Articles published in December 2025
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Chinese writing challenge, July 2026
It’s time for a Chinese writing challenge! It starts on July 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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Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better
You can build vocabulary in Chinese with flashcard apps spaced repetition, but reading is more effective and more enjoyable. It helps you recognise words, understand how they work in context and build your sense of how the language works.
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Chinese characters and words that refuse to stick: Killing leeches
How long does it take to learn a Chinese character or word? It varies, but some vocabulary just refuses to stick, no matter what you do. These are called leeches, and if you don’t deal with them, they’ll suck you dry.
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A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand
Chinese characters are beautiful and fascinating, but learning to write them by hand is time-consuming. If you want to learn to write Chinese characters by hand with the least possible time investment, what’s the best approach?
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