Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles published in September 2020

  1. 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice

    Listening in Chinese can be hard, but solution is simple: listen more. That is not always easy to do, though, because it’s hard to both find the time to listen and to actually get started. Here are seven ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice.

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  2. Should you learn the names of the strokes in Chinese characters?

    Some teachers insist on teaching the names of the strokes that make up Chinese characters, but is learning them worthwhile or just a waste of time?

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  3. How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach

    This is a guide for how to not teach Chinese characters, based on more than a decade of observing terrible teaching and worst practices. Which of these have you seen?

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  4. Why not going to China now could actually be good for your Chinese

    Do you have to go abroad to learn Chinese? Will you learn Chinese simply by living abroad? And if you go, does it matter when you go if you can only stay for a short time? This article argues that it does matter when you go, and that you’re better off not going immediately as a pure beginner.

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