你好 (Hello) As some of you may know, I have started to make plans to go to China next year. My #GMAC2013 campaign was designed to help me raise funds for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Ever since I have made the decision to go, I have been working overtime trying to study as much Mandarin as possible.

With class meeting only once a week, my laoshi (teacher) recommended that we utilize Youtube to get more practice. At first I was skeptical because I tried to learn Spanish by using Youtube, before, and failed miserably. However, since she was my teacher, and a native Chinese speaker, I figured she would know what she was talking about. I gave Youtube another shot and was pleasantly surprised of all the FREE resources that were out there to learn Mandarin. Not only just Youtube, but also social media sites where you can sign up and connect with various language exchange partners. (A language exchange partner is someone that is willing to help you learn their language while you help them learn yours.)

I know this may sound pretty silly, but I was shocked by all the FREE information that was there for me to use. I always thought learning a new language would be expensive. Either I would have to purchase Rosetta Stone, enroll in College courses or sign up for an expensive class.

Anyhoot, you guys know I love to share free educational tools, so in this post I will list the resources that have been very useful for my journey so far.

Youtube Playlists (a play list of foreign language tutorials and such):

Learning Mandarin-http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3VkJTRQQGtbh6p5s7YgJzyEKF8TDZchd

Learning Spanish-

 Social Media sites:

Italki.com

Polyglotclub.com

Helpful websites to learn languages tumblr post 

Also, there is Khan Academy. Khan Academy is not foreign language related. However, the site has 3,000+ videos that are gear towards teaching math, science and other topics. Whenever I get a chance, I always try to introduce folks to Khan Academy. I wish I had access to free math lessons when I was younger. 

There are many, MANY more and I will continue to add on as a go. 

再见 （Goodbye)