Beginner

• Find learning materials in your native language.


• Determine where you need most help: reading, writing, speaking, listening, or all of the above.


• While your 'accent' doesn't have to be authentically American, British, etc., your 'pronunciation' does.  You have to have perfect pronunciation, so make sure you focus on that.


• Create a study plan that you can do consistently each week.  A little each week is better than trying to do a whole lot every day, and then failing and giving up.


• Visit our 'resources' section for Chinese (Shanghainese) and review each of the 'beginner' resources.

Intermediate

• At the intermediate stage, you need to start mastering grammar, and mastering pronunciation.   


• Get a hold of a bunch of grammar workbooks, and get honest feedback from native speakers (with Chinese (Shanghainese) teaching experience) on your pronunciation.  Make it perfect.  If no one can understand you, who cares about your perfect grammar, right?


• If you haven't already, start reading novels, newspapers, magazines, etc. in Chinese (Shanghainese), and the same for watching lots of Chinese (Shanghainese) speaking television and listening to lots of Chinese (Shanghainese) speaking radio.  Listen and ready weekly.


• It's arduous, but you have to start writing regularly, and on complicated topics.  Most importantly, get them corrected!


• Find a bunch of YouTube channels you enjoy watching with lots of speaking in Chinese (Shanghainese) and subscribe.


• Find practice groups where you can speak with others.  


• If you can, go visit a Chinese (Shanghainese) speaking country, and ideally, go live there for a while.


• Visit our 'resources' section for Chinese (Shanghainese) and review each of the 'intermediate' resources.

Advanced

• At this advanced stage, you should by now be a master of the grammar and pronunciation.


• Your main focus needs to be increasing your vocabulary.  100% guaranteed, you do not have the vocabulary of a fluent native speaker, and that is your mission: to remedy that.  You need to put together a weekly vocabulary growth program.  


• Make sure you are writing regularly, and forcing yourself to use new vocabulary.  Note: do not 'guess' in how a word is used.  Only use a word if you know for certain that you are using it in the correct way--otherwise you are just guessing, and probably reinforcing incorrect usage.


• Whatever reading and/or listening and/or watching you were doing from the intermediate level, amplify it.  You have to now do three times as much work.


• It's time to start teaching and leading classes and groups in Chinese (Shanghainese).  You have to find opportunities to speak, debate, and discuss on very complicated topics, e.g. Economics, Space travel, Religion, History, Mathematics, etc.  You must force yourself to expand your horizons in Chinese (Shanghainese).


• Be sure to start using Break Diving's Fluency Book.  You can find it on the Break Diving Blog.


• Visit our 'resources' section for Chinese (Shanghainese) and review each of the 'advanced' resources.