Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles tagged with ‘Spacing effect’

  1. Why flashcards are great for learning Chinese

    The humble flashcard: A key component in a successful strategy, or a distraction from what truly matters? Few things have sparked as much debate as the use of flashcards for learning a foreign language.

    Read →

  2. Why spaced repetition software is uniquely well suited to learning Chinese characters

    While spaced repetition software can be very useful, it also has some serious drawbacks. Fortunately, most of them don’t apply to learning to write Chinese characters!

    Read →

  3. When spaced repetition fails, and what to do about it

    Spaced repetition software can boost your vocabulary learning significantly. The idea is to schedule each review as late as possible, but not so late that you forget the answer. This sounds good in principle, but when it comes to learning languages, just barely being able to come up with the right word is not enough!

    Read →

  4. Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese

    Cramming and spaced repetition are viable but opposite methods of reviewing Chinese characters, words and expressions. When should you use which? And Why?

    Read →

  5. Spaced repetition is not limited to flashcards

    Spaced repetition is important for learning anything, but especially vocabulary in a foreign language like Chinese. However, there’s much more to spaced repetition than vocabulary flashcard apps! Even if you dislike such apps, make sure you incorporate spaced repetition in some other way.

    Read →