Although I only write about things things that are useful in some way, some articles deal with hacks (or tricks) that are of key importance when learning a language. Although most articles in this category are also essential articles, the articles here deal specifically with tricks for making studying more efficiently. In a way, this is the core of the “hacking” in Hacking Chinese (see the welcome page if you’re unfamiliar with this usage of the word “hacking”).
Most articles here deal with hands-on hacks that you can use to improve your studying right now. They aren’t theoretical discussions about how to learn a language, they are practical suggestions you really should try if you haven’t already. If you want to boost your learning efficiency quickly, you’ve come to the right place. Check out the following articles (scroll down to see all of them in a text-only list):
- Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated
- How I used a notebook to learn more Chinese, and why you should too
- Habit hacking for language learners
- Interview: Insights from Skritter’s Complete Guide to Learning Chinese
- Outlier Chinese Character Masterclass review: Understand more, learn faster, remember longer
- Student Q&A, October 2023: Expanding vocabulary quickly, learning by watching videos and nailing dictation tests
- Timeboxing Chinese: Get more done in less time
- How to learn Chinese characters as a beginner
- Chinese language question triage: When to ask whom about what
- How to learn from your mistakes and errors when learning Chinese
- Time quality: Studying the right thing at the right time
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 6: Learning and remembering compound words
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 4: Learning and remembering compound characters
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 3: Compound characters
- A smart method to discover problems with Mandarin sounds and tones
- Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more
- How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know
- 101 questions and answers about how to learn Chinese
- Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese
- Training and testing your ability to hear Mandarin sounds
- A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand
- What you intend to write is more important than the character you actually write
- Focus on initials and finals, not Pinyin spelling
- Study more Chinese: Time boxing vs. micro goals
- 7 ways of learning to write Chinese characters
- How to reach a decent level of Chinese in 100 days
- Three ways to improve the way you review Chinese characters
- Sensible Chinese character learning revisited
- Phonetic components, part 2: Hacking Chinese characters
- Phonetic components, part 1: The key to 80% of all Chinese characters
- Learning how to learn Chinese through self-experimentation
- Horizontal vocabulary learning in Chinese
- How to create mnemonics for general or abstract character components
- Remembering is a skill you can learn
- Have fun learning Chinese or else…
- Learning Chinese in the shower with me
- Vocalise more to learn more Chinese
- Don’t just read about language learning methods, try them!
- Extending mnemonics: Tones and pronunciation
- The time barrel: How to find more time to study Chinese
- Chinese listening strategies: Diversify your listening practice
- Chinese Language Learner Interview Series – Olle Linge
- Chinese listening strategies: Background listening
- Defining Language Hacking: Lessons Learned From Hacking Chinese
- Use the benefits of teaching to boost your own Chinese learning
- When perfectionism becomes an obstacle to progress
- Learn by exaggerating: Slow, then fast; big, then small
- If you want to master Chinese, make long-term investments
- Learning Chinese the holistic way: Integrating knowledge
- Achieving the impossible by being inspired
- Using memory aids and mnemonics to make Chinese easier
- Chinese vocabulary in your pocket
- Dealing with tricky vocabulary: Killing leeches
- Using search engines to study Chinese
- Spaced repetition software and why you should use it