Learning Chinese on the Internet
As China becomes more and more of a global power there is an increasing need for people who can speak Chinese. That has resulted in a huge increase in the number of people looking to take lessons. One of the difficulties that people have encountered is that there simply aren't that many people available who can teach it. Unlike English speakers who have spread around the world offering lessons there are very few native Chinese speakers who offer lessons. Fortunately the internet can help address this problem since people can take lessons without having to find a Chinese teacher.
The first thing you are going to have to do if you are thinking about learning Chinese on the internet is to think about why you want to learn Chinese. This will help you to decide which the best learning option for you is. There are number of free sites that offer lessons and if you are just looking to learn out of personal interest they may be a good solution. On the other hand if you need to learn for work or school you are probably going to need to arrange a more formal course. This will likely be through a proper language school or even a university and will likely offer you a credential for successful completion of the course. It will also almost certainly cost you money.
The other big consideration is what kind of Chinese do you want to learn. There are literally dozens of different dialects; some of them are so different from each other that they are really different languages. Mandarin is far and away the most widely spoken Chinese dialect but it may not necessarily be the best option. Cantonese for example is widely used in business since it is most common in Hong Kong. Deciding why you want to learn Chinese will go a long way to helping you choose the dialect you are going to learn.
You are also going to want to decide if you need to learn to read and write in Chinese or if spoken Chinese is sufficient. Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn to read and write. The characters used are completely different than somebody who's first language is English would be used to. If you do need to learn how to read and write it is going to require a major investment of your time.
In general most internet language courses work by having you repeat various words and phrases until you become proficient. This is not unlike the old language tapes that people used to use. While this can work the internet also offers the opportunity for actual interactive language lessons. These lessons will likely not be free but they are great way to learn Chinese.
Gotta love the Chinese!