The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers

When learning Chinese, it's important not only to care about how you learn and how much time you spend, but also what you learn. By focusing on the most common words, characters and components, you make sure you get the most out of your studying. But which are the most common words, characters and components? This article collects frequency resources for language learners and teachers!

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7 things you were taught in Chinese class that are actually wrong

Some things your Chinese teacher tells you or you read in your textbook are well-meant simplifications. This is okay, because the whole picture might be overly complicated and not very helpful. Some other things your Chinese teacher tells you or you read in your textbook are just wrong, though. This article lists seven examples of things that are often taught in Chinese class, but are actually incorrect.

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Chinese translation challenge, May 2019

It's time for a translation challenge! It starts on May 10th, so enrol, set your goal and improve your Chinese by translating to/from Chinese as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about using translation as a method for learning Chinese.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2LsVN9c

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How to play adventure text games with a Chinese teacher

Interactive text games work well for individual learners, but they also work well in classrooms with groups of students. This article gives you everything you need as a teacher to play Escape in your classroom, and everything you need as a student to try this out with your teacher.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2VDGz4S

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The cheapest and most convenient way to improve your spoken Chinese

Speaking Chinese fluently requires a lot of practice. The best option is to talk with native speakers, preferably mixed with teachers who can help you improve and are better at adjusting their language to your level. But what if you don't have a teacher and no native speakers are available? This article discusses why speaking to yourself can be a viable way of improving your speaking ability, including how to do it.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2GjPFdr

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How good is voice recognition for learning Chinese pronunciation?

Speech recognition technology has developed rapidly and can now be relied on to correctly identify standardised and clear pronunciation in Mandarin. But can it be used to check your Mandarin pronunciation? Not necessarily. This article looks at how well speech recognition software deals with non-native and low-quality audio, focusing on the question if speech recognition is too lenient for pronunciation practice.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2Uo4q3K

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Using speech recognition to improve Chinese pronunciation, part 1

Speech recognition technology has developed rapidly and can now be relied on to correctly identify standardised and clear pronunciation in Mandarin. But can it be used to check your Mandarin pronunciation? Not necessarily. There are two problems that need to be investigated to answer that question. This article looks at the first: If speech recognition is unable to identify what you say, does that mean that your pronunciation is bad, or could it be the speech recognition that isn't good enough?

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2WTAezf

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Chinese reading challenge, April 2019

It's time for a reading challenge! It starts on April 10th, so enrol, set your goal and read as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about improving reading ability in Chinese.

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Training your Chinese teacher, part 2: Speaking ability

Finding a good Chinese teacher is not easy, but there are many things you can do to get more out of the time you spend with your teacher. In the second article in this series, I discuss focusing on speaking ability with a teacher, including what to look for in a good teacher, common problems and how to tackle them, along with some suggestions for more advanced learners.

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The beginner’s guide to Chinese translation

Translation from you native language to Chinese is not easy. The most serious problem for many beginners is that they stay too close to the original, which leads to incorrect word order in Chinese. This article presents a method for beginners and lower intermediate students, designed to avoid this problem and improve your translations.

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Tone errors in Mandarin that actually can cause misunderstandings

Making certain tone mistakes in Mandarin can lead to amusing situations, such as saying that the chest hair is adorable instead of the pandas you actually meant. However, these types of mistakes seldom lead to actual confusion. There are other tone mistakes that do; if you get them wrong, it can seriously impact your ability to communicate in Chinese!

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Chinese writing challenge, March 2019

It's time for a Chinese writing challenge! It starts on March 11th (Monday), so enrol, set your goal and write as much as you can before the end of the month. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as some advice about improving writing ability in Chinese.

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Why using a good dictionary can be bad for your Chinese reading ability

The advent of smart phones and digital dictionaries has brought great benefits to Chinese learners, who no longer need to waste much time flipping through pages, looking for the right entry. However, always having quick access to the right answer can actually stop you from learning some of the strategies you need to become a successful reader in Chinese.

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Free and easy audio flashcards for Chinese dictation practice with Anki

Audio flashcards can be great for improving basic listening ability or preparing for 听写/聽寫 or dictation. It used to be time-consuming and difficult to do, but with Anki and good text-to-speech engines, it's now both easy and free!

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Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better

Learning vocabulary through reading and by using spaced repetition software are both common strategies employed by students learning Chinese, but which one is the most efficient? In this guest article, Kevin Bullaughey from WordSwing compares the two methods in terms of exposure and coverage.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2TYmyBU

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Training your Chinese teacher, part 1: Introduction

Finding a good Chinese teacher is not easy, but there are many things you can do to get more out of the time you spend with your teacher. In this article, I discuss being taught Chinese in general, including things you should do as a student, as well as things you might want to train your Chinese teacher to do, if they aren't already doing them. This article is the first in a series focusing on how to train your Chinese teacher.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2BzL4Cg

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Chinese New Year and New Semester Course Discount

To mark the Chinese New Year and the start of a new semester, I offer a time-limited discount for my video/audio/text course, valid until the end of this week (February 10th).

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2GnrCvI

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Chinese listening challenge, February 2019

It's time for a listening challenge! It starts on February 1st, so enrol, set your goal and listen as much as you can before the end of February. This article contains more information about the challenge, some important things to keep in mind as well as suggestions for what to listen to.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2S8afph

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Review: Language Empowerment: Demystify Chinese culture and fire up your Mandarin + interview with the author

Language Empowerment is a neat little book that manages to pack a lot of information and inspiration into relatively few pages. I highly recommend it for people who have just started learning Chinese or who are interested in doing so. This book covers many topics that you need to know about, but which few textbooks or teachers mention! It is also easy to access and enjoyable to read.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2Dsx9j0

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Best of Hacking Chinese 2018

This post summarises the best articles on Hacking Chinese from 2018. It's an excellent way to make sure you haven't missed the most interesting content from the past year! The ranking is based on a combination of visitor statistics and editor's opinion.

from Hacking Chinese http://bit.ly/2HdJSKe

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