Student Q&A: February, 2025: Improving listening ability quickly, using transcripts, and understanding rapid Mandarin

How do you improve listening ability as quickly as possible? Are there any strategies to deal with rapid speech? And how many times should you listen before using a transcript?

This week’s podcast episode is a reader and listener Q&A, where I answer three questions about listening in Chinese.

This time, I’m answering questions about:

• Improving listening ability quickly
• When and how to use transcripts
• Understanding rapid speech

Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast to listen to the related episode (#235):

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms!

Links to things mentioned in the introduction

• Chinese listening challenge, February 2025
• The Fluent Listener: Navigating Spoken Mandarin Like a Fish in Water

Links for question 1: When to use transcripts

• Student Q&A, May 2024: Understanding strangers, listening with transcripts, and which podcasts to avoid (episode 189, not 210 as I say in the podcast)
• The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
• The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
• Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation’s four strands

Links for question 2: Levelling up listening ability

• 100 hours of Chinese listening in 3 weeks: What I learnt and how to apply it
• 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice
• Three steps to more and better Chinese listening practice

Links for question 3: Listening to rapid Mandarin

• Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 4: Learning to process spoken Mandarin quickly and effortlessly
• Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 3: Using what you already know to aid listening comprehension in Chinese
• Learning Chinese through comprehensible input
• An introduction to comprehension-based Chinese teaching and learning