I started learning Mandarin in January of this year (2024). It's been slow going so far, but I want to compile resources and useful links here for others to learn from my experience.
Update: September 2024. Yeah so it's been kind of slow going. I ended up missing the latter half of the summer session for my Mandarin program (bit of a manic episode throughout august so :/) and that really messed me up practice-wise. I'm locking in on it this fall though, going to concentrate on 1-2 hours of practice with anki per-day + watching 1 hour of content at night. On top of my 3 hours of classwork, 3 hours of tutoring, plus additional homework this should be more than enough (although it will be very stressful). Will report back in November.
Useful Links and Resources!
Mandarin Companion Storybooks - Great Little Readers