Expert: Terry Thatcher Waltz - 9/20/2006

Question
Hello,

My friend is interested in learning Mandarin Chinese, i am wondering before she embarks on it, if it can be self-taught. She isn't a well-motivated person.

Any advice or answers would be most appreciative.  

Answer
Well, there are always people who can learn almost anything on their own, and others who don't seem to be able to.
With language, it's important to have comprehensible input, so it's handy to have a teacher. That being said, many teachers of Chinese use "traditional" methods which are not well-suited to Western learners, so the input isn't always comprehensible or tailored to our needs.
Your friend might want to consider taking lessons with someone via Skype. I study with a teacher in Nanjing that way now, and I'm very pleased with the results. This is becoming a more and more popular means of learning languages now, because it's so convenient.