You know that nagging feeling when you realize you’ve been putting something off for way too long? That’s me with Chinese. Seven years. Seven entire years living in Taiwan, and I’m just now getting serious about learning the language.
This isn’t one of those “I didn’t have time” stories. I had time. This is a “I got way too comfortable” story, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit it.
The Comfort Trap
Taiwan made it too easy for me not to learn. Most places I’d visit like 7-Elevens, restaurants, even the occasional traditional market, people would switch to English the moment they saw my face.
And on the rare occasions when English didn’t work? My wife was there to translate, making my life effortless.
I built this perfectly comfortable bubble around myself. Wake up, go about my day, interact with the world in English, rinse, repeat.
Days turned into months, months into years, and suddenly I’m looking at seven years of my life in Taiwan without being able to hold a proper conversation beyond ordering coffee.
The worst part?
I always knew I was staying. This wasn’t a temporary assignment or a gap year adventure. This was, and is home. Yet I kept postponing, kept finding reasons (excuses, really) to start “next month” or “after this busy period.”
It wasn’t until recently that I caught myself in a moment of clarity: I was living in a country I love, surrounded by a culture I respect, married to someone whose native language I couldn’t speak beyond survival phrases.
What was I waiting for? Some magical moment when learning Chinese would suddenly become easier?
Why I’m Sharing This Journey
I’ve finally started, and I want to bring you along for the ride. Not because I’ve figured it all out (far from it), but because I think there’s value in documenting this process. The messy, humbling, occasionally frustrating process of learning a notoriously difficult language from scratch.
I’m planning to track my Chinese learning journey publicly here on StreetPoint. You’ll get to see the raw, unfiltered experience: the small victories, the embarrassing mistakes, the moments when tones make absolutely no sense, and hopefully, eventually, the point where I can actually have a conversation with a local beyond asking where the bathroom is.
If you’re learning a language (or thinking about it), maybe my approach will resonate. If you’re just here for the entertainment value of watching someone struggle through Mandarin tones, that works too.
Building My Language Learning Toolkit
English isn’t my first language either, but I’ve been speaking, writing, and thinking in English for over two decades.
The difference?
That process was organic. I absorbed English through music, movies, TV shows, and just… living in it. I didn’t follow a structured curriculum; I threw myself into the deep end and figured it out.
Chinese? Yeah, that approach wasn’t going to fly.
Chinese demands structure. It demands intention. You can’t just osmosis your way through four tones, thousands of characters, and grammar patterns that flip everything you know about language on its head.
I needed a plan, a toolkit, and most importantly, a sustainable daily commitment.
So I did what any modern learner does: I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole of polyglots and language learning “gurus.” I watched videos, read blog posts, joined forums, and listened to approximately 47 different opinions on the “best” way to learn Chinese.
The conclusion?
Everyone has their own method because everyone’s brain works differently. Some people thrive on apps, others need textbooks, and some just need a patient native speaker and a lot of coffee. The trick is finding what works for you and not getting paralyzed by too many options.
Before I committed to anything, I asked myself three critical questions:
- Which tools do I actually want to use? (Not what everyone else uses, but what fits my learning style)
- Are there apps worth the subscription cost? (Because free often means limited, and premium means commitment)
- What’s my realistic minimum daily commitment? (Not aspirational, not “I should do three hours,” but genuine reality check)
These questions saved me from the classic learner trap: buying every resource, downloading every app, and then doing nothing because you’re overwhelmed by choices.
My Current Learning Stack
After filtering through the noise, here’s what I landed on:
- Hello Chinese (my primary app)—similar to Duolingo but actually designed for Chinese specifically. And yes, we all know Duolingo’s gamification has become more annoying than effective.
- Pleco – the dictionary that every Chinese learner swears by. It’s that good.
- YouTube channels – for pronunciation tips, cultural context, and hearing the language in action. (I’ll share my favorite channels in a future post.)
- Apple Notes – my daily learning journal. Every session gets documented: what I learned, what confused me, what clicked.
- Apple Numbers – for organized vocabulary lists, categorized by topic and difficulty.
- Notion – for evergreen reference material (though I’m still experimenting with this one).
- Tandem – a social app connecting language learners worldwide. Perfect for finding conversation partners.
- Traditional flashcards – old school, but there’s something about physically writing characters that helps them stick.
Each of these tools serves a specific purpose, and I plan to break down how I use each one in dedicated blog posts. Consider this your preview of what’s coming.
My “Learn Slow to Learn Fast” Philosophy
I decided to learn Chinese slowly. In a world of “fluent in three months” courses and speed-learning hacks, that sounds counterintuitive.
But here’s what I’ve learned from years of acquiring new skills (mostly in business): when you rush the fundamentals, you build on shaky ground. You develop bad habits that become exponentially harder to fix later.
Chinese is complex. We’re talking about a tonal language where the same sound can mean four (or five, depending on dialect) completely different things. Add to that thousands of characters, radicals, stroke order, and cultural context.
This isn’t a language you can brute-force your way through.
So I started with a filter: What does my actual daily life look like?
I wrote down everything I do regularly, places I visit, foods I eat, activities I enjoy. This became my curriculum.
Why waste mental energy learning vocabulary about architecture or dinosaurs when I’m never going to use those words in real conversation?
Focus on what matters now, and expand from there.
The Verification Loop
One massive advantage I have: a built-in native speaker who happens to be my wife. Everything I learn, I verify with her. She catches my tonal mistakes, corrects my grammar, and provides cultural context that no app can teach.
“That’s technically correct, but nobody actually says it that way,” she’ll tell me. Or, “That phrase is way too formal for buying fruit at the market.“
These tiny corrections are gold. They’re the difference between textbook Chinese and real, living, breathing Taiwanese Mandarin.
The Anti-Overwhelm Strategy
I go by this belief: if you overwhelm yourself from day one, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Or worse, you develop sloppy habits that embed themselves so deeply that untangling them later becomes a nightmare.
Sure, my approach might take longer. But I’m not trying to win a speed race. I’m trying to build something sustainable. I’d rather be conversational in two years than burn out in two months trying to cram everything at once.
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. Consider this your introduction to my Chinese learning experiment. In future posts, I’m going to break down:
- Each tool in my arsenal and exactly how I use it
- Specific challenges I’m facing (because there are many)
- Resources that are actually worth your time
- Mistakes I’m making so you don’t have to
- Small wins that keep me motivated
- Cultural insights I’m discovering along the way
My goal isn’t to become fluent overnight. My goal is to show up every day, learn a little more, and gradually transform from “that foreigner who only speaks English” into someone who can actually connect with the incredible people and culture around me.
This is the first post in my Chinese learning series. Each week, I’ll be sharing deeper dives into the tools, methods, and experiences that shape this journey. Subscribe or check back regularly if you want to follow along, or if you just enjoy watching someone fumble through tones and characters in real-time.