The Chinese Language is an old language. It has several characters and these the learner need to memorize. To me, Chinese is simpler to learn compared to English and other European languages. It has no grammar and the sentence structure is very simple. It has no verb tenses nor subject-verb agreement to worry about. To be good in this language, you only need to practice it a lot, and of course, building vocabulary words is important.
That is why when learning Chinese, flashcards become very handy. Not only do you have to memorize the strokes of the characters, but also the syllables and intonations. Without using the language very often, you tend to really forget the words.
I have this habit of having a little notebook with me whenever I watch a difficult Chinese show. I would jot down the words that I don't understand and then later look those up in the dictionary. Typing those Chinese characters take a lot of effort though when I search my online dictionary on my laptop. Thankfully, I've found a very helpful app and downloaded it right away on my iPod touch. I've realized that writing the words through touchscreen is much easier than typing the characters through my laptop keyboard. The app is called KTdict C-E (Chinese-English Dictionary). The interface is very simple, yet the beauty of it is you do not need an Internet connection to use it. Also, the characters appear in either Traditional or Simplified Chinese - two ways how Chinese words are written. (Traditional is prevalent in Taiwan, whereas Simplified is prevalent in China.) Most of the downloadable dictionaries I've encountered are in Simplified characters, a deal-breaker to me since I don't know Simplified Chinese. With the KTdict C-E installed in my portable gadget, I can search for Chinese words anytime anywhere.
To learn more about the app, check this link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ktdict-c-e-chinese-english/id291179703?mt=8
