<p>Okay.</p>
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<li><p>How do I go about becoming fluent in Spanish? There is a large Spanish-speaking population where I live, and knowing it would help me in the job market. The problem is, I am not close (at all) with any one who speaks it fluently to practice with. I took three years of Spanish (I cannot take any more). I know a lot of vocabulary and some grammatical rules, but I can’t pull it all together just yet. I’m practicing and learning more, but how could I speed up the process?</p></li>
<li><p>How would I go about beginning to learn Mandarin on my own? Spanish I can study on my own pretty well because of the similar writing style. I have no idea how to begin with Mandarin. Our Mandarin population is growing, so knowing it would be good too.</p></li>
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<p>I think learning Mandarin formally, with a teacher, is best. Mandarin has 4 tones which means one word can mean 4 different things by how you say it. (ie; ma = mom, horse, a question indicator, or mad/scold). </p>
<p>I’m a native Chinese speaker and took a college course to learn how to read/write. I realized most people have a difficult time with getting the tones correct because they think it all sounds the same and can’t differentiate. With a teacher, you’ll understand better how to truly get the tones correct and the teacher can tell you if you’re saying it wrong.</p>
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<li><p>You don’t necessarily need to know a native Spanish speaker to help you. I’m learning Finnish and German and I don’t really have native speakers to practice with (other than the teachers at school), but I practice by listening to music and watching TV shows and movies (in that language or just in English with subs) and also just reading a lot in that language. Spanish should be easy. There are so many resources online (and also there are a ton of apps you can get if you have a smartphone). Take advantage of them.</p></li>
<li><p>Yeah I agree with the poster above. Mandarin can be pretty hard to speak because of the tone, so it definitely might be to your advantage to start with having a teacher. But if you want to study it on your own, there are lots of videos on Youtube.</p></li>
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<p>1) Verbling.com
2) Take an intensive class in Mandarin. Then go to Chinatown and practice with a random person.
3) Also the point you made about Spanish helping you with domestic career is wrong. Because there is a large Spanish speaking population in the United States, you’re not going to be able to compete against them if you’re not a native. Just focus on Mandarin.</p>
<p>Improvement: The career path I’m going (elementary education) does not have many native speakers going into it. I am not competing with them. However, in my area there are many parents who only speak Spanish. It would be advantageous to speak it fluently to be able to communicate with parents.</p>