Personally I use flashcards a lot, if I come across any new word or phrase, I try to remember it or write it down, then added to a flashcard program called Anki. Sometimes I watch videos to find any new words. Forvo is a good website to use if you want to find native pronunciation, It's also very easy to add to anki flashcards.
I heard of a method called shadowing, where you mimic the speakers pronunciation, anyone used it before, I'm unsure what resources to use to mimic.
I also listen to Chinese podcasts sometimes, such as 慢速中文 slow Chinese or Mandarin bean. They both have transcripts so the are easy to use.
I would like to know how to improve how to study tones, and learn characters any recommendations would be great. Thanks
The same as we learn English ,listening,speaking ,reading ,writing.
but you have to know the basic pronunciation in order to spell the new words ,then a dictionary to know what it means. and you also can make some friends who speaking mandarin to practice what you have learned in case forget .
radio . cartoons .card -but you really have to speak ,even to youself
Everyone says Chinese (mandarin)is the most difficult language to learn ,yeah,it is ,but you like it ,right?
加油。
