speaing of effectively, i think nothing better than practice every day, as long as you put in more, you definately get more from practicing. as to how to improve quickly, if that is what you really want to know, i guess come and stay for months would be the best way if it is possible. or, finding an easy reading and objective chinses history with MP3 is also an pretty good choice, because you have to at least know about basic information and culture of this country when you really want to learn its lanuage.

Thanks so much for answering! 谢谢！

listen more and imitate the way it is pronounced.. but i dont know if it works for you.. it works for me.. u need to find your best way to learn first..

As you know, there's a big difference between Chinese and English.What's more,Chinese is very complex and in daily speech,there're many changes in the grammar and the words.That is to say,we use the language flexibly.So since it is a language,in terms of the use of the language,I advise that the best way to learn chinese should be listening more and speaking more.You can find a native speaker for chatting if you can't live in China for a long time.That can work effectively.Also the basic words and grammar are necessary but not all.

Am also wondering about the same thing... How do i learn mandarin?