According to a research in 2008, about 40 million people were studying Chinese as a second language around the world. However, in today's time, the estimated number is over 100 million!!
Regardless of whether you are one of them or not, you might agree that Chinese, as a foreign language, is indeed difficult to learn. In fact, it seems to be one of the hardest languages to learn. There are over 80,000 Chinese characters, and only around 3,500 of them are commonly used in standard Chinese. It won’t be possible to recognize all the Chinese characters!
Furthermore, it does not help that Mandarin Chinese is a Tonal language! It has four tones (level, rising, rising and falling, falling). Words mean differently based on not only pronunciation but also tones. The meaning of a word or a sentence can be changed entirely by changing the tone.
Nevertheless, you do not need to fret as there is a reason why despite it being seemingly difficult for most people to learn, it is still one of the most popular languages to learn in the world today :) Together with KIRIN Mandarin, we can help to guide you to mastering this language as long as you are willing to work together with us!