Articles on Hacking Chinese
I have written articles about how to learn Mandarin since 2010, and there are almost 600 articles in total. This page is meant to help you find what you’re looking for!
- I want to check the most popular articles
- I want to listen to the podcast
- I’m a beginner and need guidance
- I need help with improving a certain skill
- I have a question about learning Chinese
- I want to check out the newest articles
- I want to browse a list of all articles
The most popular articles
10 best free reading resources for all levels- Learning the third tone in Mandarin
- The most common characters and words
- My best advice on how to learn characters
- Improve your pronunciation with tone pairs
Beginners should start here
The beginner page contains an introduction for beginners, as well as all articles relevant to beginners. Here are a few examples:
How to learn characters as a beginner- The best reading resources for beginners
- Learning pronunciation as a beginner
- The building blocks of Chinese
- How to reach a decent level in 100 days
I also have a course aimed specifically at you: Unlocking Chinese: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners. You might also want to check out my pronunciation course.
How to improve a specific skill
I have separate pages for listening, speaking, reading, writing and vocabulary learning (which includes characters). If you’re looking for help with a more specific topic, you can use the search function in the sidebar (bottom on mobile) or just search this page. Here’s the most important article from each category:
Why is listening in Chinese so hard?- Improve your fluency with word games
- Extensive reading for Chinese learners
- 20 tipsto improve your writing ability
- The building blocks of Chinese
There are also additional category pages you can check out here: study hacks, self-studying, classroom learning, immersion, mentality research, resources, and planning.
I also offer several courses to help you level up your Chinese.
All articles on Hacking Chinese
Here are all articles in reverse chronological order. The best way to find a certain article is to use the search function here on the website or in your browser.
- Chinese listening, fast and slow: Three ways of slowing down Mandarin speech Jan, 2026
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2025 Jan, 2026
- Chinese writing challenge, January 2026 Dec, 2025
- Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better Dec, 2025
- Chinese characters and words that refuse to stick: Killing leeches Dec, 2025
- Chinese reading challenge, December 2025 Dec, 2025
- A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand Dec, 2025
- Black Friday discounts on Hacking Chinese courses: Learn more for less Nov, 2025
- Cultivate your Chinese flashcard garden… or burn it down and start afresh Nov, 2025
- 4, 3, 2, 1: Fluency! A great technique to boost your Mandarin speaking ability Nov, 2025
- The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water is open until November 17 Nov, 2025
- How to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese Nov, 2025
- Chinese vocabulary challenge, November 2025 Nov, 2025
- What a big Rubik’s Cube taught me about Chinese characters Oct, 2025
- Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang Oct, 2025
- 7 ways to learn to write Chinese characters Oct, 2025
- Chinese listening challenge, October 2025 Oct, 2025
- Same building blocks, different characters: How component placement changes meaning in Chinese Sep, 2025
- 16 myths about learning Chinese that are holding you back Sep, 2025
- How to improve your Mandarin speaking skills with a tutor Sep, 2025
- Chinese speaking challenge, September 2025 Sep, 2025
- Learning Chinese through comprehensible input Aug, 2025
- Classroom Mandarin: Essential expressions for learning Chinese in Chinese Aug, 2025
- Back-to-school course discount, 2025: Getting the most from Hacking Chinese in 2025 Aug, 2025
- 16 reasons to learn to write Chinese characters by hand Jul, 2025
- Using AI chatbots for low-stress Mandarin speaking practice Jul, 2025
- How to find the perfect Mandarin tutor for you: A complete guide Jul, 2025
- Student Q&A: July, 2025: AI feedback, input methods and topics for writing Jul, 2025
- 7 characteristics of a great Chinese tutor or private teacher Jun, 2025
- How to get the most out of your Chinese tutoring sessions Jun, 2025
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 7: How to navigate different types of listening in Mandarin Jun, 2025
- Student Q&A: June, 2025: Beginner listening, group conversations, and Chinese news May, 2025
- Will Hacking Chinese help you learn Mandarin? May, 2025
- Zi.Tools: A powerful free resource for exploring Chinese characters May, 2025
- Student Q&A: May, 2025: Learning Chinese characters and words with flashcard apps May, 2025
- 7 kinds of tone problems in Mandarin and what to do about them Apr, 2025
- Why using a good dictionary can be bad for your Chinese reading ability Apr, 2025
- The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners Apr, 2025
- Student Q&A: April, 2025: Reading with Pinyin, Chinese texts on your phone, and deciphering handwriting Apr, 2025
- How to use mnemonics to learn Mandarin tones and pronunciation Mar, 2025
- Don’t be a tourist if you want to learn Chinese Mar, 2025
- Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese Mar, 2025
- The best YouTube channels for learning Chinese in 2025 Mar, 2025
- Student Q&A: March, 2025: Chinese slang, leaving expat bubbles, and competing with other learners Mar, 2025
- Learning Chinese by playing board games Feb, 2025
- Love and language: Challenges and opportunities in learning Chinese with a partner Feb, 2025
- The Input Pyramid: Chinese Listening for Any Situation Feb, 2025
- Student Q&A: February, 2025: Improving listening ability quickly, using transcripts, and understanding rapid Mandarin Feb, 2025
- Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount Jan, 2025
- Hacking Chinese reader and listener survey, 2025 Jan, 2025
- The three roads to mastering Chinese Jan, 2025
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2024 Jan, 2025
- Student Q&A, January 2025: Text that reads like English with Chinese words, how to get good feedback from AI, and how to learn to write formal Chinese Jan, 2025
- What native speakers know about Chinese (and what they don’t) Dec, 2024
- Don’t use mnemonics for everything when learning Chinese Dec, 2024
- Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated Dec, 2024
- Can English learning materials help you learn Chinese? Dec, 2024
- Student Q&A, December 2024: Learning similar Chinese characters, polyphonic characters, and flashcards vs. reading for building vocabulary Dec, 2024
- Which Chinese learning resources are worth paying for? Nov, 2024
- Four key principles to improve your Mandarin listening comprehension Nov, 2024
- Student Q&A, November 2024: Pros and cons of digital tools for Chinese reading, and the struggle to find comprehensible and interesting texts Nov, 2024
- How to learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo) in two hours Oct, 2024
- Do you really know how to count in Chinese? Oct, 2024
- Three things I wish I had known as an advanced student of Chinese: The time machine, part 3 Oct, 2024
- Don’t learn Mandarin pronunciation by reading, listen and mimic instead Oct, 2024
- Course discount: Hacking Chinese Pronunciation: Speaking with Confidence Oct, 2024
- Student Q&A, October 2024: Pronouncing the final -i after sh-, the initial z- and if Pinyin is a good transcription system Oct, 2024
- Chinese pronunciation challenge, October 2024 Oct, 2024
- How to use YouTube and other video platforms to learn Chinese Sep, 2024
- Three things I wish I had known as an intermediate student of Chinese: The time machine, part 2 Sep, 2024
- YouGlish: A free service to hear and see Chinese words in context Sep, 2024
- Student Q&A, September 2024: Slowly spoken Chinese, passing listening exams and understanding numbers Sep, 2024
- Three things I wish I had known as a beginner student of Chinese: The time machine, part 1 Aug, 2024
- The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners Aug, 2024
- Student Q&A, August 2024: Avoiding mental translation, untranslatable words and why practising translation is good Aug, 2024
- Chinese translation challenge, August 2024 Aug, 2024
- Insights from my recent trip to China: The importance of top-down listening Jul, 2024
- Chinese character variants and font differences for language learners Jul, 2024
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Beijing, July 18th 2024 Jul, 2024
- Why you should preview before every Chinese lesson Jul, 2024
- How I used a notebook to learn more Chinese, and why you should too Jul, 2024
- Student Q&A, July 2024: Reading speed, children’s books and Chinese literature Jul, 2024
- The three factors that determine how much Chinese you learn Jun, 2024
- Habit hacking for language learners Jun, 2024
- Should you learn the pronunciation of radicals? Jun, 2024
- Student Q&A, June 2024: How much time on flashcards, Remembering the Hanzi, and resources for learning characters Jun, 2024
- Chinese character learning for all students May, 2024
- Learning to hear the sounds and tones in Mandarin May, 2024
- 24 great resources for improving your Mandarin pronunciation May, 2024
- Student Q&A, May 2024: Understanding strangers, listening with transcripts, and which podcasts to avoid May, 2024
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 6: Why is listening in Chinese so hard? May, 2024
- Chengyu, a magic key to Chinese language and culture, or a waste of time? Apr, 2024
- Interview: Insights from Skritter’s Complete Guide to Learning Chinese Apr, 2024
- Student Q&A, April 2024: Learning chengyu, listening to yourself and using role-playing games to learn Chinese Apr, 2024
- Is speaking more important than listening when learning Chinese? Apr, 2024
- The best podcasts for learning Chinese in 2025 Mar, 2024
- Real communication: What it is, why you want it and how to get it Mar, 2024
- How to learn Chinese in the long term with intrinsic motivation Mar, 2024
- Student Q&A, March 2024: Reading aloud, finding word boundaries, and working actively with reading materials Mar, 2024
- Outlier Chinese Character Masterclass review: Understand more, learn faster, remember longer Feb, 2024
- The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones Feb, 2024
- Student Q&A, February 2024: Typing or handwriting, using new words in texts, and how to use AI to improve your writing Jan, 2024
- Listen more and learn more by building a personal Chinese audio library Jan, 2024
- 8 great ways to scaffold your Chinese listening and reading Jan, 2024
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2023 Jan, 2024
- Student Q&A, January 2024: Chinese music, too much Mandarin in the classroom, and listening in noisy environments Jan, 2024
- 12 ways chatting online will improve your Chinese Dec, 2023
- How to best use flashcards to learn Chinese Dec, 2023
- Why flashcards are terrible for learning Chinese Dec, 2023
- Student Q&A, December 2023: How many words to learn, if it’s good to learn radicals, and whether to learn simplified or traditional characters Dec, 2023
- Why flashcards are great for learning Chinese Nov, 2023
- Is learning things by heart good for improving your Chinese? Nov, 2023
- Student Q&A, November 2023: Reading Pinyin or characters, comprehensible vs. compelling content and reading tools Nov, 2023
- Shapeshifting Chinese characters Oct, 2023
- You won’t learn Chinese simply by living abroad Oct, 2023
- 100 hours of Chinese listening in 3 weeks: What I learnt and how to apply it Oct, 2023
- Student Q&A, October 2023: Expanding vocabulary quickly, learning by watching videos and nailing dictation tests Oct, 2023
- Listen more than once: How the replay button can help you learn more Chinese Sep, 2023
- The cheapest and most convenient way to improve your spoken Chinese Sep, 2023
- Improving your Chinese pronunciation by mimicking native speakers Sep, 2023
- Student Q&A, September 2023: Listening more than once, assessing pronunciation and the merits of flashcards Sep, 2023
- How long do you have to study Chinese to make it useful? Aug, 2023
- Should you throw away your Chinese textbook? Aug, 2023
- Hacking Chinese Podcast three-year anniversary Q&A Aug, 2023
- Is Chinese difficult to learn? Jul, 2023
- Timeboxing Chinese: Get more done in less time Jul, 2023
- Insights from the new HSK 7-9: Interview with Sara Jaaksola Jul, 2023
- How I learnt Chinese, part 7: Teaching, writing, learning Jul, 2023
- How narrow reading and listening can help you bridge the gap to real Chinese Jun, 2023
- Seeing through the illusion of advanced Chinese learning Jun, 2023
- Why travelling isn’t the best method to learn Chinese Jun, 2023
- Skritter review: Boosting your Chinese character learning May, 2023
- Get to know your Chinese voice to level up your speaking ability May, 2023
- How learning some basic theory can improve your Mandarin pronunciation May, 2023
- Learning Chinese is more like walking a thousand miles than running 100-metre dash May, 2023
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 5: Becoming a better listener as a student of Chinese Apr, 2023
- Vocabulary lists that help you learn Chinese and how to use them Apr, 2023
- Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists? Apr, 2023
- 6 benefits of learning Chinese through sports Mar, 2023
- Should you use an efficient method for learning Chinese even if you hate it? Mar, 2023
- Don’t try to improve everything at once when learning Chinese Mar, 2023
- Learn Chinese by playing Mahjong (麻将, májiàng) Feb, 2023
- Can ChatGPT pass the HSK? Feb, 2023
- Beginner Chinese listening practice: What to listen to and how Jan, 2023
- Using the HSK as a roadmap to learning Chinese Jan, 2023
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2022 Jan, 2023
- Learn Chinese efficiently, not quickly Dec, 2022
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 4: Learning to process spoken Mandarin quickly and effortlessly Dec, 2022
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 3: Using what you already know to aid listening comprehension in Chinese Nov, 2022
- Standard pronunciation in Chinese and why you want it Nov, 2022
- How to study Chinese when you don’t feel like it Nov, 2022
- Are there any shortcuts for learning Chinese? Oct, 2022
- Learning the neutral tone in Mandarin Oct, 2022
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 2: From sound to meaning in Mandarin Sep, 2022
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 1: A guide to Chinese listening comprehension Sep, 2022
- Kickstart your learning with the Skritter Character Course Sep, 2022
- Take responsibility for your Chinese learning now Aug, 2022
- Hacking Chinese Podcast two-year anniversary Q&A Aug, 2022
- How to learn Chinese characters as a beginner Jul, 2022
- 7 ways to write Mandarin tones Jul, 2022
- Chinese language question triage: When to ask whom about what Jul, 2022
- How to become fluent in Chinese Jun, 2022
- How to learn from your mistakes and errors when learning Chinese Jun, 2022
- Do you have to learn to write Chinese characters by hand? Jun, 2022
- Why you should use more than one Chinese textbook May, 2022
- Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation’s four strands May, 2022
- On accuracy, communication and comprehensibility when learning Chinese May, 2022
- Are authentic texts good for learning Chinese or is graded content better? Apr, 2022
- What to read to improve your Chinese and why Apr, 2022
- How to learn Chinese pronunciation as a beginner Apr, 2022
- Time quality: Studying the right thing at the right time Mar, 2022
- 500 resources for learning and teaching Chinese, tagged by level, topic and type Mar, 2022
- How to start learning Chinese again after a break Mar, 2022
- How to survive and thrive in a difficult Chinese course Feb, 2022
- Learning Classical Chinese is for everyone (no, seriously!) Feb, 2022
- Is taking a Chinese course that’s too hard good for your learning? Feb, 2022
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2021 Jan, 2022
- A guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls: Learning Mandarin pronunciation Jan, 2022
- How to improve fluency in Chinese by playing word games Dec, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 6: Learning and remembering compound words Dec, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 5: Making sense of Chinese words Dec, 2021
- Why spaced repetition software is uniquely well suited to learning Chinese characters Dec, 2021
- Boost your learning with Hacking Chinese courses: Discounts available! Nov, 2021
- The best Chinese reading practice for beginners Nov, 2021
- 6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them Nov, 2021
- Should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own? Nov, 2021
- Why your Chinese isn’t as good as you think it ought to be Oct, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 4: Learning and remembering compound characters Oct, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 3: Compound characters Oct, 2021
- Using voice messaging as a stepping stone to Chinese conversations Sep, 2021
- A smart method to discover problems with Mandarin sounds and tones Sep, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 2: Basic characters, components and radicals Aug, 2021
- The building blocks of Chinese, part 1: Chinese characters and words in a nutshell Aug, 2021
- Hacking Chinese Podcast one-year anniversary Q&A Aug, 2021
- Chinese language logging, part 3: Tools and resources for keeping track of your learning Jul, 2021
- Chinese language learning in the twenty-first century: Towards a digital ecosystem? Interview with Julien Leyre Jul, 2021
- The benefits of using Wikipedia to look up words when learning Chinese Jul, 2021
- The new HSK 3.0: What you need to know Jun, 2021
- Learning to understand regionally accented Mandarin Jun, 2021
- The importance of tones is inversely proportional to the predictability of what you say Jun, 2021
- Lost in transcription: Saylaw, Ice Island and Aristotle Jun, 2021
- Chinese language logging, part 2: A healthy, balanced diet of Mandarin May, 2021
- Chinese language logging, part 1: Why and how to track your progress May, 2021
- What’s the difference between Chinese pronunciation and Pinyin? Does it matter? Apr, 2021
- Learning the second tone in Mandarin Chinese Apr, 2021
- Chinese input methods: A guide for second language learners Apr, 2021
- Opening the gates to the Hippo Campus* Apr, 2021
- 6 things in Chinese that are harder to learn than they seem Mar, 2021
- Learning science in Chinese with 李永乐老师 Mar, 2021
- My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters Feb, 2021
- 20 tips and tricks to improve your Chinese writing ability Feb, 2021
- Learning the third tone in Mandarin Chinese Feb, 2021
- The most serious mistake students make when learning Mandarin pronunciation Jan, 2021
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2020 Jan, 2021
- How to not fail with your New Year resolution to learn Chinese Dec, 2020
- 7 things Chinese students should do during the winter vacation Dec, 2020
- 9 answers to questions about Pinyin and pronunciation Dec, 2020
- Are simplified characters really simpler to learn? Dec, 2020
- An introduction to extensive reading for Chinese learners Nov, 2020
- Celebrating 10 years of Hacking Chinese Nov, 2020
- Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast! Nov, 2020
- Review: Learning Chinese by video immersion with FluentU Oct, 2020
- Why learning Chinese pronunciation by using English words is a really bad idea Oct, 2020
- 7 mistakes I made when writing Chinese characters and what I learnt from them Oct, 2020
- 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice Sep, 2020
- Should you learn the names of the strokes in Chinese characters? Sep, 2020
- How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach Sep, 2020
- Why not going to China now could actually be good for your Chinese Sep, 2020
- The key to unlocking your first semester of Chinese Aug, 2020
- Review: The Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters Aug, 2020
- All the resources you need to learn and teach Chinese stroke order Aug, 2020
- Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more Jul, 2020
- What important words are missing from TOCFL? Jul, 2020
- What important words are missing from HSK? Jul, 2020
- Improving your Chinese while watching TV shows Jul, 2020
- Training your Chinese teacher, part 4: Writing ability Jun, 2020
- Should you learn to speak Chinese before you learn Chinese characters? Jun, 2020
- How to get honest feedback to boost your Chinese speaking and writing Jun, 2020
- Are mnemonics too slow for Chinese learners? May, 2020
- Learning Chinese words: When quantity beats quality May, 2020
- When spaced repetition fails, and what to do about it May, 2020
- Chinese is fascinating and exciting, not weird and stupid Apr, 2020
- Dealing with Chinese characters you keep mixing up Apr, 2020
- 文字冒险游戏及其在对外汉语教学中的应用 Apr, 2020
- Text adventure games and how to use them in the Chinese language classroom Apr, 2020
- How to figure out how good your Chinese is Mar, 2020
- The simple trick I used to double the amount of Chinese I listen to Mar, 2020
- 5 levels of understanding Chinese characters: Superficial forms to deep structure Feb, 2020
- The forking path: A human approach to learning Chinese Feb, 2020
- Does using colour to represent Mandarin tones make them easier to learn? Feb, 2020
- Course open for registration: Unlocking Chinese – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners Jan, 2020
- How to get past the intermediate Chinese learning plateau Jan, 2020
- How important is reading speed on tests like HSK and TOCFL? Jan, 2020
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2019 Jan, 2020
- How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know Dec, 2019
- Can too much guidance make you learn less Chinese? Nov, 2019
- Chinese habit formation challenge, November 2019 Nov, 2019
- Training your Chinese teacher, part 3: Listening ability Oct, 2019
- Two types of pronunciation problems and what to do about them Oct, 2019
- New course: Unlocking Chinese – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners Oct, 2019
- The nine principles of learning (and the mistakes from failing to follow them) Aug, 2019
- Review: Mandarin Companion: Easy to read novels in Chinese Jun, 2019
- 101 questions and answers about how to learn Chinese Jun, 2019
- The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers May, 2019
- 7 things you were taught in Chinese class that are actually wrong May, 2019
- How good is voice recognition for learning Chinese pronunciation? Apr, 2019
- Using speech recognition to improve Chinese pronunciation, part 1 Apr, 2019
- The beginner’s guide to Chinese translation Mar, 2019
- Tone errors in Mandarin that actually can cause misunderstandings Mar, 2019
- Free and easy audio flashcards for Chinese dictation practice with Anki Feb, 2019
- Training your Chinese teacher, part 1: Introduction Feb, 2019
- Review: Language Empowerment: Demystify Chinese culture and fire up your Mandarin + interview with the author Jan, 2019
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2018 Jan, 2019
- 36 samples of Chinese handwriting from students and native speakers Nov, 2018
- Chinese handwriting challenge, November 2018 Nov, 2018
- How to improve your Chinese handwriting Nov, 2018
- Focusing on Chinese tones without being distracted by Pinyin Oct, 2018
- How and why to learn and teach Chinese through games Jul, 2018
- 866 digital textbooks for expanding your Chinese Jun, 2018
- New text game for Chinese learners: The Magistrate’s Gallery May, 2018
- 8 tips for learning Chinese as an introverted student Apr, 2018
- Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount Feb, 2018
- Learning to unicycle, learning anatomy and learning Chinese Feb, 2018
- Whom should you trust for advice about learning Chinese? Jan, 2018
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2017 Jan, 2018
- Can you learn Chinese faster by making it harder? Nov, 2017
- Five text games for Chinese learners Nov, 2017
- Should you focus on learning Chinese words or phrases? Oct, 2017
- Chinese reading speed revisited Sep, 2017
- Training and testing your ability to hear Mandarin sounds Aug, 2017
- Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters? Aug, 2017
- Advanced listening and reading with Skeptoid Chinese Jul, 2017
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Beijing, July 4th Jun, 2017
- Task-based Chinese learning and teaching Jun, 2017
- Let’s play 迷霧中 (Into the Haze) Jun, 2017
- Playing Codenames to learn Chinese and other languages Jun, 2017
- What’s in a name? Hacking Chinese, 揭密中文 May, 2017
- Into the Haze: A new text adventure game for Chinese learners May, 2017
- Comprehension-based listening vs deep end immersion Apr, 2017
- Analysis paralysis and learning Chinese: When thinking too much holds you back Apr, 2017
- How to become a Chinese-English translator and what it’s like to be one Mar, 2017
- 10 ways of using games to learn and teach Chinese Mar, 2017
- A student’s guide to comprehension-based learning Mar, 2017
- How was your first semester of learning Chinese? Mar, 2017
- The benefits of a comprehension-based approach for teaching and learning Chinese Feb, 2017
- Introducing Chinese quiz tournaments on WordSwing Feb, 2017
- An introduction to comprehension-based Chinese teaching and learning Feb, 2017
- Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount Jan, 2017
- How to fake sounding like a native Chinese speaker Jan, 2017
- Spaced repetition is not limited to flashcards Jan, 2017
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2016 Dec, 2016
- Looking up how to use words in Chinese the right way Dec, 2016
- Obligatory and optional tone change rules in Mandarin Nov, 2016
- Learn Chinese implicitly through exposure with a seasoning of explicit instruction Nov, 2016
- Chinese character challenge, October 10th to 31st Oct, 2016
- Expanding your Chinese with 一步一个脚印 Sep, 2016
- Overcoming the problem of having too many Chinese words to learn Sep, 2016
- Extra course content and new-semester discount Aug, 2016
- Learning to read handwritten Chinese Aug, 2016
- Transcribing Chinese audio as an active form of listening practice Aug, 2016
- Escape: A text adventure game for Chinese learners Aug, 2016
- Hacking Chinese on Patreon: Support me and get awesome rewards! Aug, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 6: Graduate program in Taiwan Jul, 2016
- Are you practising Chinese the right way? Is your method valid? Jul, 2016
- The benefits of using 语文/國文 textbooks to learn Chinese Jul, 2016
- Hacking Chinese meet-ups in San Francisco (July 20th) and New York (July 24th) Jul, 2016
- Accessing Chinese culture through cartoons Jul, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 5: Returning to Sweden Jun, 2016
- Don’t forget to consolidate the Chinese you have already studied Jun, 2016
- The best Twitter feeds for learning Chinese in 2016 Jun, 2016
- Chinese benchmarking challenge, June 10th to 30th Jun, 2016
- How going shopping can help you learn Chinese Jun, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 4: My second year in Taiwan May, 2016
- Why you should start blogging in Chinese today May, 2016
- How technology can stop you from learning Chinese May, 2016
- How technology can help you learn Chinese Apr, 2016
- Which Chinese language course should you take? Apr, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 3: My first year in Taiwan Apr, 2016
- Chinese reading challenge, November 10th to 30th Apr, 2016
- I have published a book! Apr, 2016
- ChinesePod review: Your companion to Mandarin fluency Mar, 2016
- What your Chinese course will not teach you Mar, 2016
- Learn Chinese character meaning and pronunciation together Feb, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 2: Learning Mandarin in Sweden Feb, 2016
- Listen before you read: Improve your listening ability Feb, 2016
- Learn Chinese faster by leaving your comfort zone Feb, 2016
- How I learnt Chinese, part 1: Where it all started Jan, 2016
- Hacking Chinese New Year challenge, January 10th to 31st Jan, 2016
- Best of Hacking Chinese 2015 Jan, 2016
- Learning tones in Mandarin is not optional Dec, 2015
- Launching Hacking Chinese: A Practical Guide to Learning Mandarin Dec, 2015
- The Hacking Chinese free tone training course Dec, 2015
- How to verify that you use the right Chinese font Nov, 2015
- One year of language challenges on Hacking Chinese Nov, 2015
- Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 3 Oct, 2015
- The real challenge with learning Chinese characters Oct, 2015
- Improving pronunciation beyond the basics Oct, 2015
- Which words you should learn and where to find them Oct, 2015
- Can native speakers be wrong about Chinese grammar and pronunciation? Sep, 2015
- Learning Chinese characters through pictures Sep, 2015
- Panning: How to keep similar Chinese characters and words separate Sep, 2015
- Zooming out: The resources you need to put Chinese in context Sep, 2015
- Chinese character challenge, September 10th to 30th Sep, 2015
- Zooming in: The tools you need to break down and understand Chinese Sep, 2015
- Why you should read Chinese on your phone Aug, 2015
- Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 2 Jul, 2015
- Chinese listening practice with 锵锵三人行 Jul, 2015
- Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 1 Jul, 2015
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Beijing 2015-07-12 Jul, 2015
- Technical problems and theme issues Jun, 2015
- Learning Chinese through audiobooks Jun, 2015
- Hacking Chinese China Tour 2015 Jun, 2015
- Bite-sized learning isn’t enough to learn Chinese Jun, 2015
- Why you should learn Chinese in Chinese May, 2015
- Review: Mandarin Companion graded readers (Level 1) May, 2015
- The best Twitter feeds for learning Chinese in 2015 May, 2015
- Hone your Chinese writing ability by writing summaries May, 2015
- Will a Chinese-only rule improve your learning? Apr, 2015
- Using Chinese textbooks to improve reading ability Apr, 2015
- The new paperless revolution in Chinese reading Apr, 2015
- Chinese Hackers Hack Hacking Chinese* Apr, 2015
- How to adjust your Chinese listening to the right level Mar, 2015
- Three steps to more and better Chinese listening practice Mar, 2015
- What you intend to write is more important than the character you actually write Mar, 2015
- Sensible character challenge, January 2015: Wrapping up Feb, 2015
- Hacking Chinese 2014/2015: What was and what will be Feb, 2015
- How and why to find a suitable Chinese name Jan, 2015
- Focus on initials and finals, not Pinyin spelling Jan, 2015
- Sensible character challenge, January 11th to 31st Jan, 2015
- How knowing your best performance in Chinese can help you improve Dec, 2014
- How translation to another language can help you learn Chinese Dec, 2014
- How to find the time and motivation to read more Chinese Nov, 2014
- Learning how to ask for and receive directions in Chinese Nov, 2014
- Why you should think of characters in terms of functional components Oct, 2014
- Launching Hacking Chinese Challenges Oct, 2014
- Learning to write Chinese characters through communication Sep, 2014
- Focusing on communication to learn Chinese Sep, 2014
- Change your attitude to enjoy life and learn more Chinese Sep, 2014
- How long have you studied Chinese? 290 years or 58 992 hours! Sep, 2014
- About cheating, spaced repetition and learning Chinese Sep, 2014
- Study more Chinese: Time boxing vs. micro goals Aug, 2014
- How long have you studied Chinese? Aug, 2014
- Focusing on radicals, character components and building blocks Jul, 2014
- Improve your pronunciation with the Hacking Chinese pronunciation check Jul, 2014
- A learner’s guide to TV shows in Chinese, part 2 Jul, 2014
- Sensible character learning challenge 2014: The Big Finish Jul, 2014
- How to reach a decent level of Chinese in 100 days Jun, 2014
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2014-06-28 Jun, 2014
- How and why to watch the world cup in Chinese Jun, 2014
- Launching Hacking Chinese Resources Jun, 2014
- A learner’s guide to TV shows in Chinese, part 1 Jun, 2014
- Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #3 Jun, 2014
- How and why to use television to learn Chinese May, 2014
- How to find out how good your Chinese pronunciation really is May, 2014
- How to Approach Chinese Grammar May, 2014
- Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #2 Apr, 2014
- Handwriting Chinese characters: The minimum requirements Apr, 2014
- Learn to read Chinese… with ease? Apr, 2014
- The grand listening cycle: Improve your Chinese listening ability Apr, 2014
- Three ways to improve the way you review Chinese characters Apr, 2014
- Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #1 Apr, 2014
- Why good feedback matters and how to get it Apr, 2014
- Improving Foreign Language Pronunciation: Interview with Hacking Chinese on Language is Culture Mar, 2014
- Sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014 Mar, 2014
- Sensible Chinese character learning revisited Mar, 2014
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2014-03-22 Mar, 2014
- Asking the experts: How to learn Chinese grammar Mar, 2014
- Flashcard overflow: About card models and review directions Mar, 2014
- Learning how to fish: Or, why it’s essential to know how to learn Feb, 2014
- Two reasons why pronunciation matters more than you think Feb, 2014
- Hacking Chinese 2013/2014: What was and what will be Feb, 2014
- Focusing on tone pairs to improve your Mandarin pronunciation Jan, 2014
- Easing yourself into reading novels in Chinese Jan, 2014
- A language learner’s guide to wuxia novels Jan, 2014
- Wuxia, a key to Chinese language and culture Jan, 2014
- 25 books I’ve read in Chinese, with reviews and difficulty ratings Jan, 2014
- Chinese reading challenge: Read more or die Dec, 2013
- Chinese immersion with Carl Gene Fordham Dec, 2013
- Role-playing to learn more Chinese and avoid frustration Dec, 2013
- Review: The Geography of Thought: How East Asians and Westerners Think Differently… And Why Dec, 2013
- Learning to read aloud in Chinese Nov, 2013
- Improving your spoken and written Chinese by focusing on the process Nov, 2013
- Asking the experts: How to bridge the gap to real Chinese Nov, 2013
- How to improve your Chinese writing ability through focused reading Oct, 2013
- Drills and exercises aren’t only for beginners Oct, 2013
- Preparing for rainy days and dealing with slumps Oct, 2013
- Your slumps affect your language learning more than your flows Oct, 2013
- About fossilisation and improving your Chinese pronunciation Oct, 2013
- What’s your next step to master Chinese? Sep, 2013
- 5 websites to help answer your questions about Chinese Sep, 2013
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-10-06 Sep, 2013
- Reading aloud in Chinese is really hard Sep, 2013
- Phonetic components, part 2: Hacking Chinese characters Sep, 2013
- Phonetic components, part 1: The key to 80% of all Chinese characters Aug, 2013
- Why manually adding and editing flashcards is good for you Aug, 2013
- Why you need goals to learn Chinese efficiently Aug, 2013
- 5 insights from the first year of a master’s program in Taiwan Jul, 2013
- How to get good grades when studying Chinese Jul, 2013
- The get-back-up-to-speed summer challenge Jul, 2013
- Role-playing as a way to expand your Chinese Jul, 2013
- Hacking Chinese: Contradictory and provoking? Jun, 2013
- Dealing with near-synonyms in Chinese as an independent learner Jun, 2013
- Skritter review: Boosting your character learning (2013 edition) Jun, 2013
- What research can and cannot tell us about learning Chinese Jun, 2013
- If you think spaced repetition software is a panacea you are wrong May, 2013
- Learning how to learn Chinese through self-experimentation May, 2013
- Using Audacity to learn Chinese (speaking and listening) May, 2013
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-05-12 May, 2013
- You might be too lazy to learn Chinese, but you’re not too old May, 2013
- Immersion at home or: Why you don’t have to go abroad to learn Chinese Apr, 2013
- The question you have to ask about your Chinese teacher or course Apr, 2013
- Want to master Chinese in no time? Start dreaming!* Apr, 2013
- Is your flashcard deck too big for your own good? Mar, 2013
- You shouldn’t walk the road to Chinese fluency alone Mar, 2013
- 14 extra songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons Mar, 2013
- Hacking Chinese site update March 2013 Mar, 2013
- 21 essential dictionaries and corpora for learning Chinese Mar, 2013
- Horizontal vocabulary learning in Chinese Feb, 2013
- Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-03-02 Feb, 2013
- The Cthulhu bubble and studying Chinese Feb, 2013
- Improving your Chinese by translating from another language Feb, 2013
- Hacking Chinese 2012/2013: What was and what will be Feb, 2013
- How to create mnemonics for general or abstract character components Jan, 2013
- Sensible character learning: Progress, reminders and reflections Jan, 2013
- Remembering is a skill you can learn Jan, 2013
- Towards a more sensible way of learning to write Chinese Jan, 2013
- You can’t learn Chinese characters by rote Dec, 2012
- Measuring your language learning is a double-edged sword Dec, 2012
- Have fun learning Chinese or else… Dec, 2012
- RTI, my favourite radio station Nov, 2012
- 13 more songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons Nov, 2012
- Learning Chinese in the shower with me Nov, 2012
- Learning styles: Use with caution! Oct, 2012
- Vocalise more to learn more Chinese Oct, 2012
- Don’t just read about language learning methods, try them! Oct, 2012
- 12 songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons Sep, 2012
- Learning Chinese with StarCraft 2 Sep, 2012
- The time barrel: How to find more time to study Chinese Aug, 2012
- Kickstart your Chinese character learning with the 100 most common radicals Aug, 2012
- Why learning Chinese through music is underrated Aug, 2012
- Website restructuring completed Aug, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Diversify your listening practice Jul, 2012
- 31 Twitter feeds to help you learn Chinese Jul, 2012
- A language learner’s guide to reading comics in Chinese Jul, 2012
- Approaches to reading in Chinese Jul, 2012
- Chinese Language Learner Interview Series – Olle Linge Jul, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Deliberate practice and i+2 Jul, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Improving listening speed Jun, 2012
- Language is communication, not only an abstract subject to study Jun, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Active listening Jun, 2012
- Using Lang-8 to improve your Chinese May, 2012
- Playing computer games in Chinese: Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 May, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Passive listening May, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Background listening May, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: Problem analysis Apr, 2012
- Chinese listening strategies: An introduction Apr, 2012
- Review: The Phonology of Standard Chinese Apr, 2012
- Answer buttons and how to use SRS to study Chinese Mar, 2012
- Defining Language Hacking: Lessons Learned From Hacking Chinese Mar, 2012
- The importance of counting what counts when learning Chinese Mar, 2012
- Hacking Chinese back again after server crash Mar, 2012
- The 10,000 hour rule – Blood, sweat and tears Mar, 2012
- Use the benefits of teaching to boost your own Chinese learning Feb, 2012
- When perfectionism becomes an obstacle to progress Feb, 2012
- Making progress in Chinese in spite of praise Feb, 2012
- Learning simplified and traditional Chinese Jan, 2012
- Learn by exaggerating: Slow, then fast; big, then small Jan, 2012
- Can you become fluent in Chinese in three months? Jan, 2012
- Hacking Chinese 2011/2012: What was and what will be Jan, 2012
- If you want to master Chinese, make long-term investments Dec, 2011
- Chinese reading speed: Learning how to read ten lines at a glance Dec, 2011
- Mapping the terra incognita of Chinese vocabulary Dec, 2011
- The tones in Mandarin are more important than you think Dec, 2011
- Reading manga in Chinese for more than just pleasure Nov, 2011
- Triggering quantum leaps in Chinese listening ability Nov, 2011
- About opening doors and the paths beyond Nov, 2011
- The Chinese-Chinese dictionary survival guide Oct, 2011
- Enjoying the journey while focusing on the destination Oct, 2011
- Learning Chinese the holistic way: Integrating knowledge Sep, 2011
- Achieving the impossible by being inspired Sep, 2011
- How to find more time to practise Chinese listening Aug, 2011
- Growing up in Chinese as a foreign adult Aug, 2011
- Using memory aids and mnemonics to make Chinese easier Aug, 2011
- Chinese vocabulary in your pocket Jul, 2011
- Improve your conversations by listening to the listener Jul, 2011
- Memorising dictionaries to boost Chinese reading ability Jul, 2011
- Escaping the convenience trap to learn more Chinese Jun, 2011
- Review: Chinese Synonyms Usage Dictionary Jun, 2011
- Spaced repetition isn’t rote learning Jun, 2011
- Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 4 – Micro goals Apr, 2011
- Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 3 – Short-term goals Apr, 2011
- Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 2 – Long-term goals Apr, 2011
- Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 1 – Introduction Mar, 2011
- Using search engines to study Chinese Feb, 2011
- Anki, the best of spaced repetition software Jan, 2011
- Chinese listening ability, a matter of practice? Dec, 2010
- Spaced repetition software and why you should use it Oct, 2010
- The virtues of learning Chinese through language exchange Oct, 2010
- Learning Chinese through social media Sep, 2010
- Making mistakes in Chinese is necessary to adjust your mental models Sep, 2010
- Learning Chinese is easier than you think Sep, 2010
- A pre-launch plea for help Sep, 2010
- Requirements to be met before site launch Sep, 2010
- Domain name registered, software installed Sep, 2010