Articles

All articles are sorted into the following categories. Click to learn more about a topic as well as all articles associated with it.

If you’re looking for a specific article, check the chronological list below. It contains all articles from the very beginning to today.

An introduction to extensive reading for Chinese learners
Celebrating 10 years of Hacking Chinese with reflections and discounts
Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast!
Chinese reading challenge, November 2020
Review: Learning Chinese by video immersion with FluentU (2020 edition)
Why learning Chinese pronunciation by using English words is a really bad idea
7 mistakes I made when writing Chinese characters and what I learnt from them
Chinese vocabulary challenge, October 2020
7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice
Should you learn the names of the strokes in Chinese characters?
How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach
Why not going to China now could actually be good for your Chinese
Chinese listening challenge, September 2020
The key to unlocking your first semester of Chinese
Review: The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
All the resources you need to learn and teach Chinese stroke order
Chinese translation challenge, August 2020
Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more
What important words are missing from TOCFL?
What important words are missing from HSK?
Improving your Chinese while watching TV shows
Training your Chinese teacher, part 4: Writing ability
Should you learn to speak Chinese before you learn Chinese characters?
How to get honest feedback to boost your Chinese speaking and writing
Chinese mimicking challenge, June 2020
Are mnemonics too slow for Chinese learners?
Learning Chinese words: When quantity beats quality
When spaced repetition fails, and what to do about it
Chinese is fascinating and exciting, not weird and stupid
Dealing with Chinese characters you keep mixing up
文字冒险游戏及其在对外汉语教学中的应用
Text adventure games and how to use them in the Chinese language classroom
Skritter review: Boosting your Chinese character learning (2020 edition)
How to figure out how good your Chinese is
The simple trick I used to double the amount of Chinese I listen to
5 levels of understanding Chinese characters: Superficial forms to deep structure
The forking path: A human approach to learning Chinese
Does using colour to represent Mandarin tones make them easier to learn?
Chinese writing challenge, February 2020
Course open for registration: Unlocking Chinese – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
How to get past the intermediate Chinese learning plateau
How important is reading speed on tests like HSK and TOCFL?
Best of Hacking Chinese 2019
How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know
Can too much guidance make you learn less Chinese?
Why is listening in Chinese so hard?
Chinese habit formation challenge, November 2019
Training your Chinese teacher, part 3: Listening ability
Two types of pronunciation problems and what to do about them
New course: Unlocking Chinese – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
The nine principles of learning (and the mistakes from failing to follow them)
Review: Mandarin Companion: Easy to read novels in Chinese
101 questions and answers about how to learn Chinese
The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers
7 things you were taught in Chinese class that are actually wrong
Chinese translation challenge, May 2019
How good is voice recognition for learning Chinese pronunciation?
The cheapest and most convenient way to improve your spoken Chinese
Using speech recognition to improve Chinese pronunciation, part 1
Training your Chinese teacher, part 2: Speaking ability
The beginner’s guide to Chinese translation
Tone errors in Mandarin that actually can cause misunderstandings
Chinese writing challenge, March 2019
Why using a good dictionary can be bad for your Chinese reading ability
Free and easy audio flashcards for Chinese dictation practice with Anki
Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better
Training your Chinese teacher, part 1: Introduction
Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount
Review: Language Empowerment: Demystify Chinese culture and fire up your Mandarin + interview with the author
Best of Hacking Chinese 2018
Chinese translation challenge, December 2018
36 samples of Chinese handwriting from students and native speakers
Chinese handwriting challenge, November 2018
How to improve your Chinese handwriting
The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones
Chinese speaking challenge, October 2018
Focusing on Mandarin tones without being distracted by Pinyin
Back-to-school Hacking Chinese course discount
Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese
How and why to learn and teach Chinese through games
Chinese learning challenges, July 2018: Listening + open
Chinese pronunciation challenge, June 2018
866 digital textbooks for expanding your Chinese
Chinese learning challenges, June 2018: Pronunciation + open
New text game for Chinese learners: The Magistrate’s Gallery
Chinese writing challenge, May 2018
Chinese learning challenges, May 2018: Writing + open
Learning Chinese as an introverted student
Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount
Learning to unicycle, learning anatomy and learning Chinese
Chinese learning challenges, February 2018: Listening + open
Whom should you trust for advice about learning Chinese?
Will reading Hacking Chinese help you learn Mandarin?
Best of Hacking Chinese 2017
Chinese speaking challenge, December 2017
Can you learn Chinese faster by making it harder?
Five text games for Chinese learners
Should you focus on learning Chinese words or phrases?
Vocabulary lists that help you learn Chinese and how to use them
Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists?
Chinese reading speed revisited
Training and testing your ability to hear Mandarin sounds
Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters?
Back-to-school Hacking Chinese course discount
Get to know your own Chinese voice
Advanced listening and reading with Skeptoid Chinese
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Beijing, July 4th
Task based Chinese learning and teaching
Let’s play 迷霧中 (Into the Haze)
How long do you have to study Chinese to make it useful?
Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang
Playing Codenames to learn Chinese
Chinese writing challenge, June 2017
What’s in a name? Hacking Chinese, 揭密中文
Into the Haze: A new text adventure game for Chinese learners
How narrow listening and reading can help you learn Chinese
Comprehension-based listening vs deep end immersion
8 great ways to scaffold your Chinese learning
Analysis paralysis: When choosing method becomes a problem
How to become a Chinese-English translator and what it’s like to be one
10 ways of using games to learn and teach Chinese
A student’s guide to comprehension-based learning
How was your first semester of learning Chinese?
The benefits of a comprehension-based approach for teaching and learning Chinese
Introducing Chinese quiz tournaments on WordSwing
An introduction to comprehension-based Chinese teaching and learning
Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount
How to fake sounding like a native Chinese speaker
Spaced repetition is not limited to flashcards
Best of Hacking Chinese 2016
5 things Chinese students should do on the winter vacation
Looking up how to use words in Chinese the right way
Chinese translation challenge, December 10th to 31st
Why you should preview before every Chinese lesson
Three factors that decide how much Chinese you learn
Obligatory and optional tone change rules in Mandarin
Chinese mimicking challenge, November 10th to 30th
Learn Chinese implicitly through exposure with a seasoning of explicit instruction
How I learnt Chinese, part 7: Teaching, writing, learning
Mimicking native speakers as a way of learning Chinese
7 kinds of tone problems and what to do about them
Chinese character challenge, October 10th to 31st
Learning Chinese by playing board games
Expanding your Chinese with 一步一个脚印
Overcoming the problem of having too many Chinese words to learn
Challenge site upgrade + September translation challenge
Extra course content and new-semester discount
Learning to read handwritten Chinese
Transcribing Chinese audio as an active form of listening practice
Escape: A text adventure game for Chinese learners
Hacking Chinese on Patreon: Support me and get awesome rewards!
How I learnt Chinese, part 6: Graduate program in Taiwan
Are you practising Chinese the right way?
The benefits of using 语文/國文 textbooks to learn Chinese
Hacking Chinese meet-ups in San Francisco (July 20th) and New York (July 24th)
Accessing Chinese culture through cartoons
How to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese
How I learnt Chinese, part 5: Returning to Sweden
Don’t forget to consolidate the Chinese you have already studied
The best Twitter feeds for learning Chinese in 2016
Chinese benchmarking challenge, June 10th to 30th
How going shopping can help you learn Chinese
The 5 best Chinese reading resources for beginners
How I learnt Chinese, part 4： My second year in Taiwan
Why you should start blogging in Chinese today
Chinese writing challenge, May 10th to 31th
How technology can stop you from learning Chinese
How technology can help you learn Chinese
Which Chinese language course should you take?
How I learnt Chinese, part 3: My first year in Taiwan
Chinese reading challenge, November 10th to 30th
I have published a book!
Should you learn the pronunciation of radicals?
Learning Chinese through comprehensible input
ChinesePod review: Your companion to Mandarin fluency
Chinese characters that share the same components but are still different
What your Chinese course will not teach you
Learn Chinese character meaning and pronunciation together
How I learnt Chinese, part 2: Learning Mandarin in Sweden
Listen before you read: Improve your listening ability
Learn Chinese faster by leaving your comfort zone
Using voice messaging to practise Chinese speaking and listening
How I learnt Chinese, part 1: Where it all started
Can you use English learning materials to study Chinese?
Hacking Chinese New Year challenge, January 10th to 31st
Best of Hacking Chinese 2015
Learning tones in Mandarin is not optional
Are there any shortcuts for learning Chinese?
Launching Hacking Chinese: A Practical Guide to Learning Mandarin
The Hacking Chinese tone training course
Learning to hear the sounds and tones in Mandarin
How to verify that you use the right Chinese font
Chinese character variants and fonts for language learners
Chinese writing challenge, November 10th to 30th
One year of language challenges on Hacking Chinese
Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 3
The real challenge with learning Chinese characters
Improving pronunciation beyond the basics
Which words you should learn and where to find them
Extensive listening challenge, October 10th to 31st
Can native speakers be wrong about Chinese grammar and pronunciation?
Learning Chinese characters through pictures
Panning: How to keep similar Chinese characters and words separate
Zooming out: The resources you need to put Chinese in context
Chinese character challenge, September 10th to 30th
Zooming in: The tools you need to break down and understand Chinese
Chinese learning tools and resources worth paying for
The illusion of advanced learning and what to do about it
Why you should read Chinese on your phone
Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 2
Chinese listening practice with 锵锵三人行
Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA: Part 1
Chinese Speaking Challenge, July 10th to July 31st
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Beijing 2015-07-12
Technical problems and theme issues
Learning Chinese through audio books
Hacking Chinese China Tour 2015
Bite-sized learning isn’t enough to learn Chinese
Why you should learn Chinese in Chinese
Review: Mandarin Companion graded readers (Level 1)
The best Twitter feeds for learning Chinese in 2015
Chinese writing challenge, May 10th to May 31st
Hone your Chinese writing ability by writing summaries
Learning Chinese by playing Mahjong 麻將 (májiàng)
Will a Chinese-only rule improve your learning?
Using Chinese textbooks to improve reading ability
The new paperless revolution in Chinese reading
Chinese Hackers Hack Hacking Chinese*
A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand
How to adjust your Chinese listening to the right level
Three steps to more and better Chinese listening practice
What you intend to write is more important than the character you actually write
How learning some basic theory can improve your pronunciation
24 great resources for improving your Mandarin pronunciation
Pronunciation challenge, February 10th to 28th
Sensible character challenge, January 2015: Wrapping up
Hacking Chinese 2014/2015: What was and what will be
How to find a suitable Chinese name
Focus on initials and finals, not Pinyin spelling
My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters
Sensible character challenge, January 11th to 31st
Translation challenge, December 2014: Wrapping up
How knowing your best performance in Chinese can help you improve
5 tips to help you improve your Chinese writing ability
How translation to another language can help you learn Chinese
Translation challenge, December 11th to 31th
Is Chinese difficult to learn?
Hacking Chinese Pronunciation course now open for registration
How to find the time and motivation to read more Chinese
The 10 best free reading resource collections for learning Chinese
Learning how to ask for and receive directions in Chinese
Extensive listening challenge, October 2014: Wrapping up
Extensive listening challenge, October 2014: Progress report
Why you should think of characters in terms of functional components
The 10 best free listening resource collections for learning Chinese
Extensive listening challenge, October 10th to 31st
Launching Hacking Chinese Challenges
Learning to write Chinese characters through communication
Focusing on communication to learn Chinese
Change your attitude to enjoy life and learn more Chinese
250+ resources for learning Chinese
How long have you studied Chinese? 290 years or 58 992 hours!
About cheating, spaced repetition and learning Chinese
Study more Chinese: Time boxing vs. micro goals
7 ways of learning to write Chinese characters
How long have you studied Chinese?
Is speaking more important than listening when learning Chinese?
Focusing on radicals, character components and building blocks
Improve your pronunciation with the Hacking Chinese pronunciation check
Language learning with a Chinese girlfriend or boyfriend
A learner’s guide to TV shows in Chinese, part 2
Sensible character learning challenge 2014: The Big Finish
How to reach a decent level of Chinese in 100 days
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2014-06-28
How and why to watch the world cup in Chinese
Launching Hacking Chinese Resources
A learner’s guide to TV shows in Chinese, part 1
Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #3
How and why to use television to learn Chinese
How to find out how good your Chinese pronunciation really is
The three roads to mastering Chinese
How to Approach Chinese Grammar
Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #2
Handwriting Chinese characters: The minimum requirements
Learn to read Chinese… with ease?
The grand listening cycle: Improve your Chinese listening ability
Three ways to improve the way you review Chinese characters
Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #1
Why good feedback matters and how to get it
Improving Foreign Language Pronunciation: Interview with Hacking Chinese on Language is Culture
Sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014
Sensible Chinese character learning revisited
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2014-03-22
Asking the experts: How to learn Chinese grammar
Flashcard overflow: About card models and review directions
Learning how to fish: Or, why it’s essential to know how to learn
Two reasons why pronunciation matters more than you think
Habit hacking for language learners
Hacking Chinese 2013/2014: What was and what will be
Focusing on tone pairs to improve your Mandarin pronunciation
Easing yourself into reading novels in Chinese
A language learner’s guide to wuxia novels
Wuxia, a key to Chinese language and culture
25 books I’ve read in Chinese, with reviews and difficulty ratings
Chinese reading challenge: Read more or die
Chinese immersion with Carl Gene Fordham
Role-playing to learn more Chinese and avoid frustration
Review: The Geography of Thought: How East Asians and Westerners Think Differently… And Why
Learning to read aloud in Chinese
How to learn Chinese characters as a beginner
Improving your spoken and written Chinese by focusing on the process
Asking the experts: How to bridge the gap to real Chinese
How to improve your Chinese writing ability through focused reading
Drills and exercises aren’t only for beginners
Preparing for rainy days and dealing with slumps
Your slumps affect your language learning more than your flows
About fossilisation and improving your Chinese pronunciation
What’s your next step to master Chinese?
5 websites to help answer your questions about Chinese
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-10-06
Reading aloud in Chinese is really hard
Phonetic components, part 2: Hacking Chinese characters
Phonetic components, part 1: The key to 80% of all Chinese characters
Why manually adding and editing flashcards is good for you
Standard pronunciation in Chinese and why you want it
Why you need goals to learn Chinese efficiently
Do you really know how to count in Chinese?
5 insights from the first year of a master’s program in Taiwan
How to get good grades when studying Chinese
The get-back-up-to-speed summer challenge
Role-playing as a way to expand your Chinese
Hacking Chinese: Contradictory and provoking?
Dealing with near-synonyms in Chinese as an independent learner
Skritter review: Boosting your character learning (2013 edition)
What research can and cannot tell us about learning Chinese
If you think spaced repetition software is a panacea you are wrong
Learning how to learn Chinese through self-experimentation
Using Audacity to learn Chinese (speaking and listening)
Adding tone marks (w/o Pinyin) above characters to practise tones
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-05-12
You might be too lazy to learn Chinese, but you’re not too old
Immersion at home or: Why you don’t have to go abroad to learn Chinese
Learning the right chengyu the right way
The question you have to ask about your Chinese teacher or course
Want to master Chinese in no time? Start dreaming!*
Is your flashcard deck too big for your own good?
You shouldn’t walk the road to Chinese fluency alone
14 extra songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons
Hacking Chinese site update March 2013
21 essential dictionaries and corpora for learning Chinese
Horizontal vocabulary learning in Chinese
Hacking Chinese meet-up in Taipei 2013-03-02
The Cthulhu bubble and studying Chinese
Improving your Chinese by translating from another language
Hacking Chinese 2012/2013: What was and what will be
Don’t use mnemonics for everything
How to create mnemonics for general or abstract character components
Sensible character learning: Progress, reminders and reflections
Remembering is a skill you can learn
Towards a more sensible way of learning to write Chinese
You can’t learn Chinese characters by rote
Why you really should use a Chinese notebook
Measuring your language learning is a double-edged sword
Have fun learning Chinese or else…
RTI, my favourite radio station
13 more songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons
Is it necessary to learn to write Chinese characters by hand?
Learning Chinese in the shower with me
Chat your way to better Chinese
Learning styles: Use with caution!
Vocalise more to learn more Chinese
A guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls: Learn Mandarin pronunciation
Don’t just read about language learning methods, try them!
The importance of tones is inversely proportional to the predictability of what you say
12 songs to learn Chinese and expand your horizons
Learning Chinese with StarCraft 2
Extending mnemonics: Tones and pronunciation
The time barrel: How to find more time to study Chinese
Kickstart your Chinese character learning with the 100 most common radicals
Study according to your current productivity level
Why learning Chinese through music is underrated
Website restructuring completed
Chinese listening strategies: Diversify your listening practice
31 Twitter feeds to help you learn Chinese
A language learner’s guide to reading comics in Chinese
Approaches to reading in Chinese
Recording yourself to improve your Chinese speaking ability
Chinese Language Learner Interview Series – Olle Linge
Chinese listening strategies: Deliberate practice and i+2
Improving Chinese writing ability: Common problems and how to tackle them
Chinese listening strategies: Improving listening speed
Language is communication, not only an abstract subject to study
Chinese listening strategies: Active listening
Using Lang-8 to improve your Chinese
Playing computer games in Chinese: Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2
Chinese listening strategies: Passive listening
Practising sports to learn Chinese and make friends
Chinese listening strategies: Background listening
Chinese listening strategies: Problem analysis
Chinese listening strategies: An introduction
Don’t try to improve everything at once, limit your focus
Review: The Phonology of Standard Chinese
Chinese language question triage: General guidelines
Answer buttons and how to use SRS to study Chinese
Defining Language Hacking: Lessons Learned From Hacking Chinese
The importance of counting what counts when learning Chinese
Hacking Chinese back again after server crash
The 10,000 hour rule – Blood, sweat and tears
Use the benefits of teaching to boost your own Chinese learning
Understanding regionally accented Mandarin
When perfectionism becomes an obstacle to progress
Making progress in Chinese in spite of praise
Learning simplified and traditional Chinese
Learning Chinese efficiently vs. learning quickly
Learn by exaggerating: Slow, then fast; big, then small
Can you become fluent in Chinese in three months?
Hacking Chinese 2011/2012: What was and what will be
If you want to master Chinese, make long-term investments
Chinese reading speed: Learning how to read ten lines at a glance
Mapping the terra incognita of Chinese vocabulary
The tones in Mandarin are more important than you think
Playing word games in Chinese to practise fluency
Reading manga in Chinese for more than just pleasure
Triggering quantum leaps in Chinese listening ability
About opening doors and the paths beyond
Time boxing Chinese: Get more done in less time
The Chinese-Chinese dictionary survival guide
Enjoying the journey while focusing on the destination
Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated
The kamikaze approach to learning Chinese
Learning Chinese the holistic way: Integrating knowledge
Achieving the impossible by being inspired
Don’t be a tourist if you want to learn Chinese language and culture
Learning the third tone in Chinese
How to find more time to practise Chinese listening
Growing up in Chinese as a foreign adult
Different types of mistakes when learning Chinese: Problem analysis
Using memory aids and mnemonics to make Chinese easier
Chinese vocabulary in your pocket
Improve your conversations by listening to the listener
Dealing with tricky vocabulary: Killing leeches
Time quality: Studying the right thing at the right time
Memorising dictionaries to boost Chinese reading ability
Escaping the convenience trap to learn more Chinese
Review: Chinese Synonyms Usage Dictionary
Spaced repetition isn’t rote learning
You won’t learn Chinese simply by living abroad
Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 4 – Micro goals
Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 3 – Short-term goals
Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 2 – Long-term goals
Goals and motivation for learning Chinese, part 1 – Introduction
Why you should use more than one Chinese textbook
What native speakers know and what they don’t
Using search engines to study Chinese
Learning Chinese pronunciation as a beginner
A smart method to discover problems with Chinese tones
Anki, the best of spaced repetition software
Take responsibility for your language learning now
Pros and cons with travelling to learn a language
Chinese listening ability, a matter of practice?
Learning Chinese words really fast
Creating a powerful toolkit: Characters and words
Spaced repetition software and why you should use it
Creating a powerful toolkit: Individual Chinese characters
The virtues of learning Chinese through language exchange
Creating a powerful toolkit: Character components
Learning Chinese through social media
Making mistakes in Chinese is necessary to adjust your mental models
Learning Chinese is easier than you think
Learning Chinese is easy (old version)
A pre-launch plea for help
Requirements to be met before site launch
Domain name registered, software installed

Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin