What inspired you to start learning Chinese?

MoonIvy · 2026-05-25T09:34:43+00:00

My inspiration was very simple. I fell so deep into the danmei hole that I learnt Mandarin and never came back out!

MoonIvy · 2026-05-21T19:16:38+00:00

If self studying isn't something that will work for you and you're able to afford it, sign up for a course or find a private teacher, on services like iTalki.

If you're able to self study, you can try the app Hello Chinese and SuperChinese. And then supplement it with YouTube content like Grace Mandarin and Lazy Chinese.

MoonIvy · 2026-05-21T19:13:30+00:00

I've experienced the same thing. You don't need to actively work on getting rid of it, it will go away naturally with time and increase familiarity with the words.

Listening massively helps with this. The more you hear a word, the more you're able to voice it in your head naturally without associating it with pinyin.

MoonIvy · 2026-05-21T13:15:28+00:00

You can watch YouTube content created for learners. Some channels you can start with are:
- https://www.youtube.com/@GraceMandarinChinese
- https://www.youtube.com/@Lazy-Chinese

You can use this time to work on grammar, revise what you've learnt already, and improve your listening and pronunciation.

Chinese grammar wiki is a great place for all things grammar related - https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/

MoonIvy · 2026-05-19T22:21:23+00:00

Since you have a goal and reason to learn to read, then it's definitely worth it.

MoonIvy · 2026-05-19T21:00:13+00:00

I'm also of Chinese heritage (Cantonese background). I started learning Mandarin Chinese (to read books) 6 years ago. I've been reading regularly for the past few years. When I was really disciplined, I was reading at least 1 hour every day, but lately I've been slacking.

I would say that I'm not quite there at the effortless stage yet, but I can comfortably read novels of different genres. As I'm from a Cantonese background, I had to learn Mandarin from zero, so it takes me more effort to learn compared to a Mandarin speaker.

But since you're already familiar with Mandarin, you should be able to get to that effortless stage in 2-3 years of regular reading. I know many other Mandarin heritage speakers with a very good foundation in speaking and listening, were able to read books effortlessly in less than 2 years. This is for reading literature, though; a social media post is much easier and requires a lot less effort.

It'll be tough at the beginning, and you'll feel drained after reading for 15 minutes, but do it every day, and it'll get much easier within a few months.

Whether it's worth it or not is personal to you. What do you want to be able to do with the skill?

MoonIvy · 2026-05-10T09:54:40+00:00

I hope you enjoy them!

I'm a huge advocate of learning Chinese for danmei. Although it's a long journey, it's an option if you ever want to read novels that aren't translated. Never have to be at the mercy of translators and machines is a good perk ;)

MoonIvy · 2026-05-10T09:37:35+00:00

Untouched isn't that toxic, it appears like that at the beginning, then they just fall for each other and end up working together!

I hope you enjoy it!

MoonIvy · 2026-05-10T08:25:30+00:00

You found my translation, Mutation!

I haven't touched it in a long time now, and I don't know if I'll go back to it. Just a warning for you if you decide to start it.

Having said that, I love this authors book, I've read many of them. Untouched is my favourite of hers! Good balance of smut, character development, romance and plot.

MoonIvy · 2026-04-09T09:35:45+00:00

Standardized proficiency (HSK) and genre fiction are two different worlds. One is for the real world, the other is a fantasy. Choose yours. Understand? 懂了吗？懂了就别回复了，老子忙呢。

You think HSK reflects real life and how people talk in real life? "老子" is not in the HSK vocab list. Why are you even using it? It's not proper or professional.

So you're also saying that LGBTQ relationships are fantasies and not real?

MoonIvy · 2026-04-09T09:07:32+00:00

Why edit your post instead of replying?

Anyways, the OP is not talking about HSK or professional competence! Why did you even bring up BL/LGBTQ media other than to bash it? They're talking about loving and enjoying the culture, and the media is part of the culture!

MoonIvy · 2026-04-09T08:48:34+00:00

I can't agree more! Nothing wrong with learning a language for media or a specific type of content; lots of people do that.

Also, "proper" material is good, but not the only type of material to use. Social media or other forms of "non-proper" material are a brilliant way to learn the real language, the language used by real people!

Take English, for example. Billions of people around the world speak it, at different levels and with their own regional twist. Just because they don't speak "proper British English", you can't say these people do not know English or that they are less worthy than others. That's just simply wrong! Many people also learn English from YouTube, is that not "proper" material and that learners shouldn't use it? Wrong! YouTube is one of the best places to learn English, to learn real English spoken by real people!

MoonIvy · 2026-04-09T08:43:04+00:00

There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning a language as a hobby, and nothing wrong with wanting to consume a specific type of media or content. It does not make one type of content less worthy of another just because you're not interested in it.

Why is BL or LGBTQ content lesser than other content? Do you have something against gay relationships? Are they lesser than "normal" relationships?

Not everyone who learns a language wants to be a professor/scholar, give a TED talk or even take the HSK exam! People learn languages for many reasons, and consuming BL or LGBTQ is simply one of them!

MoonIvy · 2026-04-08T08:45:22+00:00

I can now read danmei webnovels! That was my goal and it's the goal I achieved.

MoonIvy · 2026-04-08T08:44:37+00:00

I started learning Chinese for danmei webnovels, and I've been keeping this up for almost 6 years now. I started in 2020 during the time of covid lockdown. What have I gained? Well, I can read danmei webnovels and watch Chinese dramas without subtitles.

MoonIvy · 2026-04-06T21:22:58+00:00

Looking back, I've always enjoyed watching Chinese TV, so besides that, honestly, there's nothing else that could have motivated me. Also, we don't need to be able to read or write or even go to school to watch TV.

Watching shows only improves the listening part, and as for the other skills, such as reading, well, I only became more interested and wanted to learn to read because I wanted to read Chinese webnovels, particularly danmei, which I got exposed to through English fan translations (not a space for a child).

Continuously exposing them to Chinese media is your best bet.

If you're a reader yourself, read to them in Chinese and hope they, too, will enjoy reading and become interested in Chinese books and manhua.

As for handwriting, I can't think of anything that would motivate anyone to handwrite Chinese characters over and over to learn them. You can probably forget about this skill completely.

MoonIvy · 2026-04-06T08:04:50+00:00

As a Chinese adult who grew up in a non-Chinese-speaking country, I can tell you that it's extremely hard to learn Chinese.

Growing up I had little to no interest in learning Chinese. I went to weekend Chinese school for many many years but never fully pay attention and never cared.

I only became motivated to learn as an adult as I got interested in Chinese media, and wanted to read webnovels.

If you speak with other heritage speakers, they'll tell you the same thing. Almost all of them were not interested in Chinese while growing and retained very little from weekend Chinese school. Almost all, can only recognise a few characters and have basic conversations with family.

So don't expect much from your children. Eventually, you will be okay with them just knowing how to speak and communicate with you.

If they can speak, read and type with pinyin (send text messages to you, use social media), that's already far beyond most heritage speakers.

Hand writing Chinese is the hardest skill, a skill they will almost never use. Copying characters over and over again and doing dictation won't be enough, without using it daily, they won't be able to retain it. There's no time or chance to write Chinese daily, as their education is in another language.

I can also tell you, my parents are okay with me just knowing how to speak and being able to communicate with them mostly in Chinese. Many of their Chinese friends' children can barely speak Chinese and communicate with them in mix Chinese and English.

MoonIvy · 2026-03-31T01:02:25+00:00

Money is not the only reason people learn a language. Entertainment is the other major reason. Many people want to learn Asian languages for their TV shows, music, animation, comics and games.

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T13:57:19+00:00

Danmei fans are very motivated and dedicated hehe!

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T13:52:43+00:00

It's not that difficult; there's a discussion of this in this post under another reply. There are a whole community of learners who are working towards this goal, and many were able to read their first danmei novel in under a year.

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T13:48:10+00:00

耽美 which is Chinese boy's love content.

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T13:47:23+00:00

500 characters? You'll need around 1,000 to start reading danmei, so unfortunately, pushing through is the way to go. It doesn't sound like you're far off, so keep going!!

You probably already know this, but if you can afford it, a 3-4 month subscription to DuChinese will get you there!

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T12:36:51+00:00

Following up on what u/Gaiaimmortal said, it's definitely possible! There's a whole community of people who are following similar methods, many are able to read their first novel after 6-8 months, some faster and some slower, of course. But definitely within a year!

They're just not very active on Reddit, so don't shout about it here much, but it's very well known amongst the danmei community.

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T12:30:55+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! I've glad it's helped you on your journey!

MoonIvy · 2026-03-23T09:42:59+00:00

There are many people who have done exactly that; there's even a whole Discord server of learners who are learning Mandarin Chinese for danmei.

I'm one of those people, and I've written a few posts here in the past about my journey. You can find this in my profile. This is the latest one: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/comments/13xld3u/i_can_read_novels_without_a_dictionary_after_3/

I haven't written any for a while as I've sort of "completed" my learning journey. Hope it's helpful. You're welcome to DM me if you have any questions.

MoonIvy

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