According to the Foreign Service Institute, Chinese is a level IV language—a “super-hard language” for English speakers to learn. Everything is new: the writing system, the sounds, the words, the sentence structures.
It takes about 4-7 years (roughly 2200 to 4000 hours) to become fluent in every aspect of the language, if you spend at least an hour and a half to study every day. However, it's quite common for learners to become more fluent in some areas than others depending on how they allotted their study time.
Most people who are interested in learning have two questions: "Is it hard to learn Chinese?" and "How long does it take to learn Chinese?" Based on government sources and anecdotes, Three to five years is a good estimate of how long it takes to learn Chinese fluently, but there are so many factors involved.
In any case, learning Chinese quickly will require time and motivation, so it's best to set out with reasonable expectations. While you can learn basic Chinese in a month or two, to become fluent enough to work in a Chinese company, you'll need at least a year of intensive study.
Chinese and Japanese are two of the most popular languages to learn, Japanese is generally seen as being harder than Chinese due to its writing system and complex grammar structures.
Generally speaking, we might assert that Korean is easier for an English speaker to learn than Mandarin Chinese. But this is very relative. In fact, the US Foreign Service Institute assigns Mandarin Chinese and Korean the same level of difficulty. Both languages are in “Category Four”.
Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.
Learning Chinese on your own is definitely possible, but it depends on what you mean by “on my own.” If, for you, this means “without a formal teacher/tutor,” then yes, it's more difficult but still reasonable. If “learning Chinese on my own” means “without any Chinese friends,” then it's very unlikely.
If you are thinking of learning Chinese, it can benefit you if you spend less time hesitating about it. Studies have shown that regardless of age, everyone has the ability to learn a new language. Learning Chinese is entirely possible, but becoming fluent in the language takes time to do so.
If you've passed the Chinese Efficiency Exam (HSK), then there's a long list of potential employers you should look into. From teaching Mandarin Chinese to working for the government, there's no shortage of jobs that require Chinese language skills. And many of them pay handsomely.
While children are generally more adept at quickly learning and remembering new information, including languages, it is possible for individuals of any age to become completely fluent in Chinese (including the written and spoken language) as long as they are willing to put forth the time and effort.
To learn Chinese, you really need to get a good grasp of the grammar principles, so for this reason Duolingo alone will not help you (especially at the higher levels). Though the desktop version does have some background information on grammar we still found it to be quite basic without any in-depth explanations.
It's a good idea to get children aged 14 or 15 interested in learning Chinese as a foreign language. As we said, they can learn about Chinese language and culture which has many benefits for children of this age as: They can gain an interest in foreign languages for work and in daily life.
We would recommend you to start learning Mandarin first since it's said to be easier to learn and then build up to Cantonese.
You should learn Traditional Chinese if you: Plan to live or study in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, or Chinese-American communities in the US. Want to study pre-1950 Chinese history or literature, or any art/calligraphy. Want to develop a full understanding and fluency in written/reading Chinese.
1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers. Numbers vary widely — Ethnologue puts the number of native speakers at 1.3 billion native speakers, roughly 900 million of whom speak Mandarin — but there's no doubt it's the most spoken language in the world.
“Is it hard to learn Chinese?” According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) scale, it will take English speakers 88 weeks (2,200 hours of active learning) to reach native/bilingual Chinese proficiency. Chinese is one of the 5 languages which is most challenging to learn for native English speakers.
Whether you're looking for a new academic pursuit, new career skills or a new perspective on life, learning Mandarin Chinese is one of the absolute best investments you can make with your free time.
Boost your brain power!
Did you know that learning Chinese utilizes areas of the brain that other languages do not? Learning Chinese takes intensive brain power. It's an intense training of the mind that enhances memory and cognition. English speakers use the left temporal lobe but Mandarin speakers use both!
It depends on what you are planning to do with your language after you've learned it. If you plan to do business in China or with a Chinese-speaking company, then Mandarin is definitely the way to go. If, however, you plan to settle in Hong Kong, then it would be worth it to pick up Cantonese.
Mandarin is unanimously considered the most difficult language to master and is spoken by over a billion people in the world.