy of books of novels that have both English and Chinese?

Maybe there are virtual language practice classes at Meet Up?

I think you can get back to the knowledge level you attained before COVID-19 etc.

And can I say that’s awesome you are learning this.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Hi guys,

I got sick with COVID in march, lost my job, and then proceeded to move to a new city and start afresh.

One hobby that I enjoyed before I got COVID was learning Chinese - I had a tutor and spent about half an hour a day learning it. I earned the HSK2 and was working towards the HSK3 when I quit.

However, I cannot afford a tutor anymore, and I have become quite rusty which has been very saddening.


I work as a mailman now and want to see if it’s possible to practice and learn while working - I work about 60 hours a week and have only a day off a week, every Sunday.


If you were me, how would you go about learning Chinese with so little time and money?



Thanks!

Some brilliant suggestions on this thread, but, while a daily tutor might be out of financial reach, could you actually arrange to meet someone (a native speaker someone) for a (socially distanced) coffee - perhaps weekly, or fortnightly, for half an hour or so, just to practice speaking the language, and give you some encouragement?