One summer I was running a month long simulation for my PhD and decided to learn Chinese using an undergrad text I found. It had about 17 chapters with 50 new c

One summer I was running a month long simulation for my PhD and decided to learn Chinese using an undergrad text I found. It had about 17 chapters with 50 new characters per chapter. Normally this would be a two semester course. Using spaced repetition, some books that helped to show the pictographic evolution, and color coding the tones, I was able to go through a chapter a day—granted it took about 14 hours a day. After a few weeks I could read write and speak about 1300 words/850 characters. Reading was the easiest, then, writing, then speaking. Listening was the hardest and one I always struggled with. I don’t have a great memory, but if you have the time, tools, and will it’s very manageable. Usually we lack the time for such an indulgence.