Podcast Episodes

47 - The new HSK 3.0: What you need to know

Season 1 Episode 47

On July 1st, 2021, a new Chinese proficiency standard took effect. This will have big consequences for the HSK, the most widely used proficiency test for non-native speakers. What are these changes a…

Published on 4 years ago

46 - Learning to understand regionally accented Mandarin

Season 1 Episode 46

As soon as you leave the classroom, you will notice that people don't speak Chinese the way your teacher and textbook do. Why is that, and what can you do to learn to understand regionally accented M…

Published on 4 years ago

45 - The importance of tones is inversely proportional to the predictability of what you say

Season 1 Episode 45

Tones in Mandarin carry roughly as much information as vowels do, but still some people insist that tones are not very important, or even that native speakers don't really use tones. Why is that and …

Published on 4 years ago

44 - Lost in transcription: Saylaw, Ice Island and Aristotle

Season 1 Episode 44

Do you know the world's best footballer, Saylaw? What about Yàlǐshìduōdé? You probably do know them , even though you might not realise it.

Link: Lost in transcription: Saylaw, Ice Island and Aristot…

Published on 4 years ago

43 - How important is reading speed on tests like HSK and TOCFL?

Season 1 Episode 43

Many students who take Chinese proficiency exams say that they understand the text, but can't read fast enough. Is that a valid complaint? And how fast do you have to read to pass the hSK or TOCFL?

L…

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

42 - Chinese language logging, part 2: A healthy, balanced diet of Mandarin

Season 1 Episode 42

How do you balance your learning to make sure you get a healthy diet of Mandarin? Logging how much you listen, speak, read and write is easy, but are there better ways of doing it?

Link: Chinese lang…

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

41 - Chinese language logging, part 1: Why and how to track your progress

Season 1 Episode 41

How much time are you investing into learning Chinese? Most people don't actually know the answer to this question! Why is it a good idea to log your Chinese learning and how should you go about it?

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

40 - It's time to level up your Chinese pronunciation

Season 1 Episode 40

Clear pronunciation makes communicating in Chinese much easier; the time to level up your pronunciation is now

Link to announcement: It's time to level up your Chinese pronunciation: https://www.hack…

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

39 - How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know

Season 1 Episode 39

There are many ways of looking up Chinese characters you don't know, but which is the best for students?

Link: How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know

More information and inspiration about …

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

38 - What's the difference between Chinese pronunciation and Pinyin? Does it matter?

Season 1 Episode 38

It's not uncommon for both students and teachers to treat Chinese pronunciation and Pinyin as the same thing, but they are not, and thinking that they are can lead to certain problems.

Link: What's t…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago