About this method

The Daily Mandarin Thread Method is a methodology for learning Mandarin Chinese. We start off outlining the Beginner goals so that you can jump right in. The rationale for our method is given afterwards in the Philosophy section. Special topics for Mandarin are given in the Topics section.

Our method is one of many. It builds upon many other language learning methods, especially from the online polyglot and Japanese language communities. You will find many of these ideas written about here talked about and expounded upon elsewhere. We make no claims of originality. The DMT Method is simply a collection of many of the ideas we have found most useful in our own studies.

The individualistic nature of learning foreign language is that no two learners are the same. Everyone comes in at different levels, having with different interests, going at different rates and with different levels of seriousness, using different methods, and having different opportunities for exposure. This means that our method (or any method) should be taken as a set of guidelines rather than doctrine.

Our aim here is to present a clear, well-defined method that is rigid enough that a beginner can blindly follow it, but is rich enough that it can be adapted to fit the needs of others.