Who studies mandarin?
Uh, I have only been studying it for several months and I can have basic conversations about how I’m doing, what I like to do, where I want to go, what I like to eat, my family, school, etc. If you want to be able to converse you need to practice your speaking constantly and you need to practice and be exposed to Mandarin daily. I would aim for at least 15 minutes a day, but I suggest 30 minutes. 15 minutes a day is better than 3 hours several times a week. I suggest you use a spaced repetition program like Mnemosyne to review vocabulary (try and add some audio so you can mimic). Use audacity to record yourself talking about your day in Mandarin (and maybe what you want to do tomorrow). Then go over it and review where you made your mistakes and what you need to work on. Find someone you can speak with in Mandarin. Learning vocabulary and grammar will not make you magically good at speaking. You need to actually practice speaking. Practice your pronunciation of words. Doing it in your
