Category: Study

7 ways to upgrade your Chinese reading skills in China

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.

5 things to remove from your life to learn mandarin more effectively

5 simple things to remove from our lives to focus on Mandarin

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.

Learning Mandarin: how to continue after you leave China?

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?

Real immersion: Learning Chinese at Keats in Kunming

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.

Pleco flashcards: yes or no?

The Pleco Chinese dictionary is a crucial app for Chinese learners. What about the Pleco flashcards add-on though, is it worth spending 10 bucks? How essential is the ‘dictionary-flashcards combination’ to get to the next level(s)?

10 tips for learning Chinese in China

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.

Two free online tools to hack Chinese texts

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

Improving your Chinese writing skills on Journaly

Want to improve your Chinese writing skills and get instant feedback from native speakers? Then you might want to try the new foreign language learning platform Journaly.

“How to learn any language in six months”

Can you learn to fly a Boeing 747 in six months? Some say you can! How about languages though?

Chineasy vs Uncle Hanzi: two radical approaches to Chinese characters

What helps you to memorize Chinese characters?

Learning Chinese becoming less popular?

Is it just me? Or is studying Mandarin just not as popular as it was before?

5 apps that help you to understand and write Chinese characters

Learning Chinese characters with high-quality apps that actually help? They are rare, but do exist.

How long does it take to get HSK 6?

Five test candidates and the time they needed to prepare for HSK 6.

Getting fluent in Mandarin: Underestimating the four tones

Why the mā-má-mǎ-mà-way people typically think of the four tones is wrong.

Why you shouldn’t use Douyin (“the Chinese TikTok”) to improve your Mandarin

Can you use the Chinese version of TikTok as a tool for learning Mandarin? You cannot. Here’s why.

China’s 2020 HSK reform: How different will the new HSK be?

The HSK exam will be reformed. What we know so far…

How much Mandarin can you listen to in one month?

For one month I digitally teamed up with like-minded spirits for a Mandarin learning challenge. This is what I learned.

How hard is HSK 6?

How painstakingly difficult is the HSK 6 exam? And what do native speakers say about it?

What does your HSK level really tell about your Mandarin skills?

The HSK merry-go-round or why you shouldn’t be focused on HSK results only.

Can you learn Chinese from a textbook?

Can you become fluent by studying the whole textbook series of Integrated Chinese from beginner to advanced level? And what about learning WITHOUT a textbook?

Ideology in Chinese textbooks

Chinese learning materials have improved a lot over the last 50 years, however more often than not…

Corona virus: 口罩都卖完了!

In this post, I surf on the wave of fear and add to the panic with virus-related key vocabulary and firsthand footage from Corona-survivors.

My best tips to beat any level HSK test

These are my best tips for the HSK exam, based on my experience writing the HSK4 and HSK5 exams in China and Europe.

Should I read Chinese texts above my level?

How much of a struggle should reading really be? Check out these tips and start accelerating today.

Recommended: You Can Learn Chinese Podcast

I’m talking about the You Can Learn Chinese Podcast. It’s an expert panel for everything related to learning Mandarin.

Studying Mandarin: politics and motivation

Is China’s restored self-confidence and CCP led nationalism demotivating people to learn Chinese?

Learning Chinese with flashcards: Anki vs Pleco

You are serious about learning Chinese and use spaced repetition to support your vocabulary learning? What’s the best flashcard app out there?

PRC turns 70 speech: Xi Jinping’s top 10 most used words

What happens if you run Xi Jinping’s 2019 PRC anniversary speech through a Chinese text analyzer?

Why I don’t believe in Chinese character tests

I found out that I know between 1600 and 3434 Chinese characters. But it could be more, of course. Or less…

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Pleco’s graded reader: Journey to the West

Pleco’s abridged version of “Journey to the West” offers a well-priced and swift way to immortality which can be bought in your local app store.

“Dutch Mandarin” Robert van Gulik

“He was always immersing himself in the traditional culture of the country in which he was staying”.

Chinese reading skills: does offline reading beat online reading?

Online reading is becoming increasingly important for language learning. Do we still need books to learn Chinese?