Podcast Episodes

67 - 6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them

Season 1 Episode 67

When learning to read Chinese you will encounter several challenges, some of them unique to Chinese. What are these challenges, what do they mean for you as a student and how can you overcome them?

L…

Published on 3 years, 7 months ago

66 - Should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own?

Season 1 Episode 66

Some people think enrolling in a course is the best way to learn Chinese, but others say that courses are useless, and swear by the effectiveness of self-studying. So should you enrol in a Chinese co…

Published on 3 years, 7 months ago

65 - Learning to read handwritten Chinese

Season 1 Episode 65

Everybody struggles with writing Chinese characters by hand, even if handwriting can often be avoided in a modern, digital society. But what about reading other people's handwriting? 

Link to article…

Published on 3 years, 8 months ago

64 - Why your Chinese isn't as good as you think it ought to be

Season 1 Episode 64

Sooner or later, most students realise that their Chinese isn't as good as they think it ought to be. Why is that and what can you do about it?

Link to article: Why your Chinese isn't as good as you …

Published on 3 years, 8 months ago

63 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 4: Learning and remembering compound characters

Season 1 Episode 63

The key to learning Chinese compound characters is to learn the building blocks and how they fit together, including both the function of each component and the structure of the compound. Add some cl…

Published on 3 years, 8 months ago

62 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 3: Compound characters

Season 1 Episode 62

A vast majority of Chinese characters are compounds, and understanding how the components fit together and which function they have, will make learning and remembering characters a lot easier. 

Link …

Published on 3 years, 8 months ago

61 - The beginner's guide to Chinese translation

Season 1 Episode 61

People who have't spent a lot of time with different languages sometimes think that learning a new language is mostly about relabelling the world with new words. This mentality is especially bad when…

Published on 3 years, 8 months ago

60 - Using voice messaging as a stepping stone to Chinese conversations

Season 1 Episode 60

Being able to have a conversation is a goal for most students of Chinese, be it with loved ones, for professional purposes or for travel, but what if you think conversations are too scary, too diffic…

Published on 3 years, 9 months ago

59 - Can you use your phone's speech recognition to practise Chinese pronunciation?

Season 1 Episode 59

Speech recognition has improved immensely in recent years and talking to one's phone has become more common. Some apps also rely on this technology to check your pronunciation, but how good is speech…

Published on 3 years, 9 months ago

58 - A smart method to discover problems with Mandarin sounds and tones

Season 1 Episode 58

It's often hard to assess one's own pronunciation when learning Mandarin. People around you might understand what you are saying, but that doesn't necessarily mean your tones are good. Simply asking …

Published on 3 years, 9 months ago