Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles in the ‘Advanced’ category Page 13

  1. Should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own?

    Some people think enrolling in a course is the best way to learn Chinese, but others say that courses are useless, and swear by the effectiveness of self-studying. So should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own?

    Read →

  2. Why your Chinese isn’t as good as you think it ought to be

    Sooner or later, most students realise that their Chinese isn’t as good as they think it ought to be. Why is that and what can you do about it?

    Read →

  3. Using voice messaging as a stepping stone to Chinese conversations

    Being able to have a conversation is a goal for most students of Chinese, be it with loved ones, for professional purposes or for travel, but what if you think conversations are too scary, too difficult or just impractical? Try using voice messaging as a stepping stone to better conversations in Chinese!

    Read →

  4. Hacking Chinese Podcast one-year anniversary Q&A

    The Hacking Chinese Podcast - all episodes.

    How do you study Chinese when you’re busy with other things? How do you cope with a Chinese course that is too hard for you? And are translated texts okay to use for reading practice?

    Read →

  5. Chinese language logging, part 3: Tools and resources for keeping track of your learning

    Logging you language learning can be very useful, and there are many tools and resources out there to help you, but which are the best and how do you use them?Logging you language learning can be very useful, and there are many tools and resources out there to help you, but which are the best and how do you use them?

    Read →

  6. Chinese language learning in the twenty-first century: Towards a digital ecosystem? Interview with Julien Leyre

    Digital resources have made learning Chinese considerably easier than it used to be, but another problem has appeared: How can we make sense of and navigate the vast number of resources and find what’s best for us?

    Read →

  7. The benefits of using Wikipedia to look up words when learning Chinese

    Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary, but did you know that it can be better than a dictionary for looking up words when learning Chinese?

    Read →

  8. The new HSK 3.0: What you need to know

    On July 1st, 2021, a new Chinese proficiency standard takes effect. This will have big consequences for the HSK, the most widely used proficiency test for non-native speakers. What are these changes and what do they mean for you as a student?

    Read →

  9. Learning to understand regionally accented Mandarin

    As soon as you leave the classroom, you will notice that people don’t speak Chinese the way your teacher and textbook do. Why is that, and what can you do to learn to understand regionally accented Mandarin?

    Read →

  10. The importance of tones is inversely proportional to the predictability of what you say

    Tones in Mandarin carry roughly as much information as vowels do, but still some people insist that tones are not very important, or even that native speakers don’t really use tones. Why is that and what can we learn from digging deeper into this misconception?

    Read →