Articles on Hacking Chinese

I have written articles about how to learn Mandarin since 2010, and there are roughly 500 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’m a beginner and need guidance
• I need help with improving a certain skill
• I want to browse a list of all articles
• I want to check out the newest articles
• I want to view a list of articles with podcast episodes
• I have a question about learning Chinese

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 for 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 for 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 have a course focusing on levelling up the way you learn Chinese, aimed at all levels: Hacking Chinese: A Practical Guide to Learning Mandarin. You might also want to check out my pronunciation course.

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 vocabulary challenge, December 2023 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
• Hacking Chinese Pronunciation: Speaking with Confidence is now open! Nov, 2023
• Black Friday discounts for Hacking Chinese courses Nov, 2023
• Is learning things by heart good for improving your Chinese? Nov, 2023
• The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners Nov, 2023
• Chinese reading challenge, November 2023 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
• Chinese pronunciation challenge, October 2023 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
• Chinese listening challenge, September 2023 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
• Back-to-school discounts for Hacking Chinese courses, 2023 Aug, 2023
• Should you throw away your Chinese textbook? Aug, 2023
• Chinese translation challenge, August 2023 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 (2023 edition) 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
• Chinese speaking challenge, April 2023 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
• Chinese writing challenge, February 2023 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
• Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount Jan, 2023
• Best of Hacking Chinese 2022 Jan, 2023
• Hacking Chinese reader and listener survey Dec, 2022
• 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
• The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners 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 Linguistics 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
• Why is listening in Chinese so hard? 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
• Training your Chinese teacher, part 2: Speaking ability Mar, 2019
• The beginner’s guide to Chinese translation Mar, 2019
• Tone errors in Mandarin that actually can cause misunderstandings Mar, 2019
• Why using a good dictionary can be bad for your Chinese reading ability Mar, 2019
• Free and easy audio flashcards for Chinese dictation practice with Anki Feb, 2019
• Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better 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
• The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones Oct, 2018
• Focusing on Chinese tones without being distracted by Pinyin Oct, 2018
• Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese Aug, 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
• Will reading Hacking Chinese help you learn Mandarin? 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
• Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang 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
• 8 great ways to scaffold your Chinese learning Apr, 2017
• Analysis paralysis: When choosing method becomes a problem 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
• Why you should preview before every Chinese lesson Dec, 2016
• Three factors that decide how much Chinese you learn Nov, 2016
• Obligatory and optional tone change rules in Mandarin Nov, 2016
• Learn Chinese implicitly through exposure with a seasoning of explicit instruction Nov, 2016
• 7 kinds of tone problems and what to do about them Oct, 2016
• Chinese character challenge, October 10th to 31st Oct, 2016
• Learning Chinese by playing board games Sep, 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 to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese Jun, 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
• Should you learn the pronunciation of radicals? Mar, 2016
• Learning Chinese through comprehensible input Mar, 2016
• ChinesePod review: Your companion to Mandarin fluency Mar, 2016
• Chinese characters that share the same components but are still different 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
• Can you use English learning materials to study Chinese? 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
• Learning to hear the sounds and tones in Mandarin Nov, 2015
• How to verify that you use the right Chinese font Nov, 2015
• Chinese character variants and fonts for language learners 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
• Chinese learning tools and resources worth paying for Aug, 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
• A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand Mar, 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
• 24 great resources for improving your Mandarin pronunciation Feb, 2015
• Sensible character challenge, January 2015: Wrapping up Feb, 2015
• Hacking Chinese 2014/2015: What was and what will be Feb, 2015
• How 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
• 7 ways of learning to write Chinese characters Aug, 2014
• How long have you studied Chinese? Aug, 2014
• Is speaking more important than listening when learning Chinese? Aug, 2014
• Focusing on radicals, character components and building blocks Jul, 2014
• Improve your pronunciation with the Hacking Chinese pronunciation check Jul, 2014
• Language learning with a Chinese girlfriend or boyfriend 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
• The three roads to mastering Chinese 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
• Habit hacking for language learners 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
• Do you really know how to count in Chinese? 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
• Learning the right chengyu the right way 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
• Don’t use mnemonics for everything Jan, 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
• Why you really should use a Chinese notebook 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
• Chat your way to better Chinese Oct, 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
• Extending mnemonics: Tones and pronunciation 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
• Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated Oct, 2011
• Learning Chinese the holistic way: Integrating knowledge Sep, 2011
• Achieving the impossible by being inspired Sep, 2011
• Don’t be a tourist if you want to learn Chinese language and culture 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
• Dealing with tricky vocabulary: Killing leeches 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
• What native speakers know and what they don’t Feb, 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