Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles in the ‘Immersion and integration’ category Page 11

  1. How to adjust your Chinese listening to the right level

    Listening to enough Chinese is difficult because it’s hard to find and manage the right amount of audio. One of the key points to success is to make sure you have enough easy audio available. This article discusses the importance of adjusting your audio to your current state of mind.

    Read →

  2. Three steps to more and better Chinese listening practice

    Learning to understand spoken Chinese takes time. This article looks at three strategies for better Chinese listening practice for long-term learning.

    Read →

  3. How to find a suitable Chinese name

    Finding a good Chinese name can be hard. If you care about your name, you should make an effort to find a good one.

    Read →

  4. How to find the time and motivation to read more Chinese

    How to find the time and motivation to read more Chinese

    Learning to read in Chinese requires time and motivation, and this is what this article is about. How do you make yourself read more? How do you stay motivated when learning? Don’t forget to share your own experiences in the comments!

    Read →

  5. Learning how to ask for and receive directions in Chinese

    Asking for and receiving directions in Chinese might look very easy, it’s usually in the first part of a textbook series after all, but most students go through that chapter without actually learning the content. In this article, I discuss how to really learn this skill.

    Read →

  6. Focusing on communication to learn Chinese

    Communicating is the essence of languages and the goal of language learning. In this article, I discuss bot the merits of focusing on communication, but I also explain why focusing too much on communication isn’t the best way of learning.

    Read →

  7. Change your attitude to enjoy life and learn more Chinese

    Attitude is one of the key factors when learning a language as well as for life in general. This article is about how a change of perspective can turn negative situations into learning opportunities and become a happier person overall.

    Read →

  8. How long have you studied Chinese?

    How long have you studied Chinese? Two years? Three thousand hours? Even though most people don’t expect an answer in hours, there are several reasons we should really count our learning time in hours. It’s the time we spend learning Chinese that matters, not when we moved to China or started learning Chinese.

    Read →

  9. Language learning with a Chinese girlfriend or boyfriend

    Learning Chinese with a partner is very good, because it makes you more motivated and makes it more fun to learn. However, it isn’t a magic bullet that will solve all your problems. You will still need to study, you will still need to practice, it’s just that some of the things you need to learn will be more enjoyable and you will hopefully be more motivated to learn. That’s worth a lot, but you can find other fun ways to learn and other things to drive you forwards.

    Read →

  10. A learner’s guide to TV shows in Chinese, part 2

    After having talked about how and why to use television to learn Chinese, it’s time to look at actual genres and programmes and see how these can help a language learner improve his or her skills. In this second article, the focus is on cooking, quiz and gaming shows, as well as home-made videos, cartoons and anime.

    Read →