Articles in the ‘Learning outside class’ category Page 2
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The three roads to mastering Chinese
You might assume there are many roads to mastery in Chinese, but in truth, there are only three.
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Chinese writing challenge, January 2025
It’s time for a Chinese writing challenge! It starts on January 10th, so enrol, set your goal and write as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about improving writing ability in Chinese.
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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
What do you do if your teacher says that your text reads like English written with Chinese words? How can you get good feedback on your Chinese writing from ChatGPT? And how can you learn to write in a professional or academic setting?
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What native speakers know about Chinese (and what they don’t)
You say something in Mandarin, a native speaker corrects you, and you adjust. The next day, another native speaker tells you to revert to your original phrasing. What’s going on? Let’s explore what native speakers know and what they don’t!
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Don’t use mnemonics for everything when learning Chinese
Mnemonics are clever memory techniques you can use to learn and remember more, but this doesn’t mean that you should always use them. If you do, you will end up spending more time on mnemonics than you do engaging with the Chinese language.
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Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated
The more Chinese you learn, the less noticeable your progress becomes. Benchmarking can make your improvements more visible and help you stay motivated!
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Student Q&A, December 2024: Learning similar Chinese characters, polyphonic characters, and flashcards vs. reading for building vocabulary
How can you remember the difference between similar Chinese characters? Are flashcards better than reading for building vocabulary? And how do you learn polyphonic characters?
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Which Chinese learning resources are worth paying for?
Thanks to the internet, learning Chinese is now more accessible than ever, and you can do it completely for free. Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should, however. If you have money to invest, here’s how to do so with the greatest impact.
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Four key principles to improve your Mandarin listening comprehension
Listening is the cornerstone of language learning, yet many students struggle to improve their Mandarin listening comprehension. Fortunately, making progress isn’t as difficult as you might think; just follow four key principles!
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How to learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo) in two hours
Many people believe that learning a new script is challenging, but mastering systems like Zhuyin (Bopomofo) or Japanese kana is surprisingly easy. With the right approach and resources, you can do it in just a few hours!
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