There's an absolute plethora of resources for Chinese these days. If you have the will, you can definitely learn Chinese!

Why should you listen to me?

I've learnt 2 languages as an adult, to add to the 2 I learnt as a child. Chinese is my current obsession.

I've learnt French and Spanish to a C1/C2 level for speaking and listening as an adult. Examples of my comfort with both these languages: I worked in multiple French customer service environments (hostels and tech support) and I lived in Colombia for like 6 months and did my master's capstone project's research there (with a ton of interviews in Spanish).

However, Chinese is different. Not only in its writing system, grammar, sentence order, etc but also in my own approach to it. This is my first time learning a language as a non-broke, non-full time student language learner. So, I had (some, meaning more than before) money to throw at courses and subscriptions, since I can't throw time at it instead. So, I have a good mix of methodologies to inform my own bespoke language learning efforts.

Also, I've used almost all of the resources mentioned here. However, this is NOT an exhaustive list of resources by any means. Often people spend more time finding the perfect resource than just getting started, and I'm often guilty of this as well. But hey, it's important to find the right resources that work for you. For example, if you are physically unable to read for any meaningful amount of time, my best resource advice (graded readers) is useless to you. So, find what works for you, and that will necessitate some fun times finding resources and reading reviews All language resources is pretty good honestly.

What you need to learn a language.

There are three things crucial to learning a language:

1. The motivation. You actually have to want to learn. Can't throw enough money to get over this requirement.

2. The time. You need to give it time. 1h a week is great if you want to play act at learning a language.

3. The acceptance of embarrassment/shame/risk. You will make mistakes. You will be embarrassed. You will sound less eloquent than a 3-year-old. That's ok. Every native speaker sounded like a 3-year-old at some point, they just all happened to be 3 years old at that time.

Pillars of your journey to learn Chinese

Then there are some key steps to learning Chinese in particular.

1. The app. Get Pleco. Just get it. It is absolutely foundational. And get the basic bundle (I didn't, I'm kicking myself, and I bought it after getting 3 of the add-ons in it separately. Just get it if you can afford it, or save up for it. It is SO worth it).
   Resources: Pleco, the app.

2. The pronunciation. It's absolutely crucial to everything else. Start here. If you didn't start here for some weird reason, drop everything and just learn pronunciation. And ideally do this outside of a group class, where you may pick up poor habits from your classmates.
   Resources: Paid teachers, online course subscriptions (Italki, Chinese for us, Yoyo Chinese, HackChinese etc). If you truly can't spring like $60 for a course, earn, beg, borrow, or steal $60, and pay for 6 months.. Could also do $25 for a single month but, eh. It's worth it getting your pronunciation right. I used Chineseforus's Pinyin drills and Tone drills and they were very helpful on their own, but the best was having someone live correct you.

3. The teacher. Take a class or pay for a tutor. There are cheap ones all over. Your local university/Confucius Institute/local Chinese student/ Italki teacher. Find one. If not, I'd suggest asking local language institutes for a discount. Don't ask, don't get.
   Resources: Universities, community centres, Confucius Institutes, LTL Chinese, Italki.

4. The online courses. You can learn from videos. I used Chineseforus to start off, but Hacking Chinese, Yoyo Chinese, Chinese Zero to Hero, and others are quite popular. And for good reason! You can actually use them to at least get your basics down for cheap before investing in more expensive live teaching (which is, to my mind at least, absolutely indispensable).
   Resources: there's a list above.

5. The characters. Drop pinyin the first chance you get. The longer you keep it as a crutch the longer you'll take to actually reach fluency in Chinese. You'll be surprised how you'll start just getting them. I'm taking the Character Masterclass from Outlier Linguistics. I'd recommend it. Very useful tips as to how to read the various components of a character.
   Resources: Graded readers, DuChinese (Chairman Bao) etc, Outlier Character Masterclass.

6. The vocabulary. You need a basic minimum of words to function. Memorize some basic words and make the jump to graded readers for some 'extensive reading' (please read this, honestly, just please read this). Comprehensible input is key.
   Resources: Graded readers, DuChinese/CB, Chairman's Bao, Mandarin Companion.

7. The grammar. It doesn't have conjugation but it's different from what you're used to. Spend some time and try to practice grammar forms. Just (physically/electronically) write down 15 sentences for a grammar rule and read it out loud, I guarantee you'll never forget that again.
   Resources: Chinese Grammar Wiki is pretty good

8. The reading. Read all the graded readers. Ok, just read Chinese Breeze and Mandarin Companion. The others are good but not as good. Chinese Breeze is by far the best -- less engaging storylines but they have free fast and slow audio and by the time you finish a book you'll find your vocabulary and grammar has grown by leaps and bounds. Mandarin Companion has great (no, really, these are SO much fun) stories but the audio is extra (and not good from what I hear). Du Chinese the app is also amazing. Read out loud, read in your heart, read along with audio, read without audio. Chairman Bao is also very famous but for me fiction >>> news. Reading is a great way to revise the vocabulary you know and don't know. In my opinion, way better than flashcards. You should also reread books. I know, it's boring. But it's effective, and you improve your reading speed. Also, it's WAY more interesting than flashcards.
   Resources: Graded readers (duh). Chinese Breeze, Mandarin Companion are the best. I've tried 5 series so far, these two are by far the best. And if you gotta pick one, start with MC's Breakthrough level, then move on to CB Level 1. Also, please check out Heavenly Path - these guys have a great list of resources to get you reading (or consuming all sorts of chinese media).

9. The listening. Spend time on listening (and mirroring).
   Resources: Just listen to the graded readers. Or podcast apps with transcripts etc. Or Peppa Pig. Whatever works. Just make sure to get listening in.

10. The speaking. Start speaking as soon as you can. Mirror what you hear on graded reader audio or duchinese etc. Speak to yourself. Find language exchange partners. Find cheap teachers on Italki ($5 for an hour for conversation? Sign me UP). Or teach someone English/ any other language for 1:1 time exchange.
    Resources: Italki (paid), HelloTalk, Conversation Exchange, Tandem, reddit's Chineselanguage or language exchange subs, craigslist/kijiji/FB marketplace.

11. The writing. I mean, handwriting does have significant advantages (memory wise, looking cool wise), but honestly just get used to typing via pinyin. Chinese people spend a crazy amount of time practicing characters as children and young adults. I'm not interested in developing my (handwriting) ability to any where near acceptable, but it's important to get the basics down. Stroke order helps (esp in figuring out how characters are broken down and also in understanding character components).
    Resources: Pleco Stroke Order add-on, hanzigrids.com, chineseforus stroke order videos/course.

12. The doing what you like. (I am overdoing the 'The XXYYZZ' format, aren't I?) But really. Do what you like. If you like TV more than books, ignore the graded readers (or ok, just do the basic Level 1s and 2s) and focus on what you enjoy. No point in forcing yourself to do anything. If you are much more interested in reality tv, just watch that. If you like flashcards, you do that. Won't catch me doing either of that though -- flashcards are useful but so boring and tv is honestly disheartening as a beginner.
    Resources: your soul.

13. The leveling up. Make the jump to content you are interested in sooner rather than later, but just prepare for it.
    Resources: honestly, whatever floats your boat. Netflix, iQIYI, Bilibili; Chinese comics, webnovels, native novels, Tiktok, whatever.

14. The community. Find the people around you on the same journey. Ask questions.
    Resources: Reddit/r/chineselanguage, Chinese-forums, app-specific facebook groups (e.g. DuChinese Members).

15. The other stuff. You can use apps like HelloChinese. I think the gamification of language learning is not the bees knees. That being said, HelloChinese is gorgeous, lessons are actually not that short, and are quite practical.
    Resources: HelloChinese, Lingodeer (haven't used, but have heard good things).

TL;DR

Just get Pleco, figure out your pronunciation, go to a (semester's worth = 18-30 hours of a) class or two, and get all the graded readers you can get your hands on. Then get your speaking hat on. But seriously, just read what I wrote above.

And just start. You'll figure out what works with time. And tell me what works for you! Always interested to hear about language learning journeys.

Updated Feb 21 2023 to include Heavenly Path and edit some typos.