Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles in the ‘Recommended resources’ category

  1. Skritter review: Boosting your Chinese character learning (2023 edition)

    Skritter is a modern tool for learning ancient characters. It combines research-based methods such as active recall and spaced repetition with great Chinese-specific tools and content. While it’s not a free resource, it has enough edges over more generic, free services to be worth it in my opinion.

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  2. How learning some basic theory can improve your Mandarin pronunciation

    Listening, mimicking and getting feedback is the best way to learn Chinese pronunciation, but unless you’re a small child or extremely talented, adding some theory to the mix can also be helpful.

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  3. Beginner Chinese listening practice: What to listen to and how

    The best way to learn to understand spoken Mandarin is to listen as much as you can to engaging content you can make sense of without looking things up. In this article, I go through the best types of beginner Chinese listening practice!

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  4. Best of Hacking Chinese 2022

    Sparkler celebrating the best of Hacking Chinese 2022.

    2022 was a year of stability on Hacking Chinese; consistent but without major breakthroughs. What was the most popular article? The most popular podcast episode? Let’s summarise the year that was and highlight content you really shouldn’t miss!

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  5. Black Friday discounts for Hacking Chinese courses

    Don’t miss the forest for the trees! Let my courses be your guide you to successful learning, now with $10 off until the end of Monday, November 28th! Already enrolled yourself or not interested at the moment? Get one as a gift for someone else, or help me out by spreading the word!

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  6. The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners

    Listening is the most important skill of all, because it accelerates all other learning and is crucial for social integration. What are the best free Chinese listening resources out there for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners?

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  7. Kickstart your learning with the Skritter Character Course

    What’s the best way to learn Chinese characters as a beginner? The Skritter character course is my best attempt at answering that question.

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  8. Chinese language question triage: When to ask whom about what

    When learning Chinese, questions about the language pop up all the time, but what’s the best way to answer them?

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  9. Why you should use more than one Chinese textbook

    A textbook can only provide a sliver of the content and activities you need to learn Chinese, but rather than throwing your textbook away, try using several of them in parallel.

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  10. How to learn Chinese pronunciation as a beginner

    Pronunciation is an important, yet often neglected part of learning Chinese. The earlier you get the sounds and tones down, the better, but how should you approach learning these things as a beginner?

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