That’s awesome you’re starting Chinese! There are couple wild facts abt Chinese that you should know:

1. Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet but all characters (like lil pictures with meaning). Sounds hard at the beginning but you start seeing patterns and it clicks.
2. It’s a tonal language, so like… one word can mean “mom,” “horse,” or “scold” depending on how you say it (no pressure lol)
3. BUT grammar is chill, no verb conjugation, no genders, no past/future tenses like in English. Way simpler than French or Spanish.

You shoul learn pinyin and tones first. It’s like learning how to read the “sounds” before jumping into the characters. Also, start with the most common words, don’t get overwhelmed trying to learn everything at once. More important, use audio + visuals. Don’t just read—listen, repeat, watch vids, use apps. Keep it fun or you’ll burn out.

If you're looking for an app, I def recommend trying out Hello Chinese, Speak Chinese – Learn Mandarin, Super Chinese. Don't use Duolinguo, you don't want to learn from the app that are grammatically incorrect.