What are Chinese Vocabulary Notes? Why, and for whom? A brief introduction to this content format exploiting Chinese YouTube content to the benefit of intermediate Mandarin learners.
Every month I collect authentic Chinese spoken YouTube content, videos and discussions that contain useful vocabulary for intermediate and advanced Mandarin learners. Each Vocabulary Notes edition explains difficult words, provides context and helps you build vocabulary through real Chinese instead of textbook examples.
Table of Contents
What are Chinese Vocabulary Notes?
“Chinese Vocabulary Notes” started on this blog as a monthly feature. Essentially, I was doing what I had always done: spending a certain number of hours each month going through Chinese YouTube content to keep my listening skills sharp and stay up to date. However, at some point down the road, I decided to document this process to encourage more active listening and better retention. For lack of a better name I called the whole project “Chinese Vocabulary Notes”.
To make the content accessible to others as well, I added a few extra elements. Things like a title, a description (sometimes neutral, sometimes subjective), and an indication of the difficulty level. Alongside the video links, the core of this feature remains the vocabulary itself, comprising both individual words and full sentences, supplemented wherever possible with Pinyin and English translations.
Why Chinese Vocabulary Notes?
As a fairly heavy consumer of YouTube content, I watched hundreds of videos every year, yet I had no record whatsoever of my “viewing habits”. From a learning perspective, it is particularly frustrating not to be able to look back and review what you have heard and seen. So, I decided to “professionalize” an activity I enjoyed. To sum up the reasons:
- To expand my vocabulary in areas of interest
- To have a good reason to actively look up and retain unfamiliar vocabulary
- To maintain a monthly overview of the most interesting content – a sort of digital notebook I could keep referring back to
- To stay up to date with developments in China (bonus)
- To reflect on various topics (bonus)
In my idealism, I also hoped that other learners might benefit from this, discover something new, practice shadowing with authentic content on their level or catch the “Chinese vocabulary notes” bug themselves. I do appreciate that preferences for certain topics are completely personal.
For which language level?
Most of the content in the notes targets an (upper) intermediate to advanced level: roughly HSK levels 4 through 6 (and above). I think we can distinguish between the following types:
- authentic content by native Chinese speakers (most challenging)
- authentic content by non-native Chinese speakers (easier to follow)
- learning content created by native Chinese speakers (most adapted)
95 Percent of the content is subtitled in some form or another (Chinese, English, pinyin).
What to do with it?
The most important thing with this approach is following your interests, that is the key to everything. If the videos or topics don’t appeal to you, this section probably will not work for you.
The core idea, however, is to pick up as much useful vocabulary as possible from each video and make it your own. The vocabulary lists provide a helpful guide – even though they are not exhaustive -, for instance, for shadowing or as building blocks for discussing the content.
How it helped me
What I get out of writing this monthly column is, above all, a richer vocabulary. That, in turn, has a positive impact on both my speaking and listening skills.
That said, I don’t want to present it as a magic solution. The key to making real progress is, and always will be, repeated exposure to and practice. The real challenge is putting new words into active use, and of course the transition from “I’ve heard it and written it down” to “I know it and can use it naturally” is not always straightforward.
Still, as someone who isn’t immersed in a Chinese-speaking environment, I can honestly say that these monthly listening exercises have made a noticeable difference. They make it much easier to recall Chinese words when I’m speaking, and the language feels less distant.
Featured channels
You only have to click through the pages to discover some of my favorites, although I do try to make a point of looking for fresh channels and content:
- Mandarin Corner (for authentic interviews on Chinese topics, in the studio or on the street)
- Asian Boss in China (for raw street interviews on current affairs)
- Chinese journalist in exile Wang Zhi’An (for background and analysis regarding Chinese news)
- The best Chinese-speaking American on YouTube, LeLe Farley (for the phenomenon LeLe Farley)
Frequent topics
Numerous topics are covered, but these recur most frequently:
- Chinese society (aging society, birth rate, Chinese views and opinions)
- Chinese economy (trade war, tech war, housing market)
- Chinese politics (China’s role in world politics, US-China relations)
- Traveling (Chinese influencers traveling in China and abroad)
- Learning Chinese (tips and experiences)
A Mandarin learning adventure exploiting Chinese YouTube content
To cut a long story short: I started Chinese Vocabulary Notes in 2021, and as long as I’m still enjoying it, we’ll continue the journey of discovery with new editions. After all, it’s not just about meeting monthly listening practice quota (much like a swimmer doing laps in the pool), but just as much about discovering new topics and perspectives – learning in the broad sense and documenting the process. Feel free to join me!
