Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles tagged with ‘Motivation’

  1. How to learn Chinese in the long term with intrinsic motivation

    While strong motivation doesn’t necessarily accelerate your learning or improve your memory, without it you won’t spend enough time learning Chinese. So how can you stay motivated for months, years and even decades?

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  2. How I learnt Chinese, part 7: Teaching, writing, learning

    What’s it like to study Chinese when you’ve already reached the goals you had when you started out? How can you keep on learning when you’re no longer studying the language? And is there such a thing as being done with Chinese?

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  3. Learning Chinese is more like walking a thousand miles than running 100-metre dash

    Learning Chinese is more like walking a thousand miles than running 100-metre dash. Make sure that your strategy works in the long term!

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  4. Should you use an efficient method for learning Chinese even if you hate it?

    Methods for learning Chinese can be good because they are efficient, because they to focus on the right content, or because they are enjoyable, allowing you to spend more time. But no method is good in all these ways at once, so what should you do if you just don’t like the most efficient method?

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  5. Don’t try to improve everything at once when learning Chinese

    To communicate in Chinese, many skills need to work in unison, but trying to improve all of them at once is a recipe for frustration. Instead, limit your focus to make progress and stay motivated!

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  6. Using the HSK as a roadmap to learning Chinese

    For some students, the HSK is not just a proficiency test, but also a roadmap to learning Chinese. Is treating it as such a good idea? And if you do, what should you keep in mind?

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  7. How to study Chinese when you don’t feel like it

    The more you study the better, but what if you don’t feel like studying at the moment? Instead of giving up, gear down and find ways of learning Chinese that suit your current state of mind.

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  8. 7 things Chinese students should do during the winter vacation

    What should Chinese students do on the winter vacation? Apart from recharging batteries, there are a number of things you should consider if you want optimal long-term results!

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  9. Chinese is fascinating and exciting, not weird and stupid

    Languages are neither negative or positive in themselves; it’s all in the eye of the beholder. But does it matter what you think about Chinese language and culture? Is it harder to learn Mandarin if you think the language is weird and stupid? This article looks closer at this question, and argues that deliberately adopting a positive approach will lead to better and more enjoyable learning.

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  10. How I learnt Chinese, part 6: Graduate program in Taiwan

    We can still make progress, of course, and if we enjoy it, we can also achieve a lot. But it's not easy.

    I’ve spent two years in a master’s program for teaching Chinese as a second language, designed for native speakers and taught in Chinese. Here’s what I learnt from the experience!

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