Podcast Episodes

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 4 years, 2 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. 

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Published on 4 years, 2 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 4 years, 2 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 4 years, 3 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 4 years, 3 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 4 years, 3 months ago

57 - 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice

Season 1 Episode 57

Understanding spoken Chinese can be hard, but the solution is simple: listen more. That is not always easy to do, though, because it's hard to both find the time to listen and to actually get started…

Published on 4 years, 3 months ago

56 - Getting the most out of your learning with Hacking Chinese

Season 1 Episode 56

Hacking Chinese can seen as a very long response to the question of what I would have done differently if I could go back in time and learn Chinese again from scratch. However, most people don't want…

Published on 4 years, 4 months ago

55 - Basic characters, components and radicals: The building blocks of Chinese, part 2

Season 1 Episode 55

Most Chinese characters are compounds consisting of two or more components, but some components are in themselves compounds that can be further broken down. But how do you know where to stop? And how…

Published on 4 years, 4 months ago

54 - Chinese characters and words in a nutshell: The building blocks of Chinese, part 1

Season 1 Episode 54

Learning to read and write Chinese is a daunting task, but the challenge becomes more manageable if you focus on learning the building blocks, learning how components form characters and how characte…

Published on 4 years, 4 months ago