The best time to start learning Chinese is now: A guide for expats The best time to start learning Chinese might be behind you, but the second-best time is now. If you’ve been surrounded by Mandarin for years and keep putting off learning the language, this guide is ...

New article and podcast episode: The best time to start learning Chinese is now: A guide for expats: hackingchinese.com/the-best-tim...

#learnchinese #expat #china #bubble #immersion

Learn Chinese by listening to the listener The obvious way to learn Mandarin is to listen to a person speaking the language. The less obvious way is to listen to the person who isn’t speaking in a conversation. What can you learn by listening ...

New article and podcast episode: Improve your Chinese conversations by listening to the listener: www.hackingchinese.com/listening-to...

#learnchinese #listening #conversations #responses

Which Chinese language course should you take? The answer to the question of which Chinese language course you should choose is that it depends. But what does it depend on, and how do you make the right decision about which course to take?

New article and podcast episode: Which Chinese language course should you take? www.hackingchinese.com/which-chines...

#learnchinese #course #class #learning

The best free Chinese listening practice for all levels Listening is the most important skill, as it boosts other areas and accelerates learning. What are the best free Chinese listening resources?

New article and podcast episode: The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners: www.hackingchinese.com/the-10-best-...

#learnchinese #listening #resources #beginner #intermediate #advanced

New article and podcast episode: A practical guide to your ideal Mandarin self: Build motivation that lasts: www.hackingchinese.com/a-practical-...

#learnchinese #motivation #l2mss #dörnyei

New podcast episode; share and enjoy: Are mnemonics too slow for Chinese learners?www.hackingchinese.com/are-mnemonics-too-slow-f...

#learnchinese #mnemonics #characters #memory #vocabulary

Spaced repetition software and why you should use it Spaced repetition means that you review words you want to learn in certain intervals to maximise learning efficiency. Since this involves keeping track of much data, a computer program is needed to ha...

New article and podcast episode: Spaced repetition software: What it is and how to use it to learn Chinese: www.hackingchinese.com/an-introduct...

#learnchinese #srs #vocabulary #flashcards #memory

Courses on Hacking Chinese | Hacking Chinese This page lists all available courses on Hacking Chinese.

Happy Year of the Horse! To celebrate, I’m running a limited-time discount on three of my courses. If you’ve been thinking about improving your Chinese this semester, now’s a great moment to start or level up. Learn more: www.hackingchinese.com/courses/ #learnchinese #cny #discount

New book: Hacking Chinese: the Dragon Collection. A print anthology of curated articles from 2024!

The articles are still free online, but this is for anyone who wants them in print.

Buy here: amzn.to/4aghT6G
Learn more here: www.hackingchinese.com/new-book-hac...

#learnchinese #book

The art of being corrected Feedback is important because it can show you how to not use the language and highlight things you hadn't noticed before. But getting honest feedback when learning Chinese is not as easy as it seems. ...

New podcast episode on Hacking Chinese; share and enjoy: How to get honest feedback to boost your Chinese speaking and writing: www.hackingchinese.com/the-art-of-b...

#learnchinese #feedback #correction #speaking #writing

The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water | Hacking Chinese Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water 如魚得水   ⚡Become a fluent listener now – $128 ⚡Unlock fluent listening with personal guidance  – $288   Member area     Unlock social interactions, cultur...

My course, The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water, is only open for registration for another 24 hours: www.hackingchinese.com/courses/the-...

#learnchinese #listening #course #hackingchinese

Chinese subtitles and transcripts: Reading before, while or after listening (Ep. 285) YouTube video by HackingChinese

Subtitles and transcripts can help you understand Chinese, but should you read along, read first, or save the text for after you’ve listened?

Here's a video lesson from my course, The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYu6...

Chinese subtitles and transcripts: Reading before, while or after listening Subtitles and transcripts can help you understand spoken Chinese, but do they also help you become a better listener? Should you read along, read first, or save the text for after you’ve listened?

New article, video and podcast episode; share and enjoy: Chinese subtitles and transcripts: Reading before, while or after listening: www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-subt...

#learnchinese #listening #reading #subtitles #transcripts

Chinese listening, fast and slow: Three ways of slowing down Mandarin speech Spoken Mandarin can feel like an onslaught of similar sounds, half-recognised tones and unknown words. To add insult to injury, it's often too fast! Should you slow it down? If so, how?

New article and podcast episode: Chinese listening, fast and slow: Three ways of slowing down Mandarin speech: www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-list...

#learnchinese #listening #speed #rateofspeech #fast #slow

Best of Hacking Chinese 2025 2025 has come tan end. Which were the most popular articles on Hacking Chinese last year The most popular podcast episodes? It's time to summarise the year that was and highlight the things you really...

New article and podcast episode: Best of Hacking Chinese 2025: www.hackingchinese.com/best-of-hack... #learnchinese #bestof #hackingchinese

Diversified learning is smart learning How is it possible to spend 80 hours a week learning Chinese? And what can you learn from that, even if you're busy juggling work, family and other commitments?

New podcast episode: Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more: www.hackingchinese.com/diversified-...

#learnchinese #immersion #busylife

Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better You can build vocabulary in Chinese with flashcard apps spaced repetition, but reading is more effective and more enjoyable. It helps you recognise words, understand how they work in context and build...

New article and podcast episode; share and enjoy! Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better: www.hackingchinese.com/reading-is-a... #learnchinese #reading #vocabulary #srs #flashcards #wordswing

Dealing with tricky vocabulary: Killing leeches How long does it take to learn a Chinese character or word? It varies, but some vocabulary just refuses to stick, no matter what you do. These are called leeches, and if you don't deal with them, they...

Chinese characters and words that refuse to stick: Killing leeches: www.hackingchinese.com/killing-leec...

New article and podcast episode on Hacking Chinese; share and enjoy!

#learnchinese #leeches #vocabulary #flashcards #srs

The importance of knowing many words Everybody knows that having a large vocabulary is important, but how important is it for Chinese learners? And how should you go about learning more characters and words?

New podcast episode on Hacking Chinese; share and enjoy: Learning Chinese words: When quantity beats quality: www.hackingchinese.com/the-importan...

#learnchinese #vocabulary #words #characters

Remember how to write Chinese characters with less effort Chinese characters are beautiful and fascinating, but learning to write them by hand is time-consuming. If you want to learn to write Chinese characters by hand with the least possible time investment...

New article and podcast episode on Hacking Chinese; share and enjoy: A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand: www.hackingchinese.com/a-minimum-ef...

#learnchinese #characters #hanzi #handwriting #strategy

This is good to know, Ollie, and it led me to read your article on CI. I've been listening to much more Chinese every day now for a good while (at the appropriate level) & it has been so beneficial! (I was already reading quite a lot.)

4, 3, 2, 1: Fluency! A great technique to boost your Mandarin speaking ability Do you want to speak Mandarin fluently, no matter what your level is? Use the 4/3/2 technique to build confidence and flow!

New article and podcast episode: 4, 3, 2, 1: Fluency! A great technique to boost your Mandarin speaking ability: www.hackingchinese.com/4-3-2-1-flue...

#learnchinese #fluency #fluent #432 #speaking #paulnation

The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water | Hacking Chinese Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water 如魚得水   ⚡Become a fluent listener now – $128 ⚡Unlock fluent listening with personal guidance  – $288   Member area     Register before November 18 for li...

Time to level up your Mandarin listening comprehension? My course, The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water, is open for registration until November 17: www.hackingchinese.com/the-fluent-l...

#learnchinese #listening #comprehension #input #course #fluency

Chinese vocabulary challenge, November 2025 It's time for a vocabulary challenge! It starts on November 10th, so enrol, set your goal and learn as many characters and words as you can before the end of the month. This challenge is sponsored by ...

Chinese vocabulary challenge, November 10-30! This article contains tips and tricks, along with instructions for how to join (for free): www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-voca...

If you can only stay abroad for a short time, don't go immediately Going abroad to learn Chinese in an immersion environment can be great, but unless you plan to stay for years, you might be better off delaying your trip.

Going abroad to learn Chinese in an immersion environment can be great, but unless you plan to stay for years, you might be better off delaying your trip.

New podcast episode on Hacking Chinese: www.hackingchinese.com/why-not-goin...

#learnchinese #immersion #travel #abroad #home

What a big Rubik’s Cube taught me about Chinese characters How small can Chinese characters be while still being legible? How much information do they contain per unit area? And what can a big Rubik’s cube teach us about Chinese characters?

New article and podcast episode: What a big Rubik’s Cube taught me about Chinese characters: www.hackingchinese.com/what-a-big-r... #learnchinese #hanzi #characters #pixelfont #rubikscube

Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang Slang and swearing often top the list of what people want to learn in a foreign language. But is this curiosity actually helpful for learners, or just a fun distraction?

New article and podcast episode: Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang: www.hackingchinese.com/learning-not... #learnchinese #slang #vocabulary #swearing

7 ways of learning to write Chinese characters There are many ways of practising writing Chinese characters and they all have their pros and cons. In this article, I discuss seven different ways of practising and what advantages and disadvantages ...

New article and podcast episode: 7 ways of practising Chinese characters: www.hackingchinese.com/7-ways-of-le...

#learnchinese #chinesecharacters #hanzi #writing #vocabulary #typing

How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach This 12-step guide highlights common mistakes in teaching Chinese characters and explains how beginners should not be taught.

New podcast episode: How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach: www.hackingchinese.com/how-to-not-t...

#learnchinese #characters #hanzi #teaching #learning

Chinese characters with the same components in different places Chinese character components are usually placed in predictable ways. If you remember the components, you can often write the character. But not always. Some characters share components but differ only...

New article and podcast episode; share and enjoy! Same building blocks, different characters: How component placement changes meaning in Chinese: www.hackingchinese.com/chinese-char... #learnchinese
#characters #hanzi #compounds #components #composition