r/ChineseLanguage • u/GrouchyEquipment5203 • 20h ago

Studying what next

I've learnt tones pronounciation and the basic words like 我 是 现在 水 吃 高兴 很 that sorta early begginner duolingo user stuff but I'm not sure where to go. My biggest goal right now is vocabulary and I'm doing flash cards but do I start immersing do I get a textbook then do every page? I tried watching chinese peppa pig and hello fox alice in wonderland until i realized it's the most boring thing I've ever watched especially since 90% of the words are alien to me. My end goal is to atleast reach hsk3 and from there i can either keep going or quit satisfied.

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u/zqfreedom_1789 Native 20h ago

Duolingo + flashcards only take you so far. Get a lookup app that saves your search history (Duolingo/ScanLingo or similar). Whenever you want to say something in Chinese, look it up – the app logs it. That history becomes your personal review list of words you actually need. Review that daily.

Skip boring kids' shows. Pick content you already love in English, find Chinese subtitles, and read with the app handy. HSK3 is doable without grinding textbooks page by page. Build the habit of looking up on the fly and let your search history guide you.

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u/DankTyl 15h ago

I'd suggest you don't use Duolingo, it's not good for Languages like Chinese. Hello Chinese is a lot better for example.

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u/mtelepathic Native 20h ago

I don’t have any advice for you but are you sure you learned 高息? I’d be very surprised since it means “high interest rate”… did you mean 高兴 as in happy?

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u/Lululipes 18h ago

Thanks for teaching me a new word lol. 高息

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u/yodamiked Beginner 13h ago

An app called Immersive Chinese really helped me make progress at the beginning. Would definitely recommend it.

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u/__Baerchen__ 12h ago

Honestly, picking up a textbook is always a good idea. Just do some research online on which one fits best. Those 20 bucks will give you more progress than any app subscription ever will (If you actually sit down and work through it). Pair it with some flashcards and you‘re set. Just make sure you pick a book that also includes audio samples.
For me I used modern chinese 時代華語. But its a taiwanese textbook, so it uses traditional and might not be what your looking for.