The biggest obstacle to mastering Mandarin for many people is its writing system. In a previous post, I focused on deep-rooted bad practices surrounding the study of Chinese characters. A relevant topic, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel. So what does work? In my own quest to improve my command of Hanzi, I found two interesting approaches: one is the well-known “Chineasy method”, the other is the “Uncle Hanzi way”.This is what you can learn from them.
The “Chineasy Method”
Visual mnemonics
Shaolan’s elevator pitch-like introduction to Chineasy (TED talk, 2013)
The Chineasy approach is to put Hanzi into a visual context and memorize them with the help of illustrations that depict the character’s meaning. Shaolan Hsueh, the entrepreneur behind Chineasy, managed to exploit this idea commercially better than anyone else. Chineasy’s impressive design and Shaolan’s smart marketing campaign even helped popularizing Mandarin and Hanzi abroad. For the first time, it seemed, someone had come up with an unique method for Chinese characters that makes them learnable for almost anyone.
Chineasy – a serious learning resource?
But is Chineasy really a “language learning system” as it says on Wikipedia? To what extent does it teach you to read and write Hanzi? It’s hard to ignore that some Mandarin teachers and other experts have pointed out some serious flaws:
Source: Chineasy on Amazon
Chineasy teaches all characters as if they were pictographs. Pictographs are easy to explain (my teachers have been guilty of this kind of cherry-picking too), but unfortunately they only make up around 5% of all characters. This is misleading.
These characters don’t necessarily match the most frequently used characters which is unpractical for learners.
Chineasy mixes traditional and simplified characters for convenience. This is not best practice. Especially for beginners, it’s much less confusing to stick with either simplified or traditional characters.
Chineasy overreaches when it calls itself a “learning method” or “system”. It’s not a system, it’s rather a learning technique put into practice. It reaches its limits pretty soon though.
Visual mnemonics can be helpful
That being said, the visual approach exemplified by Chineasy can be useful. Associating a certain image with a character or its individual components makes memorizing Hanzi less of a struggle. It all boils down to this: Chinese characters have to make sense when you learn them. Yes, Chineasy’s approach is quite random at large and disregards the composition and history of the character, but applying some form of visual mnemonics is much more effective than blindly memorizing meaning and stroke order, especially when you’ve just started out.
The “Uncle Hanzi Way”
Richard Sears – also known as 汉字叔叔: “I found that almost all Chinese had learned to read and write by absolute blind memorization and almost no one had a clue where the characters actually came from.“
Obsessed with the origin and history of Chinese characters
In the long run though, we shouldn’t stick with random images and stories. Instead, we should try to get the characters “right”. That means caring about their origin and history. Let’s discuss the second approach.
“Uncle Hanzi” is the nickname of Richard Sears, an American physicist, who has been obsessed with the origin and history of Chinese characters for most of his life. He created an online database of more than 96.000 ancient Chinese characters called hanziyuan.net.
In his own words: “At age 40, I got the idea that I needed to computerize the origins of Chinese characters so that I could sort out the crap from the truth. I started researching but did not get started actually doing it. At age 44 I had a near-fatal heart attack and after recovering, but not knowing when I might die, I decided I must get started.” At hanziyuan.net you can trace back the composition and meaning of almost any character to its origins as far as they are known. Take 家 (house) for example:
The search results from hanziyuan.net for 家
Getting back to the source
“Uncle Hanzi” is an extremely interesting case, because he doesn’t come from the field of sinology and seems to be a lone wolf fueled by a hardcore obsession with Hanzi. (Just imagine a sociologist investing 30 years of his life into die-hard quantum mechanics research). Sears obviously wasn’t satisfied with blindly memorizing characters or Chineasy-style mnemonics. He wanted to grasp the “logic” and understand the origins. After all, the ancient Chinese didn’t just “make them up” as they went along according to Sears.
He also argues that practically all the first characters would have been pictographs which evolved and became more abstract over time. In other words, what today seems abstract, used to represent something concrete which we should try to understand to make our lives easier. The case of 家 (a pig under a roof) illustrates this.
Of course, it’s going to slow us down when we take a history tour for each new character, but I’m convinced that the more solid our foundations are the easier it becomes to add new layers. But how to put the “Uncle Hanzi Method” into practice?
How Pleco and Outlier Linguistics can help
The dictionary app Pleco (partly) supports this learning method by breaking down each character into its components. That’s good for a start, but doesn’t give you the full story like the example of 名 shows. Its components don’t add up to its meaning (name), so there must be more to tell here.
For those who want to gain insight into the etymology of Chinese characters, there’s a practical solution called Outlier Linguistics. Their dictionaries help you understand the history of Chinese characters that most Mandarin teachers fail to explain. You don’t need to install another dictionary app by the way, because they come as add-ons for Pleco in a “Mini” and “Essentials” edition. For most people this is probably overkill, but for serious Hanzi learners quick access to etymological basics might well be the key to progress. This is how I see it: the more profound your understanding of Hanzi, the easier it becomes to grasp and memorize new characters. They’ll start to make sense.
The Outlier Essentials Edition should get you a long way:
2700+ characters as of newest update (plus regular updates until they reach 4000)
Simplified and Traditional characters
Detailed explanation for every character
Stroke order for all 4000 characters
Meaning tree for every character showing how different meanings relate to each other
Ancient forms for all semantic components
The dictionary (meaning add-on for Pleco) looks like this:
If you want to take a closer look, you can check out the demo version.
Conclusion
The “Chineasy method” and “Uncle Hanzi’s approach” both have their merits. Putting characters into a visual context does help, just like developing a basic understanding of their origin and history does.
Actually, to zoom out for a moment: we’re not really talking about methods, but learning techniques linked to different levels of understanding and experience. Mandarin expert Olle Linge came up with 5 different levels of understanding Chinese characters which gives us something to hang on to. I added Chineasy and Uncle Hanzi in brackets. Most of us are somewhere in the middle of this scale:
Inventing pictures that disregard composition and structure of characters (Chineasy)
Creating stories and associations that obscure functional components
Using superficial pictures while being aware of functional components
Using superficial pictures and encoding functional components
Etymologically correct mnemonics with no shortcuts (Uncle Hanzi)
I’d label myself with level 3, although it differs from case to case. I know I’m nowhere as good as I could be with serious studying. Taking some inspiration from Uncle Hanzi, I keep aiming for level 5. I do hope though that it won’t take me 30 years to get there!
What’s your take on Chineasy? Does it work for you? Do you think Chinese characters have logic like that can be understood if you study them long enough? Please feel free to leave a comment down below.
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Not so very long ago, probably around January this year, I was working on an article with the cheap yet upbeat title “10 reasons to learn Chinese in 2020”. Then 2020 came along, bulldozed my plan and the article died an early death. What bothered me the most though: I simply couldn’t think of any convincing reasons why 2020 should be the year to study Mandarin!
Was it just me? Or maybe studying Mandarin is just not as popular as it was before? I had to find out and looked at some data from trends.google.com that I want to share with you in this post. This website plots the popularity of any given search term on Google over time. The results were shocking.
Google data: popularity of learning Mandarin is in decline
Search term “learn Chinese”
Global search volume for “learn Chinese” on Google ( 2004 – 2020) (Source: Google Trends)
I simply entered “learn Chinese”. What we see on the whole is a more or less steady decline, starting from 2005 (!), with a little peak at the beginning 2020 due to the Covid-19-pandemic. But could it really be that in 2005 studying Mandarin was more popular than say 2015? I had to have another try with a less vague search term.
Search term “learn Chinese for beginners”
Global search volume for “learn Chinese for beginners” on Google ( 2004 – 2020) (Source: Google Trends)
What I got was more or less the same picture, the line dropping with ups and downs until 2013, then climbing up a little and then almost stabilizing on a low level. To get a more complete impression, I consulted the data for YouTube as well.
Popularity of learning Chinese on YouTube
Global search volume for “learn Mandarin” on YouTube (2008 – 2020) (Source: Google Trends)
As everybody knows YouTube has developed into an important platform for language learning, Mandarin Chinese being no exception. The YouTube data surprisingly shows a different picture. Between 2009 and 2017, the number of people looking for content to learn Chinese fluctuates on a relatively high level. Then the frequency of the search term suddenly drops in July 2017 with no sign of recovery. The exact same thing we get for the search term “learn Chinese”:
Search volume for “learn Chinese” on YouTube (2008 – 2020) (Source: Google Trends)
Just to double check, I entered the search term “living in China”, only to discover the same “crash” in July 2017:
Search volume for “Living in China” on YouTube (2008 – 2020) (Source: Google Trends)
What happened in 2017?
The YouTube data clearly indicates a downward trend that sets in from July 2017 and continues until this day. What happened in 2017 that had such on impact? My best guess is that Trump and the Sino-American Trade War happened, leading to much insecurity.
Is China’s restored self-confidence and CCP led nationalism demotivating people to learn Chinese?
What about individual countries?
I chose to examine Google’s “global data” using English search terms. How about individual countries though?
Vietnam
United Kingdom
Germany
Canada
Australia
USA
To my surprise, the general trend in these six countries is very similar. All charts indicate that the popularity of Mandarin is in decline.
Validity of data from Google Trends
I’m still not completely sure if the data give an accurate picture of the situation. It could for example well be that people’s search behavior on Google has become more sophisticated over time, which would (partly) explain the decreasing popularity of a search term “learn Chinese”. The YouTube data is probably more significant, but we still require more indicators to satisfyingly answer the question. HSK statistics revealing how many people have been taking the standard Mainland Chinese test over the last decade could be insightful for example. Let’s have a quick look.
HSK exam growing in popularity
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any up-to-date numbers, but the overall trend points towards growing popularity of the HSK exam:
This China Daily article even mentions 6.8 million test takers in 2018:
The HSK exams, a test of Chinese language proficiency organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, or Hanban, were taken 6.8 million times in 2018, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Education said on Friday.
These HSK statistics obviously contradict the data I found and are somewhat reassuring, since it’s only logical that the language of a growing superpower has increasing significance in the world. And even though the interest in Mandarin may be waning in some parts of the world, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this a global trend. Take a look at African countries like Zambia for example where starting from 2020, Mandarin Chinese will form part of the Zambian high school curriculum.
Learning Mandarin becoming less popular – so what?
To end on a positive note here: even if it is true that fewer people are interested in studying Mandarin, why should we care? After all, when Mandarin skills and Chinese cultural competence are becoming more rare, people who do possess them become even more valuable. We need people who are proficient in the language and understand China’s culture and history. We have lots of challenges still ahead.
Is studying Mandarin becoming less popular? What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Looking for a more or less comprehensive overview of learning resources for Mandarin Chinese? I hope this list can help you to find the tools you need or try out something new. It’s the product of my own experience learning Chinese and blogging here on Kaohongshu.
PS. Of course this list isn’t complete and it probably never will be. Please let me know if any relevant Mandarin Chinese resources are missing or if I should correct any information provided here.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Best Mandarin Chinese Learning Resources for Tones
“Speaking Chinese but without the tones”? Just kidding. If you’re working on your pronunciation, these links can help.
Hacking Chinese – A practical guide to Pinyin by Mandarin expert and teacher Olle Linge, explaining common traps and pitfalls. [free]
Chinese Pronunciation Wiki – Online resource for pronunciation, tones, and Pinyin sorted by language level (A1, A2, B1). Extensive resource that is still growing. [free]
Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills – Progressive method that helps elementary and intermediate students practice tone pairs, designed by John Pasden. [free]
Mandarin Tone Trainer – Online exercises to train recognition and pronunciation of Mandarin tones. [free / $$$]
ViewVoice – Chinese app that allows you to record your voice and compare your pronunciation to that of native speakers. [free / $$$]
Pinyin Master – Gamified app that helps improve pronunciation and listening skills by comparing similar sounding words which are easily mistaken. [free]
SpeakGoodChinese – Browser application to train Mandarin tones, offers instant visual feedback and tips for your pronunciation. Voice settings can be problematic. [free]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Listening Material
The good news: there’s an overabundance of Chinese spoken audio. The bad news: it’s hard to find “comprehensible input” that fits your interests and language level. Here’s an overview of podcasts, Chinese music and audiobooks.
Mandarin Chinese learning resources: Podcasts
Mandarin Chinese podcasts for beginners
ChinesePod – An enormous library of podcasts [free / $$$]
Here’s an overview of Mandarin spoken audiobook websites. Most audiobooks found here definitely qualify for advanced listening. For learners that haven’t reached that level yet listening to the audio of graded readers might proof a better choice.
Ximalaya – The audiobooks from the popular Chinese website Ximalaya are mostly free of charge. You can find books like children’s tale The Little Prince, the best-seller The Alchemist or the famous Chinese novel To Live and even oral Chinese class listening material (and lots and lots more). Mostly advanced listening. [free / $$$]
得到 (Dedao) – This Mainland Chinese app is a popular knowledge serving platform that provides online audio courses and podcasts with transcripts, also available as browser application. Some podcasts are for free. Mostly advanced listening. [free / $$$]
lrts.me – Like Ximalaya this website is entirely in Hanzi, but you can enjoy an impressive supply of audiobooks like Sherlock holmes and Franz Kafka. [free]
diantai.ifeng – Collection of classics and more modern works of Chinese literature, advanced listening. [free]
LibriVox – Chinese audiobook collection, advanced listening. [free]
Loyalbooks – Here you find some Chinese classics by Lu Xun and other works, advanced listening. [free]
Audible Chinese audiobook collection – Audible collection of Chinese audiobooks, plenty of choice and probably easier to find what you’re looking for, mostly advanced listening. [free / $$$]
tv.cctv.com/live – Watch live Mainland Chinese television just like you’re in China. [free]
iQiyi – Mainland Chinese video platform based in Beijing. [free / $$$]
Tencent Video – Mainland Chinese video streaming website, also available in English. [free / $$$]
viki.com – American video streaming website that specializes on Asian TV shows and movies, with English subtitles. [free / $$$]
tv.sohu.com – Mainland Chinese video platform based in Beijing. [free / $$$]
ifsp.tv – Movies, series, documentaries and more, usually lacking English subtitles for Chinese. Many “non-Chinese” content with Mandarin subtitles. [free]
PPTV – Mainland Chinese video streaming website. [free / $$$]
56.com and Tudou – Mainland Chinese video sharing websites, both headquartered in Shanghai, where users can upload, view and share video clips. [free]
Mandarin Chinese learning resources: TV shows and series
This is my selection of some commonly recommended Mandarin spoken TV shows and series.
Mandarin Chinese TV shows and series for beginners
爸爸去哪儿 – popular TV-series called “Dad where are we going?”
Mandarin Chinese TV shows and series for intermediate learners
外国人在中国 – CCTV docuseries about foreigners living in China
爱情保卫战 – Mainland Chinese live-show where couples fight out their problems on stage (2010)
Happy Chinese – educational melodrama produced by the Chinese TV channel CCTV to teach Mandarin to foreigners (2009)
新葫蘆兄弟 – newer adaptation of the Chinese cartoon “Huluwa” (2016)
惹上冷殿下 – Mainland Chinese “idol drama” called “Accidentally in Love” (2018)
绅探 – Detective series set in Shanghai in the 30s called “Detective L” (2019)
我的前半生 – Mainland Chinese drama series called “The First Half of my Life” (2017)
欢乐颂 – A Mainland Chinese drama about five women who live on the 22nd floor of an apartment complex in Shanghai called “Ode To Joy” (2016)
爱情公寓 – a sitcom from Mainland China called “iPartment” (2009)
下一站是幸福 – Mainland Chinese television series about a love story between an accomplished career woman and a younger man, English title: “Find yourself” (2020)
我只喜欢你 – Mainland Chinese TV-series called “Le Coup De Foudre” (2019)
世界青年说 – Mainland Chinese talk-show that hosts a panel of foreigners living in China, holding discussions in Mandarin on various topics and issues called “A Bright World” (2015)
奔跑吧兄弟 – Mainland Chinese reality game show called “Running Man” (2014-2016)
Mandarin Chinese TV shows and series for advanced learners
锵锵三人行 – Famous talk show produced in Hongkong (1998 – 2017)
铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 – This Mainland Chinese historical television series is about philosopher-politician Ji Xiaolan and based on events during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing dynasty. English title: “The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan” (2002 – 2010)
雍正王朝 – Mainland Chinese historical television series called “Yongzheng Dynasty” (1999)
走向共和 – Mainland Chinese historical television series about the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China called “For the Sake of the Republic” (2003)
人民的名义 – Mainland Chinese TV drama series about government corruption, considered as the Chinese version of House of Cards. English title: “In the Name of the People” (2017)
精英律师 – Mainland Chinese drama series called “The Gold Medal Lawyer” (2019)
都挺好 – Mainland Chinese family called “All is well” (2019)
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese on YouTube
Chinese lessons on YouTube
These YouTube channels offer Mandarin video lessons and are worth checking out. Difficulty level, use of English, teaching experience, teaching style and pace vary. In my personal YouTube top 10 I discuss them in more detail.
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Textbooks
中文听说读写| Integrated Chinese – Mandatory textbook for introductory Mandarin in many college-level language programs in the USA, consisting of four volumes (1, 2, 3, 4) with text-, work- and character workbook.
New Practical Chinese Reader – Set of textbooks that progressively teaches reading, writing and listening. It consists of 70 lessons in six volumes (text- and workbook), covering beginning to intermediate levels for three years of instruction (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
实用视听华语 | Practical Audio Visual Chinese – Taiwanese Textbook series consisting of 5 volumes, non-simplified characters and annotated with Pinyin, Zhuyin (BoPoMoFo) and Tongyong Pinyin.
How To Learn Chinese: A Guide To Unlocking Mandarin – A practical guide to learn and understand Chinese characters, explaining the evolution of the characters without oversimplifying or Chineasy style mnemonics.
Best Mandarin Chinese Learning Resources: Chinese learning forums
Chinese learning forums: here you can ask questions, share knowledge and connect with other learners. You got a particular Mandarin learning problem you’re struggling with? You need help with a translation? Here you’ll probably find the right answer and the help you need.
Chinese Forums – Longstanding forum for learners of the Chinese language. It’s hard to find a Mandarin-related topic that hasn’t been covered on this forum.
Chinese Stack Exchange – Another longstanding forum for students, teachers, and linguists discussing the ins and outs of the Chinese language. Extensive list of topics and questions.
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Dictionaries
Mandarin Chinese learning resources: Dictionary apps
Pleco – Dictionary app with handwriting recognition, Hanzi stroke animations, audio pronunciation, document reader, flashcard system (premium feature), full-screen handwriting input and live camera-based character search (premium feature) and other features. [free / $$$]
Hanping Chinese Dictionary Lite – Dictionary app with Chinese handwriting recognition, Hanzi stroke animations, audio pronunciation, soundboard for Pinyin and other features [free] or Hanping Chinese Dictionary Pro with even more Hanzi stoke animations, AnkiDroid Flashcards support and additional premium features. [$$$]
Chinese Pinyin Converter – Not a dictionary but a tool that helps you reading difficult texts by adding Pinyin, highlighting tones, extracting vocabulary lists etc. [free]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Grammar
Yes, Mandarin Chinese does have grammar.
Chinese Grammar Wiki – Comprehensive overview of grammar points by John Pasden. It’s probably the best online resource for Chinese grammar (also available in print, 527 pages). [free]
Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar – Practical book answers many questions about Chinese grammar in a concise fashion, from beginner level to intermediate (128 pages).
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Reading Material
When it comes to improving your reading skills in Mandarin the main challenge is to find proper texts that suit your level and needs. Paid online resources tend to offer a wider range of materials and additional features. Below I listed some free and paid resources with an indication of their difficulty level.
Mandarin Chinese reading resources: Free online resources
Mandarin Chinese reading resources: Non-free online resources
The Chairman’s Bao – Comprehensive news-based graded reader for students of Chinese, lots of new articles added weekly (all levels)
Du Chinese – Popular Mandarin reading app, intuitive and practical interface, includes English translations (all levels)
Mandarin Chinese reading resources: Graded readers and more
One thing that cannot be stressed enough is the importance of reading when learning Mandarin, especially so-called extensive reading, which is basically reading as broadly as you can within your level. Not just for more advanced learners, but for beginners too! That’s where graded readers come in. They help your brain to adapt to Hanzi, speed up your reading and – perhaps most importantly – to grow your vocabulary.
Graded Chinese Reader by Shi Ji is a Chinese language reader that contains abridged versions of short stories and novellas written by contemporary Chinese writers. The series covers beginner up to intermediate level (500 words, 1000 words, 1500 words, 2500 words, 3000 words). My own copy came with an insert to cover the Pinyin above the characters.
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Flashcards & Vocabulary Training
The following apps operate with a spaced repetition system to help you handle large quantities of new vocabulary. Each has its unique features:
Pleco – Its built-in flashcard system allows you to create flashcards quickly based on dictionary entries. Very comfortable if Pleco is already your dictionary of choice. The flashcard feature is a paid add-on module that includes HSK word lists. [$$$]
Skritter – Skritter (for Android and iOS) also provides a built-in flashcard system and lots of pre-made word lists to choose from. The app does a good job on introducing new vocabulary with examples too. Skritter’s “core business” is improving Hanzi writing skills though. [$$$]
Anki – Supposedly less user-friendly, but very effective flashcard tool once you know how this free computer software works. Plenty of shared decks for Chinese provided by other learners you can profit from. Anki is also available as app for Android (free) and iOS ($$$).
Daily Chinese – Simple & effective vocabulary trainer providing helpful ready-made word lists for intermediate and advanced learners who want to expand their vocabulary in specific areas, from economics to sports and computer software. [free / $$$]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Writing Characters
Learn to write Chinese characters by using “old-fashioned” books or an app like Skritter that instantly corrects every wrong stroke or dot (and more beyond):
Skritter – Probably is the number-one application for writing and understanding Chinese characters, also well-known for its spaced repetition supported vocabulary training. [free / $$$]
Scripts by Drops – A popular app that introduces Chinese characters and radicals, offering a gamified learning experience for visual learners. [free / $$$]
Daily Mandarin – A very basic app, designed to practice writing all level HSK characters. [free]
Kangxi – A game-based app that helps you group characters by their radicals. [free]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Apps for Mandarin Chinese
A selection of popular and less popular apps that give a taste of the language and help expand your Mandarin skills in an entertaining way.
HelloChinese – A gamified learning app for absolute beginners with many free lessons. [free / $$$]
LingoDeer – Language learning app that offers a solid introduction to beginners, many features behind paywall, similar to Duolingo. [free / $$$]
NinChanese – A gamified learning platform that is based on the HSK curriculum. [free / $$$]
Pandanese – Vocabulary training platform, browser-only, with free trial. [free / $$$]
Drops – Learn vocabulary through mini-games and mnemonics, free version is limited to one 5-minute session per day. [free / $$$]
Memrise– A gamified flashcard app that uses spaced repetition to support your vocabulary learning. [free / $$$]
Learn Chinese – ChineseSkill – A learning app for Mandarin Chinese beginners offering a variety of mini-lessons. [free / $$$]
Infinite Chinese – A learning app based on interactive mini-games. [free]
Super Chinese – A gamified learning app with animated videos and thematic lessons. [free / $$$]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: Online Tutors and Language Partners
Tutoring platforms help to match teachers to students who want to learn a new language. They allow you to book classes directly with a (Chinese) teacher. Usually, these lessons are more like complementary learning sessions than a structured, step-by-step course.
Italki – An online tutoring platform with probably the biggest range of teachers to choose from. [$$$]
Verbling – An online tutoring platform similar to Italki. [$$$]
Preply – Find native speakers and certified private tutors. [$$$]
Amazingtalker – An online tutoring platform that connects students with language teachers. [$$$]
HelloTalk – Phone app for finding language tandem partners. [free]
Instant Mandarin – A 1-to-1 online Chinese learning platform with certified Chinese tutors [$$$]
Best Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese: HSK
Official Website – Doesn’t look very fancy, but this is the official Hanban site where you can register for HSK tests and find a modest selection of mock exams.
HSK mock exams – They help you prepare for the actual test.
From the great number of apps that claim to boost your Mandarin skills only a few focus specifically on understanding and writing Chinese characters. I tested five of them and only one application really convinced me.Here’s my top 5 of apps for learning Hanzi.
Learning Chinese characters is difficult. In my view, it’s not so much the ancient writing system itself that poses a problem, but primarily the teaching and study methods we use for Hanzi which can be awful. Even in this decade of the 21st century, lots of people continue to “binge-write” Hanzi (for example write the character 爱 30 times) hoping that this somehow is enough for our brain. There’s nothing wrong with diligence, is this really the best method we got though?
Let’s imagine for one second that our best teaching methods and study practices can flow into an app that makes learning Hanzi easier, more efficient and fun, both for beginners and more experienced learners. Which apps can meet these straightforward qualifications?
5. Daily Mandarin
88.8 MB, iOS only
Daily Mandarin is a very basic app designed to practice writing all level HSK characters and uhm.. that’s about it. You simply open one of the six well-known HSK-vocabulary lists in the app, select a character you want to practice and the app will show the stroke order and play the audio. If you feel you’re getting the hang of it, hide the stroke order. Additionally, you can look up characters with the search function. The app is completely free.
Unlike Scripts, Daily Mandarin is not very practical in terms of daily use. Where to start with 5000 characters to learn? How to memorize them all? These questions need answering, but Daily Mandarin doesn’t give any clues, let alone any form of spaced repetition. It’s pretty much like being handed a dictionary. This reveals a lack of didactic considerations on the side of the developers. Besides, they could have made the character writing smoother.
Bottom line: Daily Mandarin is a potentially helpful app, but how to properly use it remains unclear.
4. Scripts
31 MB, Android and iOS
Scripts by Drops is a popular app for introducing you to new writing systems, Chinese Hanzi being one of them. It’s designed for a gamified learning experience, making the first steps into the world of Hanzi as amusing and colorful as possible.
The free version allows you to learn the most common radicals, including stroke order, visualized meaning and pronunciation, for five minutes. After this 5-minute session you have to wait for ten hours to have another go. Why? Well, to quote the app developers:
Limiting learning time may sound counter-intuitive but it makes Drops Scripts incredibly addictive. And that’s a good thing in terms of language learning. The obstacles standing in your way of finally starting to read and write in a new language are made obsolete. No excuses: you ALWAYS have 5 minutes!
Addiction in this particular case indeed isn’t a bad thing. Being limited to 5-minute sessions is though. The only solution – you guessed it – is to upgrade to the premium version which offers you:
Access to BOTH Scripts and Drops Premium
Unlimited practice session times
More topics
No ads and offline access
Which – to be honest – is not that spectacular – assuming we’re only interested in writing Hanzi (Scripts) and less in learning vocabulary (Drops). Browsing the free version of Scripts I merely noticed the usual list of Hanzi radicals which you can find almost anywhere. What’s more, study all of them is not necessary for beginners – apart from being pretty dull – since most radicals are character components, not actual characters that you use on a daily basis! Moreover, you first have to know a substantial number of Chinese characters to grasp and appreciate the actual use of (all) radicals. So for me to purchase the premium version I’d definitely need to see a broader variety of content first.
Apart from this lack of vocabulary, the biggest downside is – as we now know – intended: the 5-minute session limit. This makes the free version almost useless for beginners, because 5 minutes simply isn’t enough. Going premium currently costs €5/month (yearly subscription) or € 8.49 (monthly subscription).
3. Kangxi
Size 12,9 MB, free, iOS only
Kangxi is a fun app which focuses on radicals. Basically it’s a game in which you match characters with the same radical as quick as you can. There are five HSK levels to choose from, audio and traditional characters included. It’s a quick and painless method to boost your knowledge of radicals and certainly worth a try.
The only issue I have with the Kangxi app is that in some cases knowing the radical isn’t very advantageous. The developer arguably could have picked more ‘meaningful’ semantic components instead, but then the app wouldn’t be called Kangxi, I suppose.
2. Hanzi Study
Size 11 MB, Android only
This app should be called HSK Hanzi Study, since it ‘only’ contains the 2600 characters from the HSK-test (2.0). Hanzi study provides you with a self-paced learning structure that breaks down all that vocabulary into manageable bits, namely 6 grades with a X number of lessons.
HSK 1 consists of 9 lessons teaching you 20 words each for example. The characters in each lesson seem to be randomly put together, which in my opinion is just as good or bad as alphabetic order. You get a short “briefing” for each new character, showing:
Example sentences
Stroke order and stroke count
Radical of each character
Frequency
That’s nice! Here comes the ‘but’:
Upgrade needed for the test function (€2.09)
No audio in the free version
Example sentences are too difficult for beginners
Can’t remove Pinyin during test, no traditional characters
The app isn’t complete without the test / flashcard function. Without it, you’re only able to preview the lessons, but can’t track or indeed test your progress.
1. Skritter
Size 30 MB, for Android and iOS
Yes, yes. Skritter. For anybody serious about mastering writing Chinese characters Skritter is the best app I’ve used so far, but also one of the most expensive (monthly subscription $14.99, yearly subscription $99.99). But if you’re really invested in Mandarin and thinking long-term, Skritter probably is the number-one tool for writing Hanzi and vocabulary training.
I know this introduction has an affiliate marketing tone to it, but that’s how I feel about Skritter. It’s worth checking Skritter’s browser version and especially the app. The free version naturally only offers a small taste of Skritter’s functions, where as premium subscribers get the full deal:
Learn to write Chinese characters and deepen your understanding of Hanzi (radicals, semantic components, stroke order)
Lots of content (HSK, commonly used textbooks and decks created by users)
Learning history and progress tracking
Master characters in three steps: learn, test and review with spaced repetition (this order is actually pedagogically responsible which can’t be said for all learning tools)
Skritter’s little game ‘Time Attack’: test your writing skills in a race against time (lots of fun, even for natives who want to refresh their handwriting)
It’s the kind of language tool I wished I had discovered earlier, because – let’s be honest here – I wasted insane amounts of time studying Hanzi with old-fashioned methods, writing, rewriting and then forgetting them again. I believe Skritter – when used properly – can ‘professionalize’ this whole process and make it more efficient and rewarding.
You not only save, but you also win time, since you can use Skritter to study anywhere and anytime you feel like it. Skritter’s SRS also makes it much harder to forget what you learned. SRS is never perfect, but it’s much better than studying at whim and more efficient in the long run. Furthermore, the app allows you to keep track of your progress, so you know exactly where you’re at and what you’ve been learning.
Does Skritter have to be so expensive? Well, I don’t know, but as far as I can tell it’s the only serious tool for writing Chinese characters on the market. Ultimately, you have to decide for yourself if Skritter works for you and whether or not is its money’s worth.
Of course this is list is far from complete. Which apps have been particularly helpful to your Hanzi adventure? Any apps that should be included in this list? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Is learning to write Chinese characters an uphill battle to you? No problem, it’s normal to rethink your approach to Hanzi. And while you’re at it, you might want to exclude these 7 bad practices from your personal learning habits.
“Do you really have to be able to write Chinese characters? Like all of them?”
I’ll be honest with you, I wasted a lot of time studying Hanzi. It took me a long time to figure out that in most cases it’s really the sound and meaning component that count. Sound for pronunciation, meaning for understanding.
So far on this blog I haven’t covered the topic of learning to write Chinese characters. The reason for this is simple: I don’t have a practical and effective method for memorizing Hanzi that I can share (if there is one). BUT – a blogpost by Olle Linge from Hacking Chinese at least helped me understand why I haven’t been particularly successful at writing characters. This is my list of bad practices and terrible advice I was personally exposed to.
Just to be clear: learning to write characters from a writing system that evolved over thousands of years clearly can’t be done in a day. For a large part we have to take it for what is: hard, interesting but also largely frustrating effort. Some practices and commonly given advice make it even harder though, harder than it needs to be.
Olle already made it clear that this isn’t about bashing teachers or the education system they operate in. This is about what doesn’t work and shouldn’t be part of your Hanzi learning strategy.
Wrong advice NR. 1: Just learn them by rote and you’ll understand!
I guess I started as helpless as almost everybody else: I was supposed to learn my first set of characters, but no one told me what’s the best (or worst) way to go about it. Almost as if learning to write Hanzi is a self-explanatory practice. Just do it and you’ll discover the logic, cause logic is what ties the Chinese writing system together, right?
My teacher would sometimes write new characters on the blackboard and then – annoyingly – say something along the lines of “see how easy?”, making us feel like a bunch of kids instructed to cook some exquisite dish, even though we’d never even washed salad or boiled an egg before. At least knowing the difference between semantic and phonetic components could have made a big difference.
Not all teachers take the time to focus on such essential details or they do once or twice and then never mention them again. They think you’ll figure out by yourself. At least my teachers mostly did. They didn’t have a step-by-step approach that starts with A, moves on to B and C etc. (Maybe this complete guide to learning Hanzi doesn’t exist (yet)!)
Wrong advice NR. 2: Learn as many new characters as you can every day!
Most of my teachers never gave me a clear goal. Should I learn 5, 10 or 20 every day? How many a week? How do I still remember 200 characters by the end of the month? Is 200 a reasonable number or is 100 more realistic? The closest I ever came to a realistic goal was during my semester in China: 40 new characters every week and dictation every Thursday.
That actually worked quite well, although I would have forgotten how to write most of them after two weeks. Why? I didn’t understand enough about the semantic and phonetic components. My understanding was too shallow. To effectively memorize Hanzi, they have to be meaningful to you in some way. That can mean inventing little stories about how their components play together OR (in the long run) knowing the components’ actual meaning.
Wrong advice NR. 3: Hanzi are like pictures!
This is my favorite advice which I heard many, many times; even from teachers who should know better, but are tempted by the convenience of this idea. The “Chineasy method” is also based on this claim. Here’s what’s wrong with it: pictograms are highly stylized and simplified pictures of material objects, but only a small minority of characters actually falls into this category. Most of them don’t work this way. These three do:
Actual pictograms! (Source screenshot: wikipedia)
But this one doesn’t:
Biáng, a kind of noodle in Shaanxi
And that goes for most of them. They are too complex to be reduced to a simple picture. That’s why this advice is well-intended, but extremely misleading. Let me know if you had different experiences.
Wrong advice NR. 4: Write every new character a 100 times!
Writing each new character over and over
Yes, my teachers told me this too. The number always varied. According to one teacher, writing each new character 30 to 50 times would do the trick. The next time, this laoshi told me, my hand would write out the character automatically. Just like playing a song on the guitar from memory (after practicing it over and over), it would come out naturally. Well, for me this method only resulted in (temporarily) losing all interest for Hanzi. It’s particularly useless when you have to memorize a whole bunch of new characters in one session like on the page above. I would often mix up elements from the previous ones and create entirely new characters.
Wrong advice NR. 5: Learn the radicals!
My teachers used to stress the importance of learning the radicals to me. From all the bad advice listed here, this one is probably the least useless. But it’s a little confusing: In the not so distant past, when people still used paper dictionaries, you’d look up a character by its radical, because dictionaries were sorted that way. Therefore it made sense to single out the radical in each character. Nowadays (almost) no one cares about them any more, unless you are actually talking about semantic components. It does make sense to look for the main semantic component in a character to discover its meaning.
Wrong advice NR. 6: forget about digital tools!
Can you imagine that not any of my Chinese teachers ever mentioned apps like Pleco, Hanping, Anki or Skritter to me? It was a fellow student who back in the day introduced me to Skritter and Pleco. Unfortunately, my Chinese teachers had rather old-fashioned notions about learning Hanzi, almost as if there’s only one valid way: the traditional Chinese way! That’s how we learned writing characters when we were young. That worked for millennia, so why shouldn’t it work for you? They didn’t encourage the use of apps. I doubt that they ever tested Pleco and the like.
Wrong advice NR. 7: Write every new character you encounter!
I remember a teacher telling us that we should be able to write every character from that day’s text. That was already bad enough, but every new character you see on the page? What a complete waste of time. I’m glad I never did that.
So what does work?
That’s for all the methods that from my personal experience don’t work. You’re welcome to disagree with me or share methods that do work! Let’s have a try:
First concentrate on Pinyin, pronunciation and tones (plus basic vocabulary). Don’t start with Chinese characters right away.
To end on a positive note: I’m pretty sure smart minds will improve the way we learn and think of Chinese characters in the time to come.
Please feel free to comment your least (or most) effective Hanzi study method.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
In a previous post I tried to answer the question how difficult the current HSK 6 exam is. Now I want to find out how long it takes to get to that level.
Obviously, the duration of the climb towards HSK 6 depends on many factors I don’t want to go into here, but for example: what’s your starting point? How much experience do you have learning foreign languages and different writing systems? Can you immerse yourself in the target language? What I want to do here is take a look at some practical cases. I found five test candidates who passed the HSK 6 exam, let’s see how much time they needed to beat the test.
HSK 6 in one year
Took 1 year: This is extremely fast! One year to reach HSK 4 is already extraordinary, but HSK 6? I have no doubt that this German girl, who spent her gap year in China, is highly intelligent and hardworking. In addition, she was immersed in various Chinese speaking environments (Beijing, Chengde, Shanghai) during that year and had private tutors to assist her. What’s striking though is that she speaks Mandarin well, but does not seem super fluent (yet): she speaks rather slow and uses basic phrases. Needless to say that doesn’t diminish her excellent achievement, but it could be a sign of an imbalance in her Mandarin skills. (Plus, it’s a reminder HSK is just a test).
HSK 6 in “two years of part-time study”
Took 2 years of part-time study: Wait a minute, HSK 6 in “two years of part-time study”?! I have a hard time believing that. It might not be completely impossible, but his story sounds more like some kind of elevator pitch to me, an awe-striking from struggling to completely fluent in just two years kind of story – without any real effort (like learning more or less 40 hours a week for example). It just sounds too good to be true. I’m not saying these guys haven’t got a good thing going (looks like they run a language school in Chengdu for expats), but I don’t buy into their one-size-fits-all solution, success guaranteed kind of thing. And in my experience, it’s very difficult to learn a language from scratch in your spare-time, even when you’re already living in “the right country”. And you could argue that once you’re living and working in China and joining a Chinese language program, you’re in fact learning full-time, since you more or less receive 24 hours input.
HSK 6 in four years
Took 4 years: Now here’s someone who took four years and is actually fluent, sounds local and gets her tones right (as far I can judge), but also is aware she still has to improve her pronunciation (she’s communicating to a Chinese audience). It’s clear she spent more than one year in China. Well done!
HSK 6 in four and a half years
Took 4 and a half year: another interesting experience. 1.5 years of studying in Finland, 3 years in China, eventually passing HSK 6 with 238 points out of 300. She writes: “If I could get to this level in 4,5 years, you can do even better if you live in China the whole time or/and work harder than I do!“
HSK 6 in six years
Took 6 years: unfortunately she doesn’t reveal how she did it exactly and how much time she spent in China, but what I get from her words is that she studied Mandarin at least three years (full-time, I assume). I’m sure there are plenty of people who take even longer, but aren’t very eager to admit it. I don’t think there’s any shame in taking six years. After all, Mandarin is a difficult language and not everybody is good at taking tests.
The official HSK recommendation?
Is there an official recommendation how long you should take to get to the sixth HSK level? I couldn’t find any such information, but others claim they have:
According to the Hanban (汉办), HSK tests should reflect distinct stages in the Chinese acquisition journey. They designed the HSK 6 to be reflective of someone who has reached what they consider to be the highest level of proficiency in Chinese that can be expected of a second language learner. Unsurprisingly, it’s a challenging test. They estimate that you must have four years of full-time study before you can pass the HSK 6.
When they say “full-time,” they mean approximately 40 hours per week during university semesters. In China, the winter & summer holidays from a university add up to approximately 16 weeks of the year. With that in mind, we can glean that “four years of full-time study” means 36 weeks a year (52 weeks in a year – 16 weeks of holiday) at 40 hours per week on average.
With this in mind, they estimate that you need 5,760 hours of study to reach HSK 6 level (36 weeks in a year * 4 years= 144 weeks, 40 hours a week * 144 weeks = 5,760 hours.)
I think this rough estimation of 4 years full-time study or +5000 hours of study is reasonable. In reality it might be more of a 3 – 6 years range. Some are slower, some are faster, some are more accomplished at structured learning and test taking. Others lack the time and resources for full-time language learning – if you’re a student of sinology, you probably pass the test within 4 years, but if you aren’t and have other obligations like work and family, things are likely to take more time. Some may even outgrow the need to write the HSK 6 test completely. At the end of the day, it’s just a test.
Another thing I noticed: easy come is easy go, super quick learners tend to have less stable foundations. Plus, spending time in China or at least in Chinese speaking areas and really soak up the language does seem the key to success for our five test candidates.
Any thoughts on HSK 6? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
In the process of Mandarin learning you’re never “done”.That’s especially true for the four tones. This video by Mandarin expert LeLe Farley reminded me that the mā-má-mǎ-mà–way people typically think of the four tones is wrong. LeLe reveals some other interesting things as well.
Mastering the tones
In this first episode of LeLe Linguistics, LeLe Farley walks you through “the first step” to achieving fluency in Chinese: mastering the tones.
LeLe Farley is a rising star on YouTube. What he has to say about learning Mandarin should be taken quite seriously, since his fluency in Mandarin and accurate pronunciation are outstanding and he doesn’t beat around the bush as to how he got there.
Who is LeLe Farley? In his own words: “Grew up in Texas, college in ATL, post grad in Beijing. Now, I’ve come to LaLaLand to try and make a name for myself as a Chinese English bilingual rapper and comedian. Banned in the PRC, but hope to return one day.”
He’s an interesting and wildly creative guy. Let’s examine his take on the four tones in Mandarin Chinese. He starts off debunking a common “misunderstanding” about them…
1. “Don’t think tones aren’t important”
LeLe notes that many learners of Mandarin seem to think that tones aren’t that crucial to becoming fluent or that 差不多 (“almost right”) is good enough. Don’t believe Chinese people who complement you on your excellent 中文, he adds, most of the time they are just being polite – they might hardly understand what you’re saying.
Bottom line: hitting the tones right is essential for comprehension. You may not hear the difference, but they do. I don’t think LeLe means to say that you have to hit EVERY single tone a 100 percent right, but rather that you should put some real effort into it.
2. “Tones are not for beginners only…”
I argued in earlier post that it’s best practice to get the tones right from the start in drill-like fashion, meaning repeating nothing but tones and Pinyin for at least two weeks. While I still think that’s extremely helpful and necessary, it’s just as important, as LeLe explains in his video, to keep at it. Instead of gradually lowering “tone quality standards” once you’ve finished base camp. I couldn’t agree more with his message that if tones don’t come natural to you, you have to learn them the hard way. A long-term endeavor that will involve getting your ego hurt from time to time again. This of course is not something that learners want to hear, but it’s the truth anyway.
3. “Don’t learn tones, learn tone combinations instead”
(16 tones = tone combinations)
LeLe emphasizes you shouldn’t just learn the four tones in isolation, but learn their frequent combinations. As most words in Mandarin consist of two syllables, this makes a lot of sense. These “basic units” keep coming back.
Although I don’t like this kind of diagrams much – they remind me of similar ones for German grammar – , the point is to memorize these tone patterns and – over time – store them as little soundbites in your brain. New vocabulary can be shaped and pronounced accordingly.
The next step to sound even more native-like would be to put these words in a sentence, since they too typically exist in a larger unit.
4. “The third tone is the tricky one”
LeLe explains why the third tone and the 3-2-combo in particular is the nastiest one to most learners. Even many Chinese teachers seem to be confused about the exact pronunciation of the third tone. They may pronounce it correctly; explaining how it changes in certain combinations can be a problem though. As a student you probably don’t get the relevance of this at first. That’s why you have to keep at it while you advance, record yourself and mimic native speakers.
Further reading
The way the four tones are being taught is evolving as are the linguistics behind it. Equally important, in my opinion, are intonation, stress and rhythm which determine for a large part whether you sound “native” or not (imagine a foreigner speaking Mandarin with a French intonation). How much time did your teacher(s) spend explaining these “musical qualities”?
By the way, LeLe Farley is not the first to come up with all this:
Chinese Boost: 5 Lies Teachers Tell You About Mandarin Tones – “The point of this article is to highlight some common obstacles to learning Mandarin tones effectively. It’s about misconceptions that can hold you back, and how to replace them with better approaches.”
Sinosplice: Towards better tones in natural speech: “1. We’re giving students of Chinese the wrong picture of tones (third tone in particular). 2. Tones are not of equal importance in natural speech. 3. Funny-sounding speech can be corrected most efficiently by focusing on certain key tones.”
Hacking Chinese: Learning the third tone in Chinese: “This means that the third tone in Chinese is an essentially low tone, and that in a majority of cases, it is pronounced as a tone starting low and then going even lower”
Learn tone patterns on YouTube
Good for practicing: In this video not merely the 4 tones are introduced, but the 16 frequent tone combinations are also covered at some length.
I hope you enjoyed this short article. Feel free to let me know your take on the four tones in the comments.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
It is said the best art comes from turmoil and hardship. This seems particularly true for Mainland Chinese cinema which for decades had gone practically unnoticed, but reemerged in the relatively liberal eighties and nineties, transforming long years of revolution, war and chaos into internationally acclaimed works of art.
If you’re only into the newest movies from China, you’d best stop reading here. This is a list of mostly older Mainland Chinese movies I’ve come to like and recommend to anyone interested in China.
Although the reality presented in these films may seem very different from the China we see today, these lived experiences continue to shape China. Since this blog is mainly about learning Mandarin I’ve added my estimation of the difficulty level for each film.
Included on my list:
Raise the Red Lantern – 大红灯笼高高挂 (1991)
To live – 活着 (1994)
Coming home – 归来 (2014)
Yellow Earth – 黄土地 (1984)
The Story of Qiu Ju – 秋菊打官司 (1992)
Blind Shaft – (盲井) 2003
Hibiscus town – 芙蓉镇 (1986)
Raise the Red Lantern – 大红灯笼高高挂 (1991)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Subtitles: English
Difficulty: Upper intermediate (clearly spoken Standard Chinese)
Concubines! Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman (played by Gong Li) who is forced to become one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. The four concubines “compete” with each other in order to be the master’s favorite taitai and gain the privileges that come with that status.
The movie can be read in many ways. In my eyes, it’s mainly an condemnation of traditional patriarchal society and capitalism where women are sold as slaves. But Lantern can also be seen as a symbolic depiction of any power system or government that demands absolute of obedience of its subordinates by rewarding those who comply and punishing those who don’t. That’s how the system maintains itself and the master – whose face remains invisible – gets his way. Power and wealth will be shared only if you comply with its rules. North-Korea and other totalitarian regimes come to mind.
The film was directed by China’s most renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou and has been banned for a certain period in China after it came out.
Hibiscus town – 芙蓉镇 (1986)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Subtitles: Chinese
Difficulty: Intermediate / upper intermediate
Hibiscus Town was directed by “third generation” Chinese filmmaker Xie Jin and probably the first film to look back upon the upheavals of the cultural revolution. Actually the story – which is set in a small Hunan village about sixty years ago – is still very relevant today as radical ideologies demanding absolute equality have all but disappeared.
Hibiscus Town tells the story about the kindhearted and pretty Hu Yuyin who successfully sells a local variety of bean curd made from rice. She works hard and together with her husband Guigui manages to save enough money to build an impressive new house. During the Four Cleanups Movement of 1964 however, they suddenly see themselves denounced as “new rich peasants” who have to undergo some kind of punishment for their “reactionary” thinking and behavior.
The film – typically classified as a “scar drama” – was well received in China when it came out, but internationally still is not that well-known.
To Live – 活着 (1994)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Subtitles: English
Difficulty: Upper intermediate (clearly spoken Standard Chinese)
“The little chickens will grow to be ducks, the ducks will become geese, and the geese will become oxen, and tomorrow will be better” – final line of Fugui.
I know of no other movie that gives a more lasting impression of China’s inner turmoil and life-changing revolutions in the past century than To Live. It’s yet another movie by Zhang Yimou. The storyline in one sentence: After Fugui and Jiazhen (played by Gong Li) lose their personal fortunes, they raise a family and survive difficult cultural changes during 1940s to 1970s China.
I was surprised to learn that the film was denied a theatrical release in mainland China by the authorities due to its “critical portrayal” of various policies and campaigns of the Communist government. Beautiful soundtrack by Zhao Jiping.
Difficulty: Upper intermediate (clearly spoken Standard Chinese)
This is probably the most tragic film about the cultural revolution directed by Zhang Yimou (as if To Live wasn’t heart-wrenching enough). Coming Home is actually a love story, but not a happy one: Lu and Feng (played by Gong Li) are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the cultural revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer recognizes him! Lu is determined not to give up and desperately tries to reawaken his wife’s memory.
Yellow Earth – 黄土地 (1984)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Subtitles: English
Difficulty: Upper intermediate (Standard Chinese, songs can be difficult to understand, partly a “silent” movie)
This is a rather sombre and slow movie by Chen Kaige, another member of the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers. Yellow Earth focuses on the story of a communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution. There he stays with a peasant family and learns that the happy songs he was sent to collect do not exist; the songs he finds are about hardship and suffering. He returns to the army, but promises to come back for the young girl, Cuiqiao, who has been spell-bound by his talk of the freedom women have under communist rule and who wants to join the Communist Army. The story relies on images more than on words.
Another one by Zhang Yimou starring his favorite actress Gong Li. The film tells the story about a desperate quest for justice. A peasant woman, Qiu Ju, who lives in a rural area of China. When her husband is kicked in the groin by the village head, Qiu Ju, despite her pregnancy, travels to a nearby town, and later a big city to deal with its bureaucrats and find justice. One thing that makes The Story of Qiu Ju stand out is the fact that many of the street scenes were filmed with a hidden camera which gives an authentic picture of daily life during the Deng Xiaoping era – a whole different approach compared to Zhang’s To Live and Raise the Red Lantern.
Difficulty: Advanced (largely non-standard or “colloquial” Chinese)
This rather bleak but internationally well received movie was directed by Li Yang who has been “controversial” in China for addressing China’s social problems in his highly realistic films.
Two Chinese coal miners have hit upon the perfect scam: murder one of their fellow mine workers, make the death look like an accident, and extort money from the boss to keep the incident hushed up. For their latest “mark,” they choose a naive teenager from a small village, and as they prepare to carry out their newest plan, things start to get complicated. The story literally takes place in the underworld where people do the most ruthless and evil things for money.
Maybe not very surprisingly since it highlights a dark side of Chinese society, Blind Shaft has not been approved for release in China.
This is merely short list of Mainland Chinese movies I’ve been wanting to share on my blog for some time.If you have any suggestions for Mainland Chinese films you missed in this list please let me know : )
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
For more Mainland Chinese films from the 80’s visit this page.
Reading is key to expanding your vocabulary. I finally felt ready for reading a serious work of fiction in Chinese. Not an abridged version, not a children’s edition, but the real thing. This is how it went…
Some thoughts on reading in Chinese
Not at your level
Most of the content you find free available on the web isn’t at your particular level and doesn’t necessarily fit in with the vocabulary and sentence patterns you’ve covered so far. Graded readers are the best solution, but their pricey – you want to read more than just one – and chiefly written for beginners and lower intermediates. So once you’re past that level, there’s practically everything and nothing you could pick to read.
If you do wish to continue reading, best pick a topic you’re familiar with. If it’s a book, choose one you know by heart. I’ve been looking for The Hobbit in Mandarin for example. Since I’ve read it in Dutch and English, I’m already familiar with the names, places and storyline. I merely have to get used to Gandalf speaking Mandarin to Bilbo and the dwarfs.
The app Weixin DuShu by Tencent
Weixin DuShu – 微信读书
I used the app called Weixin DuShu, produced by Tencent and somewhat similar to Amazon’s Kindle. It’s usually linked to a WeChat account and not that well-known outside of China. It’s main attraction: it gives access to a great number of Chinese books.
Tencent…?
Tencent, by the way, was the company that released a mobile game titled “Clap for Xi Jinping: An Awesome Speech“, in which players have 19 seconds to generate as many claps as possible for Xi. Another interesting fact is that they got this big mainly by piracy or like Jack Ma of Alibaba Group stated, “The problem with Tencent is the lack of innovation; all of their products are copies.” Worst of all, the Chinese company plays a major role in mass surveillance and implementing censorship in China.
The app itself
Weixin DuShu is not optimized for language learning, but it does allow you to look up words in a Chinese-Chinese dictionary or underline certain characters. It’s not completely free. You enjoy unlimited access to the Weixin library for about a month, than you have to pay to read on. This can be avoided if others send you a book invitation and it seems you then can keep on reading for “free” more or less permanently.
Some features I find useful:
Change the font size: reading slightly larger characters can make reading a lot more comfortable.
Search the Chinese-Chinese dictionary or search the web: unfortunately, no English translation included.
Listening: the AI voice isn’t even that bad! You can listen entire chapters conveniently on your phone or tablet.
Offline-mode: continue reading when you’re offline.
Comment function: Nobody likes library books with little scribbles all over, but in this app everybody can comment on a word or passage. Not essential, but nice anyway.
Reading Game of Thrones in Chinese
Now to the book itself. Reading the first volume of the series proofed more difficult than I thought. Except for graded readers I’d never read a whole novel written in Mandarin before. Here’s what I struggled with:
Unknown vocabulary…
It’s words like usurper (篡夺者), lord (贵族), bastard (私生子女), armor (甲胄), queen mother (母后) that are new to me. The same goes for vocabulary like loot (洗劫), heir (继承人), the king slayer (弑君者), pray (祝祷) and many other less frequently used words.
Chengyu or Chinese idioms
If you’re familiar with the mostly four character idioms: great. If you aren’t, you’re left to guess. Sometimes they could just mean anything! Here’s a selection of the chengyu I encountered while reading the first chapters:
措手不及 – be caught unprepared
大失所望 – to one’s great disappointment
摇摇摆摆 – swaggering
视如无睹 – take no notice of what one sees
口无遮拦 – have a loose tongue
自然而然 – naturally
甜言蜜语 – sweet words and honeyed phrases
野心勃勃 – be overweeningly ambitious
名垂青史 – go down in history
忠心耿耿 – loyal and devoted
Much description…
Although compared to J.R.R. Tolkien George R.R. Martin’s novels are written more straightforwardly and the narration flows much quicker, the author does have lots of heroes and history to introduce to get the story going. Martin takes his time describing swords and the history and mindset of the royal houses. Sometimes minor details contain important clues about places, characters or events. This doesn’t make for easy reading.
The names…
With every royal house having its own family history, the story shifting back and forth between different places and protagonists, remembering all the names is tricky enough, even in English. But in Chinese the who-is-who turns into a guessing game of a whole different category. Sometimes you don’t even recognize the characters at hand as a name. Judging from the sound of the Pinyin you may connect “Nai de” to “Ned” and “Shi ta ke” to “Stark” or – more likely – you don’t and wonder who the hell “Qiong en Xue nuo” is (it’s Jon Snow) and why a person named “Robb” should be called “Luo bai” and so on.
A longer list you can find here. I’ll put out the English names in the comments later on.
Overall difficulty
For an upper intermediate learner like me (HSK 5 / 6 – for what it’s worth) who has watched the entire series the novel is still astonishingly tough to read in Mandarin and I didn’t make it all the way through. I did manage to pick up some speed (still 10 times slower than me reading in English), combining and switching between two reading styles: Intensive reading for detail, extensive reading for speed and breadth. It still took me ages to finish the first five chapters, so I guess I have to admit that this novel is above my level still. The experiment was enjoyable though. I did learn lots of new details that somehow didn’t make it into the series, not to mention words like bastard (私生子女!) and king slayer (弑君者!) in Chinese.
Do you have any thoughts on reading in Chinese? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
The big news was shared on the HSK Official Twitter account, the wording rather cryptic. Apparently the new HSK will consist of 9 levels instead of 6:
But as for all the other details, even now three weeks later, I couldn’t find any news concerning the HSK reform on their official website (and still can’t (20-01-2021)). The link they shared in the above tweet strangely enough seems to have nothing to do with the announced updates to the HSK system, or does it? The article covers the language requirements for overseas students in China who study medicine in English university programs, but what about the new HSK exam?
Isn’t it odd to officially announce a big reform that will happen this year and then share a link to an Chinese article that offers very little explanation to the average HSK candidate?
“Three Stages and Nine Levels”
This is what the new HSK system looks like. Each “stage” is divided into three levels:
The best article I could dig up so far was published in The Beijinger which apparently was able to win some inside info. Since I’m not sure about the source, I think it’s still too early to go into the details of the new system. Many questions remain to be answered: Will an oral examination be mandatory for the higher levels? How will the progression between the levels be? Will HSK 9 more or less match the current HSK 6 or will it be harder?
Concerning this last question the article does give an answer, but honestly I don’t yet know what to make of it. It says the difficulty between the different test levels will increase more gradually, reducing the gaps between the levels to some extent:
Compared to the current standards for HSK 1 to 6, it is not hard to see how the new system will alter the overall difficulty curve. For example, the current HSK 6 requires takers to master cumulative 5,000 words, half of which are new, and 2,663 characters, 978 of which are new. In HSK 3.0 [Kaohongshu: the new system] though, students need to memorize 5,456 words in total, 1,140 of which haven’t previously appeared, while the number of characters needed has been reduced to 1,800, 1,500 of which should already be familiar. That’s good, right? Not so fast.
All those words have to go somewhere, in this case, they’ve been divided among the lower levels: the threshold to pass HSK levels 1 to 4 have now all increased, with the word list for each expanding drastically, by a multiple of three or four. Let’s take HSK 1 for example. Whereas 150 words is currently sufficient for someone to pass, that number will rise to 500 words in HSK 3.0. No word list has yet to be released for any of the levels.
New HSK requirements for international students in China
What does this mean for people who want to study in China? Which HSK level is required? We don’t know yet:
There has also been no word on what these changes will mean for graduation requirements for international students in China. Until now, foreign students who study in Chinese are required to pass the HSK 6 test prior to graduation, while a HSK 4-5 certificate is usually sufficient for students taught in foreign languages to pursue graduate or higher-level degrees. If you major in medicine or a related field, an additional Medical Chinese Test (MCT) may be required.
One major problem of the HSK levels in the past was that they were supposed to correspond directly to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, except they didn’t, meaning that HSK 6 was nowhere near the “almost-native” C2 level, HSK 4 by now means matched B2 and so on. To me at this point it’s not at all clear if the reform’s intention is to eradicate this flaw and bring HSK closer to the European Framework. Will the higher levels go beyond the “old” HSK 6? Will they alter the structure of the exams? What’s the reasoning behind the reform?
Two things I would welcome: a more gradual progression between each level and a closer correlation to the European Framework. On that I agree with The Beijinger:
While the changes seem intimidating at first, we’re all for the levels being rebalanced to better reflect an individual’s proficiency. For too long, levels 1-3 have felt little more than token certificates, too easy to pass with a little effort and making the jump to HSK 4 and up too substantial. Finally, adjusting the test to better reflect the CEFR system should help give the HSK improved weighting and caliber on the international stage.
But will that be what we’ll get? I hope we receive an update soon. Then we’ll know what Hanban, the organization behind HSK, has in mind with the new HSK system. Maybe the changes won’t be that radical after all. Only time (and vocabulary lists and mock exams) will tell.
Update, 02.06.2020 – from the Chinese Testing InternationalBarcelona:
Lately, news such as “HSK will have 9 levels! The Chinese level 3.0 test will be coming soon” have attracted a lot of attention inside and outside China. The concerns and inquiries of Chinese students and teachers who are dedicated to the international teaching of this language come one after another, which excites us and shows unprecedented support. In order to answer the main concerns, the “Standards of the Chinese level in international education”, the Chinese proficiency test (HSK) and the relationship between the two will be explained.
With the development of the teaching of the Chinese language and the changes in the global needs of teaching and learning the Chinese language, it is necessary to adjust the “International Standards of Proficiency in Chinese” (published by the headquarters of the Confucius Institute in 2007), to Continuously improve the international teaching and learning of Chinese. In 2017, we began research and development of a new standard, namely “Chinese level standards in international education” (hereinafter referred to as “Level standards”). This research has already been completed and will therefore be launched in the second half of the year.
“Level Standards” is based on the essence of Chinese language and writing, and has been nurtured by the strengths of other language standards in the world, inheriting the experience of teaching Chinese as a foreign language and the international teaching of Chinese. . From this base, divide the Chinese level of non-native speakers into three categories: beginner, medium and high, and each category is subdivided into three levels, that is, three categories with nine levels. Each level description includes three parts: verbal communication skills, content of thematic tasks and quantitative indicators of the language, and describes each level from five aspects according to their abilities to listen, speak, read, write and translate. “Level Standards” is an open and inclusive professional standard system that, after launch, will lead all international fields of Chinese language learning, teaching, testing and assessment, and will become an important indicator of reform and development of international Chinese teaching.
The main change to the next “Level Standard” consists of three new advanced levels 7-9. A higher level of the Chinese language requires students to understand complex subjects in various fields and genres, carry out in-depth exchanges and discussions; are able to express themselves on complex issues of social, professional, daily activities, academic research, etc., have a flexible and effective organization of language, with a clear logic, a rigorous structure, a coherent and reasonable speech, and can communicate decently in various situations; Be flexible in using various communication strategies and resources to complete communication tasks, gain a deep understanding of Chinese cultural knowledge, and possess an international vision and intercultural communication skills.
To this end, we will expand the levels by developing the Advanced HSK exam (levels 7-9), with the premise of guaranteeing the stability of HSK levels 1-6. The advanced exam is mainly for foreign students who specialize in Chinese language and literature, as well as for students from other majors with Chinese proficiency who come to China to study and for Sinology researchers abroad. A single exam will be implemented in the levels 7-9 test for the three levels, which means that only one exam will be added and will be determined by the score if the level 7, 8 or 9 is obtained. The Advanced HSK exam (Level 7-9) is scheduled to be released in the first half of next year.
This text is a translation of the Chinese original and is for informational purposes only.
Skritter published the below overview on their YouTube channel showing the new levels and vocabulary requirements from “HSK 3.0”. If this information is correct, there will be three new levels on top of HSK 6. The current sixth level will be downgraded to a more appropriate intermediate level. Only those passing the seventh level will be able to call themselves “advanced”. The vocabulary for the advanced levels will be significantly increased (or actually this is true for all levels).
On the whole, “HSK 3.0” will be more difficult and – according to this information – the new levels will correspond more closely to the European Framework (someone who masters HSK 9 in the new system would truly have C2 proficiency for example). But we can’t really be sure until an official statement with more details has been issued by Hanban.
Hard to believe, but It’s still unclear on which date HSK 3.0 will be launched exactly. Without any official updates and information, much about HSK 3.0 still remains speculation. Any news? Well, a longtime Chinese-Forums member compiled a first rough (unofficial) HSK 3.0 vocabulary list which can be downloaded via Dropbox. It is based on this paper which presents the following HSK vocabulary breakdown:
The same forum-member published a HSK 3.0 FAQ section on Reddit which summarizes the latest information (and rumors) about the HSK reform and is worth sharing:
FAQ about the NEW HSK (03.08.2020) (Source: Reddit)
Q: What changes? A: An increase of 6,092 words, going from 5,000 to 11,092 words, divided over 3 categories corresponding to the CEFR groups which are further divided into 9 HSK levels. The new progression will be less of an inverted pyramid and the newly added words will be divided across said levels.
Q: What is the new Vocab? A: The official vocabulary is so far unknown, but we can make an educated guess. The author of the essay《汉语国际教育汉语水平等级标准全球化之路》***, 刘英林 Liu Yinglin, beckoning in the new HSK structure in 2020 has published a book with the corresponding amount of vocab (11,092 words).
Q: Should I still keep studying for/take the current HSK? A: Yes. If we take in mind the 2010 changes to the HSK: all grammar and the vast majority of vocabulary will carry over. Most, if not all, HSK exams are taken online so if you require an HSK certificate for a course/job you should still take it.
Q: How can I prepare for the new HSK? A: By spending more time on non-course content. Studying only the HSK vocabulary will no longer be enough (at least for the reading section), so venture off the current HSK Standard course and start consuming media and books, or whatever you can get your hands on at your specific level.
Q: Will my old HSK certificate still be valid? A: \[speculation\] Current HSK certificates will be valid for another 2 years. Though for graduate programs they might implement the changes sooner.
Q: When will the new HSK be official? A: Either Winter of 2020 or Spring of 2021.
Q: When/where to buy the new HSK books? A: The first materials will probably be released by BLCUP (Beijing Language and Culture University Publisher), expect this to coincide with the official release of the test.
Q: Will the new HSK be 4+ times more difficult??? A: Not necessarily, the amount of characters you’re required to know has only increased by a few hundred and the same holds true for the grammar covered. What this does entail is that you won’t be able to pass the new HSK by solely learning the course vocab and neglecting any extra-curricular consumption of content. But, this time it will include an (optional?) translation section and the HSKK spoken test has been integrated.
Q: How about the TOCFL? A: The Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) is a Taiwan specific test and is thus not affected by the new HSK changes (which is a mainland test).
Go East Mandarin: “We’re at a presentation about the new HSK levels” (01.11.2020) (Source: Reddit)
GoEast Mandarin is a Chinese language school in Shanghai. They posted the following picture on Reddit which suggests that the HSK 3.0 reform will not affect the existing six HSK levels, but merely will add three additional levels on top. They did provide some additional details on their website. I don’t think this affects the overall validity of the “educated guesses” by the Chinese-Forums member or Skritter, but again, we have to wait and see to be certain.
(Source: Reddit) 教育汉语水平等级标准 Translation: Chinese international education Chinese-level standard grading HSK3.0只增加7-9级，1-6级不变 Translation: HSK 3.0 only adds levels 7 – 9, levels 1 through 6 are unchanged
Latest HSK 3.0 updates, 20.01.2021
Yesterday I sent an email to two Confucius institutes (one in Germany, one in the Netherlands), asking when it would be possible to take the HSK 7 – 9 exams and in what way the newly added levels would be different from the HSK as we know it.
I didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Here’s the reply from the Confucius Institute in the Netherlands. It confirms what it says on the picture above and corresponds with the information shared earlier by theChinese Testing International Barcelona from June 2020, that is, the HSK 3.0 reform will not affect the existing HSK levels 1 – 6, but will mainly add three additional levels. Here the original mail with translation:
Google Translate: Regarding HSK Levels 7-9, no relevant documents and plans have been issued yet. At present, the information we have is only that Hankao International will extend the development of the HSK advanced (level 7-9) test under the premise of ensuring the stability of the HSK level 1-6 test. The exam is mainly for foreign students majoring in Chinese language and literature, as well as international students from other majors with higher Chinese proficiency, and overseas Sinology researchers. The 7-9 level test will be implemented with one try for all 3 levels, that means, only one additional test will be used to determine the three levels of 7-9 through the score. Specific information will be shared with you on the official website of our institute after we receive the documents from the headquarters. Hope the above answer can solve some of your questions.
The mail from the Confucius institute in Germany states the same, adding a rough time frame for the launch:
Google Translate: The latest HSK 3.0 of Hankao International has not yet been officially released. According to the information currently released, HSK 3.0 mainly adds three advanced levels 7-9. The exam is mainly for foreign students majoring in Chinese language and literature, as well as international students from other majors with higher Chinese proficiency, and overseas Sinology researchers. The 7-9 level exam will be implemented at 3 levels, that is to say, only one additional test will be used to determine the 7-9 three levels through scores. The HSK Advanced (Level 7-9) test is scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year at the latest. Once the HSK 3.0 policy information is implemented, we will release the test-related information as soon as possible, please feel free to pay attention.
So to sum up the main information from these two emails:
“HSK 3.0 mainly adds three advanced levels 7-9” on top of the existing six levels, “under the premise of ensuring the stability of the HSK level 1-6 test”. To me this sounds as HSK 1 – 6 are not affected by the reform, but I’m not fully sure.
The new levels HSK 7 – 9 are targeted at overseas M.A. students and researchers studying / working in China in fields that require advanced Mandarin language skills. This probably means HSK 7 – 9 won’t concern most Chinese learners, only a very small group of students and academics.
Candidates are supposed to take the advanced test only once to determine their HSK level. My interpretation: there will be one exam for the HSK levels 7 – 9.
At the latest, the new HSK 7 – 9 exam will be launched by the first half of next year. This doesn’t sound like the new levels will come as early as this spring.
Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on the HSK reform or share any updates in the comments below.
Affiliate links
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. They help me to support this blog, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
