The question of how difficult Chinese is to learn is probably the most frequent one I encounter. Most people approach it with the assumption that it’s a hard language, but what they truly want to know is exactly how hard. This seemingly simple question actually delves into a complex issue, so let’s explore it in detail.
In short, yes, learning Chinese is indeed difficult, but perhaps not in the ways you might initially imagine. It’s not about lacking a natural talent, inherent intelligence, or a perfect ear for tones. The real key to conquering Chinese is persistence. In this article, we’ll break down the real challenges of learning Chinese and, importantly, highlight areas where it might not be as daunting as you think.
Consider tuning into the Hacking Chinese Podcast for related discussions.
Is Asking “How Hard is it to Learn Chinese?” the Wrong Question?
Some argue that even posing the question of Chinese learning difficulty is fundamentally flawed. And they have a valid point. If you’re already immersed in learning Chinese, it’s unlikely that anything I or anyone else says about its difficulty will drastically alter your path. If I convinced you it’s even harder than you anticipated, what would you realistically do with that information? Conversely, if I somehow persuaded you it’s surprisingly easy, how would that change your learning approach?
Probably not much at all!
For those contemplating embarking on their Chinese learning journey, the difficulty question holds slightly more weight, but even then, only marginally. While considering difficulty is a factor when choosing a language, other elements should be more decisive. What language genuinely excites you? What do you intend to use it for? Furthermore, the widespread perception is that Chinese is challenging, so if your primary aim is to find an “easy” language, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place.
…Or Is It a Valid Question After All?
Despite these arguments, I believe that discussing the perceived difficulty of learning Chinese isn’t entirely futile. Having realistic expectations is crucial, and misconceptions about the nature of learning Chinese can negatively impact your progress.
Imagine being misled into believing Chinese is a breeze simply because it lacks tenses, grammatical genders, and articles. When you inevitably encounter the actual challenges and realize it’s not so effortless, a natural, yet incorrect, conclusion might be that you’re simply not smart or gifted enough to learn it. If it’s supposed to be easy, and you’re finding it hard, there must be something wrong with you, right? This is absolutely false; there’s nothing inherently wrong with your abilities.
Conversely, being told that learning Chinese as an adult foreigner is an impossible feat is equally unhelpful. This is also demonstrably untrue, as countless foreigners have attained advanced Chinese proficiency as adults. I began my Chinese studies in my mid-twenties, and I know many others who started even later and still achieved their language goals.
Difficulty is Relative: Who is Asking Matters
When we talk about language learning difficulty, it’s crucial to remember that many factors aren’t absolute but relative. They heavily depend on your existing linguistic background. For a native Spanish speaker, learning Italian isn’t “easy” because Italian is inherently simple, but because these Romance languages share significant overlap in vocabulary, grammar, and even cultural context. However, for a native Chinese speaker, learning Italian would present a much steeper climb.
Similarly, a significant part of Chinese learning difficulty for English speakers stems from the near-total lack of overlap between Chinese and English, or any other Indo-European language you might know. To truly grasp this relative difficulty, consider the challenges native Chinese speakers face when learning English. They confront the same “zero-overlap” problem we do with Chinese. Mastering English tenses, articles, plurals, and other grammatical structures is notoriously difficult for native Chinese speakers.
Unique Challenges of Learning Chinese
Beyond relative difficulty, Chinese presents some intrinsically challenging aspects. The most prominent example is the writing system. Learning thousands of Chinese characters is considerably more demanding than mastering the alphabet of a phonetic writing system. While English spelling can be erratic, Arabic script changes form depending on letter position, and Greek has its own alphabet, these are minor hurdles compared to the sheer volume and complexity of Chinese characters.
If you’re interested in delving deeper into the specific hurdles Chinese learners encounter, explore these articles:
Why is listening in Chinese so hard?
Why is listening in Chinese so hard?
6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them
6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them
Can you become fluent in Chinese in three months?
Can you become fluent in Chinese in three months?
And for a classic, albeit slightly dated, perspective, I recommend David Moser’s insightful piece, Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard. It’s worth noting that some challenges Moser highlights have been mitigated by technological advancements, as discussed in The new paperless revolution in Chinese reading (also by David Moser).
The Extremes: “Chinese is Easy!” vs. “Chinese is Impossible!”
You’ll find a spectrum of opinions on Chinese learning difficulty, ranging from overly optimistic claims of “it’s easy!” (often followed by a sales pitch for a “miracle” learning product) to pessimistic pronouncements of “it’s impossible!” (which aligns more closely with the average person’s perception). As mentioned earlier, neither extreme is accurate, and both are demonstrably false.
Arguing that Chinese is easier than commonly believed is a more defensible position, especially as a counterpoint to the “impossible” myth. This doesn’t necessarily involve deception, as there are indeed aspects of Chinese that are surprisingly less complex than in many other languages. I’ve even made this case myself in a previous article: Learning Chinese is easier than you think
Learning Chinese is easier than you think
The Real Question: Is Chinese Difficult? Yes, But Not How You Think!
To truly understand the difficulty of learning Chinese, we need to refine our definition of “difficult.” The word often conflates two distinct types of challenges. Let’s differentiate between vertical difficulty and horizontal difficulty:
- Vertical Difficulty: This is the type of difficulty where each step forward is a significant hurdle. It’s what most people instinctively think of as “difficult.” Progress requires mastering new skills that aren’t merely incremental. Success isn’t guaranteed simply by repeated effort. Think of rock climbing (bouldering). Even with adequate physical fitness, attempting a challenging route might lead to repeated failure, regardless of persistence. Vertical difficulty arises when you need to acquire new techniques to advance, and progress isn’t solely about putting in more hours. It can be influenced by your learning methods, instructor quality, aptitude in related areas, and even a bit of luck. Failure in vertical difficulty often stems from the inherent steepness of the next learning step.
- Horizontal Difficulty: Here, each individual step is relatively easy, but the sheer number of steps creates the overall difficulty. This demands endurance and consistent effort. Success is virtually guaranteed as long as you persevere. Imagine walking a thousand miles. Most people wouldn’t fail because a single step is too challenging, but because of the overwhelming number of steps required. Horizontal difficulty is about the cumulative effect of many small, manageable steps. Success is tied to persistence; doing more of the same, consistently, moves you closer to your goal. Failure in horizontal difficulty usually occurs because the sheer volume of steps becomes overwhelming.
These are distinct categories of difficulty, though in reality, most tasks exist on a spectrum between purely vertical and purely horizontal. Language learning, particularly Chinese, embodies this nuanced spectrum.
Chinese Difficulty: Vertical Early On, Horizontal in the Long Run
Learning any language is a multifaceted process, so we shouldn’t expect all aspects of Chinese to be difficult in the same way. Furthermore, the type of difficulty can shift depending on your learning stage. Generally, as you become more proficient, the difficulty tends to become more horizontal.
Let’s examine aspects of Chinese learning through the lens of vertical and horizontal difficulty:
| Aspects of Learning Chinese with Vertical Difficulty | Aspects of Learning Chinese with Horizontal Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Mastering Tones: Discerning and producing tones requires a shift in auditory perception and muscle control. Initial progress can be slow and require specific techniques. | Expanding Vocabulary: Learning thousands of characters and words is a long-term, cumulative process. Each new word isn’t inherently hard, but building a large vocabulary takes time and consistent effort. |
| Pronunciation (Initial Sounds): Sounds like j, q, x, or zh, ch, sh require developing new articulatory habits that differ significantly from English. | Character Recognition and Recall: While learning to write characters initially has vertical elements, consistent review and exposure are key to long-term recognition and recall. This is largely horizontal. |
| Basic Grammar Concepts: Understanding fundamental Chinese grammatical structures, which are different from Indo-European grammar, requires a shift in linguistic thinking. | Improving Reading Speed: Becoming a fluent reader in Chinese requires extensive practice and exposure to text. Each sentence isn’t necessarily difficult to decode, but reading quickly requires accumulated experience. |
| Learning to Write Basic Characters: The initial steps of learning to write characters involve mastering stroke order and basic radicals, which can be conceptually challenging at first. | Maintaining Fluency and Active Recall: Keeping vocabulary and grammar knowledge active and readily accessible requires ongoing practice and consistent engagement with the language over time. |
| Listening Comprehension (Beginner): Distinguishing sounds and tones in rapid, natural speech is a significant initial hurdle. | Achieving Native-Like Fluency: Reaching a truly advanced level of fluency, approaching native-speaker competence, is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires continuous refinement and immersion. |
Notice that the examples of vertical difficulty are mostly concentrated in the beginner stages, while horizontal difficulty becomes more prominent later. This isn’t universally true, but it represents a general trend. Many more examples of horizontal difficulty could be added, such as refining handwriting beyond basic legibility, continuously improving reading comprehension at advanced levels, and expanding cultural understanding.
Learning Methods: Tailoring Your Approach to the Type of Difficulty
Understanding the distinction between vertical and horizontal difficulty has important implications for your learning methodology. For challenges with horizontal difficulty, the sheer amount of time invested is the most critical factor. Therefore, prioritizing learning methods you enjoy and can sustain over long periods is more effective than forcing yourself to use highly “efficient” methods you dislike and therefore avoid. Of course, you still want to ensure each hour you invest is productive. For more on this, see: Should you use an efficient method for learning Chinese even if you hate it?
Should you use an efficient method for learning Chinese even if you hate it?
When facing vertical difficulty, the method itself becomes paramount. It can be the difference between success and stagnation. This is more about effectiveness than pure efficiency. A good method enables progress, while a poor one can hinder it, regardless of effort.
Consider pronunciation, specifically tones, as an example of vertical difficulty. Attempting to learn tones solely by reading Pinyin aloud from a textbook is remarkably ineffective. Any progress achieved is likely despite the method, not because of it. Conversely, focusing on active listening, meticulous mimicking, and seeking feedback significantly increases your chances of success. This is the rationale behind creating a comprehensive pronunciation course to empower learners to speak clearly and confidently:
Hacking Chinese Pronunciation: Speaking with Confidence
In designing this course, I prioritized intuitive lesson structures. For instance, the sounds j, q, and x are often taught in that order in textbooks, placing the easiest sound last. Instead, by starting with x, and then leveraging that tongue position to master j and q, the entire series becomes more approachable. Furthermore, a solid understanding of distinctions like d/t and b/p can be leveraged to master j and q more effectively.
This exemplifies vertical difficulty: trying to master j and q without first grasping d, t, and x makes the task unnecessarily harder. The same principle applies to sound groups like z/c/s and zh/ch/sh, which can be taught more effectively by building upon foundational phonetic knowledge.
Adjusting the Slope: Strategically Varying Difficulty
Let’s revisit the concept of difficulty as a slope. As a learner, you have some control over this slope, making your learning journey more horizontally or vertically inclined at different times.
For example, in reading, you can choose to focus on extensive reading, which involves reading a large volume of text at a relatively comfortable level. Alternatively, you can opt for intensive reading, concentrating on more challenging texts but reading fewer characters overall. Both approaches are valuable, but since learners often overemphasize intensive reading, I generally recommend extensive reading:
An introduction to extensive reading for Chinese learners
Throughout my own Chinese learning journey, I’ve deliberately sought out more vertically challenging situations. I believe that intentionally increasing the “steepness” can be beneficial at times, a concept I explored in more detail here: Is taking a Chinese course that’s too hard good for your learning?
Is taking a Chinese course that’s too hard good for your learning?
Chinese Learning: A Horizontally Difficult Journey
So, is learning Chinese difficult? Yes, undeniably. But its difficulty is primarily horizontal, akin to walking a thousand miles, rather than vertically challenging like rock climbing – especially once you overcome the initial beginner phase. While it may initially seem daunting, even insurmountable, and you might question your own abilities, it’s not about inherent talent. If you’re struggling to get past the beginner stage, my course Unlocking Chinese: The ultimate course for beginners offers comprehensive guidance. For free resources, explore the beginner section right here on the site.
Ultimately, learning Chinese demands commitment and sustained perseverance. Most learners who don’t succeed in Chinese do so not because of insurmountable individual challenges, but because the sheer number of cumulative steps feels overwhelming, even if each step itself is manageable. This is, in fact, encouraging! It signifies that Chinese is learnable for virtually anyone. You simply need to stay the course and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Did you find learning Chinese easier or harder than you initially expected? Share your experiences in the comments below!
Editor’s note: This article, originally published in 2014, was significantly revised and updated in July 2023.
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