Hi Jane I studied mandarin when I was in yr 11 because I was interested in my origin language.

Anyway, make sure you learn the pinyin with every word. It makes it so much easier to remember the pronunciation
Also each character can b broken up into smaller characters such as a pond will contain the water character on the side but this only applies if u are studying traditional Chinese and not simplified. Anyway Chinese is so interesting youll love it.

Ps I'm not that fluent in it though lol