STEP 1: Learn to Pronounce Han Yu Pin Yin.

Han yu means Mandarin while pin yin means spelling. There are 3 components of han yu pin yin; 

• 6 vowels
• 4+1 tones
• 21 consonants

STEP 2 : Learn to Understand and Memorise Vocabularies

You have to understand and memorise at least 1000 vocabularies in order to be well-versed in Mandarin. Start learning commonly used vocabularies for daily conversation. Mandarin vocabulary is rather straight forward compared to English. For instance,

Computer 电脑 diàn nǎo
Handphone电话 diàn huà
Battery 电池 diàn chí
Movie 电影 diàn yǐng

Do you notice that the first word is the same? 电 diàn = electric

– 脑 nǎo = brain. 电脑 diàn nǎo literally direct translate is “electric brain”. It actually means computer.
– 话 huà = talk. 电话 diàn huà literally direct translate is “electric talk”. It actually means telephone. 
– 池 chí = reservoir. 电池 diàn chí literally direct translate is “electric reservoir. It actually means battery.
– 影 yǐng = shadow. 电影 diàn yǐng literally direct translate is “electric shadow”. It actually means movie.

Take a guess. What is 电视机 diàn shì jī ?  Tips: 视 shì = view ; 机  jī = machine

Your answer : _____________

STEP 3 : Learn to Construct Sentence Structure

This is the formula to create Mandarin sentences.
S = Subjects (who) come at the beginning of the sentence
T = Time (when) expressions come immediately before or after the subject. 
P = Place (where) where an event happened, the place expression comes before the verb. 
A = Action (what) verb + object, do something.

The sequence is Subject, Time, Place and Action (STPA)

Princess | yesterday | went to the hospital | see the doctor.

gōng zhǔ | zuó tiān | qù yī yuàn | kàn yī shēng

公主昨天去医院看医生。