How do you improve listening ability as quickly as possible? Are there any strategies to deal with rapid speech? And how many times should you listen before using a transcript?
This week’s podcast episode is a reader and listener Q&A, where I answer three questions about listening in Chinese.
This time, I’m answering questions about:
- Improving listening ability quickly
- When and how to use transcripts
- Understanding rapid speech
Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast to listen to the related episode (#235):
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms!
Links to things mentioned in the introduction
- Chinese listening challenge, February 2025
- The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water
Links for question 1: When to use transcripts
- Student Q&A, May 2024: Understanding strangers, listening with transcripts, and which podcasts to avoid (episode 189, not 210 as I say in the podcast)
- The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
- The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
- Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation’s four strands
Links for question 2: Levelling up listening ability
- 100 hours of Chinese listening in 3 weeks: What I learnt and how to apply it
- 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice
- Three steps to more and better Chinese listening practice
Links for question 3: Listening to rapid Mandarin
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 4: Learning to process spoken Mandarin quickly and effortlessly
- Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 3: Using what you already know to aid listening comprehension in Chinese
- Learning Chinese through comprehensible input
- An introduction to comprehension-based Chinese teaching and learning
