KAOHONGSHU

In this month’s edition: Chinese as a global language, Chinese drinking culture, cat slaves, financial advise, computerized chopsticks and last but not least: finally understanding the Chinese news.

Want to read more authentic content in Chinese? Chinese novels, short stories and children stories written for native readers? For more intermediate and advanced learners the app Readibu has plenty of good reads to offer.

This edition could be called “escape from Shanghai”. Bear with me for some more zero-covid refugee talk.

Not so long ago, Mandarin Companion surveyed over a thousand Chinese learners worldwide. They discovered six main types of Chinese learners. What kind of Chinese learner are you?

This edition is (almost) all about the lockdown in Shanghai.

How difficult is it to read the Chinese news? From which level can you start and which tools and apps are recommended? Which Chinese news media are interesting to read?

Gaming crackdown, war in Ukraine, badminton, Xi dada, freelance life in China and more. The good news: spring has finally arrived.

Chinese learners are often told 成语 (chéngyǔ), the four-character idioms, are essential to reach native-like fluency. What are these idioms exactly and how important are they?

In this edition: lying flat, the Chinese social credit system, the Olympic financials explained and Love Defense Wars (yes). Here are my February Chinese vocabulary notes.

What is #LanguageHacking? Who is Benny Lewis? Is it possible to become fluent in Mandarin in only three months? This is my review of “Language Hacking Mandarin” by Benny Lewis.

Chinese dictionary apps are much more than mere translation tools. Which Chinese dictionary app offers the best features for your money’s worth?

Omicron, lockdown in Xi’an, what Taiwanese think of China, German real estate for Chinese buyers and more. January is almost gone, Spring will soon be here!

Learning Mandarin and looking for a comprehensive overview of must-have learning resources? This is part two.

Learning Mandarin and looking for a comprehensive overview of must-have resources? This is part one.

The end of year is drawing near. I hope you had a good and productive one so far and managed to stay positive, despite of the state our world is currently in. Here are some more Chinese vocabulary notes, a double dose of omicron or 奥密克戎 included.

The HSK Standard Course books are probably the most-used books to prepare for the HSK. How useful are these books to pass the exams and are they suitable for self-study? In this article, I review the books I’ve been using for the longest time: the HSK 5 Standard Course textbooks.

The American Army takes foreign language acquisition seriously. The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is probably one of the finest foreign language schools in the world. I checked out their online database for Chinese.

Chinese hackers, programming languages, business class high-speed rail traveling, foodstreaming, Chinese facial recognition toilet paper dispensers, little pink: November has been an interesting month!

You want to read and understand Chinese texts faster? In this post, I compare DuShu and Easy Chinese News and tell you from which one your reading skills benefit the most.

October has gone, but my Chinese vocabulary notes stay!

The HSK test is a must for most Chinese learners. If you’re considering taking the HSK, you might be wondering which resources to use. These are 5 apps that help you prepare for the Chinese Proficiency Test.

Kaohongshu.blog has been online for more than two years now. In case you noticed some technical issues: It became time to move Kaohongshu to another host. Last week I migrated the blog and updated the design.

Reading skills are vital, not only for high-level proficiency of the Chinese language, but also for daily survival: from opening a bank account to ordering plane tickets. Reading is key. Here are seven ways to boost your Chinese reading ability while staying in China.

As if learning Mandarin isn’t difficult enough, many distractions creep into our lives and keep us from advancing towards our goals. Here are five things to downscale in order to become a more effective learner.

I studied Chinese in China for six months. Returning home, I felt that I had made progress, but the time wasn’t adequate to become fluent. How to continue improving your Chinese after you leave?

Interview: I talked to the co-founder of Keats Chinese language School Zier Liu (刘子尔) and asked her why students keep returning every year and how Keats adepts to the present Covid-situation.

Are you considering to learn Chinese? What speaks in favor, what speaks against learning one of the most difficult languages in the world? This is what the Mandarin learning community has to say about it.

Are Pleco flashcards worth spending 10 bucks? Are they really essential or can you learn Chinese without Pleco flashcards? Let’s have a look at the pros and cons!

What better place to learn Chinese than China: here are 10 things you can do to make the most of your learning experience in China.

“The little chickens will grow to be ducks, the ducks will become geese, and the geese will become oxen, and tomorrow will be better”.

Reading difficult Chinese texts? These two free tools assist you reading and extracting value from any Chinese text you want to study in-depth.

Should you still learn Chinese? My own answer hasn’t really changed, how about yours?