How to immerse yourself in Chinese at home?

Most people believe that to become a fluent Mandarin speaker, you need to immerse yourself in a Chinese-speaking environment. Though, many people can’t visit China for learning Mandarin. Luckily there are many other ways to immerse yourself in Chinese from your home country. 

In this post, I have defined the ways and resources that can help you to immerse yourself in Chinese. I hope this five-step guide will assist you to achieve your goals for learning Chinese. 

Step 1: Sign-up for a Chinese Class

To immerse yourself in Chinese, you have to sign-up for a Chinese learning course, where you can get a Chinese-speaking environment that can cut you off from your native language. Though, you have to go to some school or college for Chinese learning classes. 

Signing-up for a Chinese language course will benefit you in many ways, including accountability by regular attendance and completing all the classwork. You will spend your time in the company of Chinese speakers and learners that provide you a true Chinese environment. 

Step 2: Find a Language Partner

Besides taking Chinese classes, you need a language partner who can maximize your opportunities for learning Chinese. 

Having a native Chinese speaker as a language partner is always best, but it can be difficult to find a native speaker outside of China. However, a Chinese learner is also suitable for language practices. You just have to focus on the goal of maximizing opportunities for practicing the language. 

If you are a student, check out the programs offered by your school or international education departments. International schools and universities usually host international events and programs where you can find your language partners. 

You can also sign-up for online Chinese courses. This is the easiest way to learn a language from the comfort of your home. You can also find language partners on the internet. 

Step 3: Make your Environment Chinese

For learning Chinese, it is very important to immerse yourself in a Chinese environment. You can make a Chinese environment in your home by posting sticky notes on all your household items in Chinese characters and pinyin. 

Post the important phrases or idioms on a window or bulletin board so that you can repeat them throughout the day. 

You can also switch your computer and mobile phone’s default language to Chinese. It will allow you to improve your Chinese reading. 

All these strategies not only help you to learn new vocabulary but also offer a Chinese environment.

Step 4: Use Chinese social media and entertainment

How many times you listen to music or check Facebook in a day? Research shows that an average person checks social media 14 times a day.  

Let’s suppose if you use Chinese social media this much how many benefits it will bring to your Chinese learning.

There are many Chinese social media platforms, but WeChat is the most popular platform. It is a communication app. You can use WeChat to communicate with your group of Chinese friends, tutors, and classmates. Follow their stories, comment on their post in Chinese, and post your own stories. It will help you practice your language. 

WeChat also allows you to follow Chinese news channels. Though, this is suitable for advanced learners to improve their Chinese. However, beginners and intermediary learners can try graded readers like Chairman’s Bao is a reading source to learn a language. 

In addition to social media, you can cut yourself off from your native language by listening to Chinese music. Youku is great for listening to music and watching movies. Watching Chinese TV shows and movies can improve your pronunciation and tone.

Step 5: Expand your Relationships with Chinese

For learning Chinese, you should make Chinese friends that can provide you more opportunities to practice the language. 

You can start practicing from a local restaurant, hair salon, supermarket, or anywhere you find Chinese speakers. 

Once you develop a relationship with Chinese folks, they are more likely to help you in improving your Chinese speaking. It is best to visit them at off-hours when they are free and ready to talk to you.

However, practicing the language with shopkeepers and restaurant waiters will let you developing proficiency in basic discussions. However, the language exchanges likely to be shortened there.

Attend local events at art galleries, museums, university panels, or anything else where you can find Chinese folks. It will take plenty of effort to make Chinese friends, but it will benefit you in providing opportunities to practice language and learn Chinese culture. 

Remember one thing when making a relationship with Chinese people, friendship should be the first goal, and language learning should be second. 

Chinese people are very friendly, so they take friendship very seriously. Before making them friends, you should learn how a relationship works in Chinese.

Final Thoughts

Learning Chinese outside of China is not an easy task. But fortunately, we live in an era where numerous resources and ways are making it easier to learn Chinese. 

If you know any effective strategy that can help in Chinese learning, please share it in the comments below.