http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/tim_ferriss_smash_fear_learn_anything.html<p>In the URL above, Tim Ferris describes how he learned Japanese uber fast by finding the list of 1-2K most common Japanese words and memorizing them.<p>Is there a similar list for Chinese (probably yes). What is it called? Where can I get a copy of it?<p>Thanks!
<a href="http://www.zein.se/patrick/3000char.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.zein.se/patrick/3000char.html</a> are the 3,000 most common Chinese characters.<p><a href="http://www.cozychinese.com/category/audio/frequently-used-words/" rel="nofollow">http://www.cozychinese.com/category/audio/frequently-used-wo...</a> is an audio-focused list.
The royal road to learning Chinese is to use the textbook series written by John DeFrancis (who died just this year).<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=John+DeFrancis&source=an&ei=p14JStKxHJHstgOQjb3jCA&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=4&ct=title&cad=author-navigational" rel="nofollow">http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=John+DeFrancis&sou...</a><p>His Chinese Reader series<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Chinese-Reader-Part-I/dp/0300020600" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Chinese-Reader-Part-I/dp/030...</a><p>has never been surpassed. See my HN profile for my basis of knowledge.
Yes, there are frequency lists. This is the most useful, easiest-to-carry one I've found so far:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-English-Frequency-Dictionary-Mandarin-Frequently/dp/0781808421" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-English-Frequency-Dictionary-M...</a><p>Access to the official vocabulary classifications is through the HSK program:
<a href="http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/105441.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/105441.htm</a><p>But there are words, then there are idioms, and there are sentence patterns... if you can afford it, the Pimsleur series is unsurpassed for mastering a series of basic sentence patterns.<p>The John Francis books are useful orientation. If you're studying, the New Practical Chinese Reader series is extensive and helpful.