Hacking Chinese Podcast

Are you picking up Chinese again after a break, and struggle to find the words and characters? Does spoken Mandarin sound vaguely familiar but incomprehensible? Then this guide will help you get back on track! Link to article: How to start learning Chinese again after a break : https://www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-start-learning-chinese-again-after-a-break #learnchinese #recover #gettingback #hac...

Stroke order can feel difficult and pointless for beginners, but if you want to be able to write Chinese characters, it's important to get it right from the start. Instead of taking my word for it, let me explain why stroke order matters!  Link to article: Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters? https://www.hackingchinese.com/is-it-necessary-to-learn-the-stroke-order-...

How do you survive a Chinese course that's too hard for you, regardless if you ended up there on purpose or because of circumstances? What are the key strategies to ensure you stay afloat and learn as much as possible? Link to article: How to survive and thrive in a difficult Chinese course : https://www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-survive-and-thrive-in-a-difficult-chinese-course #learnchinese #cour...

Most foreigners learning Chinese rely on textbooks written specifically for foreigners, but what about textbooks written for native speakers, can’t we use those to learn Chinese too? Link to article: The benefits of using 语文/國文 textbooks to learn Chinese https://www.hackingchinese.com/benefits-using-语文國文-textbooks-learn-chinese/ #learnchinese #textbooks #语文 #國文 #chinese John' article a...

Chinese has a reputation for being hard to learn and it can be even harder if you take a course that is above your level. But why would you do that? What are the potential pros and cons of deliberately seeking out a learning environment where just keeping your head above water will be hard? https://www.hackingchinese.com/is-taking-a-chinese-course-thats-too-hard-good-for-your-learning/ #learnchine...

Learning to write Chinese characters takes a lot of time and might not be strictly necessary, but if you want to improve your handwriting, how should you go about it? Link to article: How to improve your Chinese handwriting https://www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-improve-your-chinese-handwriting/ Tags: #learnchinese #handwriting #characters #writing Chinese writing challenge, February 2022: https://...

Text adventure games are awesome for learning Chinese, but how do they work and how can you get the most out of them? Link to article in Chinese: 文字冒险游戏及其在对外汉语教学中的应用 https://www.hackingchinese.com/wenzi-maoxian-youxi/ Link to article in English (including separate podcast episode 78a): Text adventure games and how to use them in the Chinese language classroom https://www.hacking...

Text adventure games are awesome for learning Chinese, but how do they work and how can you get the most out of them? Link to article in English: Text adventure games and how to use them in the Chinese language classroom https://www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-play-adventure-text-games-with-a-chinese-teacher/ Link to article in Chinese (including separate podcast episode 78b): 文字冒险游戏及其在对外...

2021 was an eventful year on Hacking Chinese, but which were the best articles and podcast episodes? Let’s summarise the year that was and highlight things you really shouldn’t miss! Link to article: Best of Hacking Chinese 2021 : https://www.hackingchinese.com/best-of-hacking-chinese-2021/ Tags: #learnchinese #bestof #summary #wrapup Listen to this and other episodes on your favourite podcasting...

When learning to pronounce Mandarin, you need to learn both the sounds and how they are written, usually with Pinyin. Did you know that many student errors actually come from a poor understanding of Pinyin, rather than the sounds themselves being difficult? Welcome to my guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls. Link to article: A guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls: Learning Mandarin pronunciation : htt...

Pronunciation is usually limited to the first few weeks of a Chinese course, which is a pity, because clear pronunciation is important, whether or not you’ve studied for a week or a decade. Link to article: Two reasons why pronunciation matters more than you think : https://www.hackingchinese.com/two-reasons-why-pronunciation-matters-more-than-you-think/ Tags: #learnchinese #pronunciation #tones #...

Learning to read and write Chinese is a complex task with many layers, and there’s a risk of not seeing the forest for the trees, so let’s zoom out a bit and look at the bigger picture! Link to article: My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters https://www.hackingchinese.com/my-best-advice-on-how-to-learn-chinese-characters/ Tags: #learnchinese #characters #components #words #vocabulary Re...

What if I told you that there is a game that helps you speak Chinese more fluently, is great for improving communicative ability and works well regardless of your current level? What if I said that the game is also fun and free to play? Link to article: How to improve fluency in Chinese by playing word games https://www.hackingchinese.com/playing-word-games-to-practise-fluency/ Tags: #learnchinese...

How many characters do you need to know to be able to read Chinese? The truth is that characters only provide a foundation, so regardless of how many you know, you won't be able to read much unless you also know many words. Link to article: The building blocks of Chinese, part 6: Learning and remembering compound words https://www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-learn-words-really-fast/ Tags: #learnchin...

How many characters do you need to know to be able to read Chinese? The truth is that characters only provide a foundation, so regardless of how many you know, you won't be able to read much unless you also know many words. Link to article: The building blocks of Chinese, part 5: Making sense of Chinese words https://www.hackingchinese.com/the-building-blocks-of-chinese-part-5-making-sense-of-chin...

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! Link to article: Why spaced repetition software is uniquely well suited to learning Chinese characters https://www.hackingchinese.com/why-spaced-repetition-software-is-uniquely-well-suited-to-learning-chinese-characters Tags: #learn...

The best way to learn to read in Chinese is to read texts you can understand without constantly using a dictionary. As a beginner, such texts aren't easy to find, but let's have a look at the best reading resources I know for beginners. Link to article: Should you learn the names of the strokes in Chinese characters? https://www.hackingchinese.com/should-you-learn-the-names-of-the-strokes-in-chine...

The best way to learn to read in Chinese is to read texts you can understand without constantly using a dictionary. As a beginner, such texts aren't easy to find, but let's have a look at the best reading resources I know for beginners. Link to article: The 7 best Chinese reading resources for beginners https://www.hackingchinese.com/beginner-chinese-reading/ Tags: #learnchinese #reading #beginner...

When learning to read Chinese you will encounter several challenges, some of them unique to Chinese. What are these challenges, what do they mean for you as a student and how can you overcome them? Link to article: 6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them : https://www.hackingchinese.com/6-challenges-students-face-when-learning-to-read-chinese-and-how-to-ov...

Some people think enrolling in a course is the best way to learn Chinese, but others say that courses are useless, and swear by the effectiveness of self-studying. So should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own? Link to article: Should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own? https://www.hackingchinese.com/should-you-enrol-in-a-c...

Everybody struggles with writing Chinese characters by hand, even if handwriting can often be avoided in a modern, digital society. But what about reading other people's handwriting?  Link to article: Learning to read handwritten Chinese https://www.hackingchinese.com/learning-read-handwritten-chinese/ Tags: #learnchinese #handwriting #reading #fonts Listen to this and other episodes on your...

Sooner or later, most students realise that their Chinese isn't as good as they think it ought to be. Why is that and what can you do about it? Link to article: Why your Chinese isn't as good as you think it ought to be : https://www.hackingchinese.com/why-your-chinese-isnt-as-good-as-you-think-it-ought-to-be Tags: #learnchinese #progress #failure #success Chinese language logging, part 2: A healt...

The key to learning Chinese compound characters is to learn the building blocks and how they fit together, including both the function of each component and the structure of the compound. Add some clever memory techniques and you'll be able to dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of your learning! Link to article: The building blocks of Chinese, part 4: Learning and remembering compound...

A vast majority of Chinese characters are compounds, and understanding how the components fit together and which function they have, will make learning and remembering characters a lot easier.  Link to article: The building blocks of Chinese, part 3: Compound characters https://www.hackingchinese.com/learning-chinese-characters/ ‎ Tags: #learnchinese #characters #compounds #sound #meaning Lin...

People who have't spent a lot of time with different languages sometimes think that learning a new language is mostly about relabelling the world with new words. This mentality is especially bad when translating to Chinese from another language. Link to article: The beginner's guide to Chinese translation https://www.hackingchinese.com/the-beginners-guide-to-chinese-translation/ Tags: #learnchines...