Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles in the ‘Writing’ category

  1. Chinese translation challenge, August 2024

    It’s time for a translation challenge! It starts on August 10th, so enrol, set your goal and improve your Chinese by translating to/from Chinese as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about using translation as a method for learning Chinese.

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  2. Chinese character variants and font differences for language learners

    Small details sometimes matter when writing Chinese characters, but sometimes they don’t. Figuring out which details to pay attention to is made even harder by character variants and font differences!

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  3. Chinese character learning for all students

    Learning to write Chinese characters by hand takes a lot of time. In today’s digital era, is it necessary to learn handwriting? Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages for second-language learners and discuss what an effective curriculum that caters to all students might look like!

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  4. Interview: Insights from Skritter’s Complete Guide to Learning Chinese

    If I wrote a comprehensive guide to learning Chinese with a special focus on vocabulary, what would it look like? Now you can find out – for free!

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  5. Real communication: What it is, why you want it and how to get it

    A language is a structured system used for communication, so the idea to focus on communication when learning Chinese sounds obvious, but it’s surprisingly new and rarer than you think!

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  6. Outlier Chinese Character Masterclass review: Understand more, learn faster, remember longer

    Mastering Chinese characters, whether you find them enchantingly beautiful or overwhelmingly complex, is essential for literacy in Chinese. Outlier Linguistics will help you understand how the Chinese writing system works, making it easier to learn!

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  7. Chinese writing challenge, February 2024

    It’s time for a Chinese writing challenge! It starts on February 10th, so enrol, set your goal and write as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about improving writing ability in Chinese.

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  8. Student Q&A, February 2024: Typing or handwriting, using new words in texts, and how to use AI to improve your writing

    Is it better to practise writing Chinese on a computer or by hand? How do you find the right words when writing? And how can you leverage AI to improve your writing ability?

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  9. 12 ways chatting online will improve your Chinese

    Chatting is an excellent way of learning a language. Some people think chatting online is a waste of time, but in this article I list and explain a dozen reasons why this is wrong. In fact, chatting offer many advantages that are very hard to find elsewhere.

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  10. How to best use flashcards to learn Chinese

    Flashcards; some people love them, some people hate them. The goal of Hacking Chinese is to go beyond the black and white, and figure out how things work so we can use them to our advantage.

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