Today, I have the pleasure of inviting you into my shower and show you some neat ways of improving your Chinese. I promise I will keep my clothes...
Category: Chinese
Learning Chinese is easier than you think
When I tell people that I study Chinese, the reactions usually involve equal amounts of awe and curiosity. “I’ve heard Chinese is the hardest...
Learning Chinese is more like walking a thousand miles than running 100-metre dash
One of the most common analogies used to talk about learning is that it’s like moving in space. You are at point A now, you want to get to point B,...
Learning Chinese by playing board games
Board games are more than just fun, they’re a powerful way to learn Chinese, boosting vocabulary, fluency, and communication skills! I’ve used...
Learning Chinese through audiobooks
Image credit: Jeff Daly I have learnt English to my current level without ever having lived in an English-speaking country. I attribute this mostly...
Learning Chinese through social media
Most people spend lots of time everyday using social networks such as Facebook, MSN and Twitter (or Renren, QQ and Weibo, their PRC equivalents). I...
Learning Chinese with StarCraft 2
If you enjoy playing computer games, why don’t enjoy them in Chinese? I’ve played a lot of StarCraft 2 in Chinese and even if I don’t play any...
Learning Classical Chinese is for everyone (no, seriously!)
So you’re learning Chinese, and you can’t wait to be able to read the Analects of Confucius (論語/论语 Lúnyǔ), right? Or maybe it’s Tang Dynasty...
Learn Chinese efficiently, not quickly
The internet is full of stories of people who learn Mandarin quickly. Maybe it’s three months, maybe six, maybe a year. Ignoring the hype and...
Learning how to ask for and receive directions in Chinese
Learning to ask for and receive directions is a very useful skill that is usually associated with beginner language learning. It shouldn’t be, it’s...