First Steps

About a month ago I started learning a couple of Chinese phrases. Since then I have learned at least a hundred words and close to a hundred characters. I have decided to to take a multifaceted approach. I have a couple of apps on my iPhone which is helping me. I particularly like the AccelaStudy Chinese and the iChinese applications. I use AccelaStudy's Audio Auto Advance feature extensively when I drive around and in the gym. It is a very easy way of learning new vocabulary and pronunciation. iChinese has helped me to write characters. Both are excellent apps. I also picked up the following book (Actual paper,I know, very low tech): Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters, Vol. 1: A Revolutionary New Way to Learn and Remember the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters. This was an impulsive purchase but such a good buy. I only read the reviews on amazon on this book a couple of days later and let me tell you that most of the negative comments are totally unfounded. So this is the beginning. I am aiming to post my experience learning Chinese on this blog and maybe it is useful to somebody.