Before enrolling to study Mandarin Chinese, it would be a good idea to spend some time identifying both your short-term and long-term goals. Would your immediate language goal be to be able to communicate with native Chinese people, confidently and comfortably? Perhaps your long term goal may be to function in a professional Chinese environment, or to take the HSK exam in order to enrol in courses at one of the top universities in China. The point of evaluating your goals is so that your language school and/or teacher may then be able to guide you in choosing suitable curriculum that best fits your goals and needs. In the long-run, you will also save much time and money.