how should i study?

[akikaki1]

im planning on starting MTC in july. but thats 2 months away and would like to study whatever i can. I'm a pretty much full beginner (probally know like 40 hanzis and hear a tone if you say 1 word slowly)

How should i begin?

[Feiren]

I think you should find some materials that will allow you to listening and speaking Mandarin without written Chinese.

Ideally, you should try to imitate native speakers in short bursts of the language and spend more time transcribing what you hear into pinyin. Not sure how you can do this on your own though.

The idea is to practice producing the sounds and learning to recognize them before you are overwhelmed by the written language.

Oh, learn Bopomofo well before you start.

[akikaki1]

I think you should find some materials that will allow you to listening and speaking Mandarin without written Chinese.

Ideally, you should try to imitate native speakers in short bursts of the language and spend more time transcribing what you hear into pinyin. Not sure how you can do this on your own though.

The idea is to practice producing the sounds and learning to recognize them before you are overwhelmed by the written language.

Oh, learn Bopomofo well before you start.

thank you for reply, know any good links? is bopomofo more popular then pinyin?

[Feiren]

Bopomofo is widely used in Taiwan and is very convenient if you are studying in Taiwan since very few people know Hanyu pinyin. Your teachers at the MTC will know both, but they will prefer Bopomofo. Most foreign students of Chinese in fact rely in Hanyu pinyin, but if you are studying in Taiwan it is really worth effort to ALSO learn bopomofo. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that one is better than they other. They are exactly the same. They just use different symbols to represent the same sounds.

[Adam_CLO]

I have an audio course teaching Chinese to beginners that you can start with, while you wait. Take a look at the vocabulary taught in each lesson here: http://www.chineselearnonline.com/course-outline/

If you find the first few lessons too easy then skip ahead till you find one that teaches something new. Click on the orange lesson number link to listen to the lesson for free.

[dasmania]

pinyin FTW

[Chrisk]

I will be studying at the MTC as well.
The course syllabus says they will teach pinyin. keep in mind

[Feiren]

I personally prefer Hanyu pinyin.

But knowing Zhuyin fuhao very useful in Taiwan. It's certainly something you could learn before you start your studies that would help later.