This article contains a list of free resources to learn Chinese online. Click on one of the following links to “jump” directly to the section of the article that interests you most:

When we first published this list, in June 2012, it contained 25 resources. However, we update it every year with the best websites and free apps that we “discover” (many of which were suggested to us by your readers).

Our goal is not to list all the free resources dedicated to learning Chinese; rather it’s to present to you the best of each of the categories listed above.

Keep reading to find a brief review and corresponding link to the web site of each resource cited.

Enjoy!

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This article is a guide for people who want to study Chinese in Suzhou. Whether you already live in Suzhou and don’t know where to study or want to know if Suzhou is the right city for you, this article might be useful for you.

PS: if you’re interested in a more general overview of learning Chinese in China,
you can read our complete guide to it.

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The unstoppable progress of today’s technology has been the source of significant advances in language learning, and Chinese is no exception.

Both mobile apps and online resources have led to many possibilities for improving the effectiveness of studying. However, in this article, we are going to focus on Online Chinese lessons, which constitute a veritable revolution, as they permit access to good teachers regardless of where you are.

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Nowadays there is no shortage of free resources for learning a language: websites, apps, forums, videos, podcasts, you name it. However, many people are still looking for a more professional Mandarin course, the type of course that is generally paid. Personally, in the past few years, I have bought a few of them. Why?

There are two main reasons for that:

• Often, you must pay if you want the best resources. Think of FluentU, Yoyo Chinese or Skritter. Who would take the time to develop such a wonderful learning tools for free?

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Apps have turned into one of the most useful formats for learning Chinese (and any other language), as they offer an efficient way to establish knowledge and study in any place and situation.

However, today there are hundreds or even thousands of applications, and the majority of them are ineffective or even useless.

In this article, we evaluate some of the best apps for learning Chinese, depending on which aspect of the language you want to improve.

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This is my review of ChinesePod, my favorite podcast for learning Chinese language.

The first version of this review was published in 2012. Because the product has changed a lot since then, we update this article every so often to add new functionalities.

I will explain how a podcast is different from a traditional Chinese course, introduce the main features of the product and the prices of the different kind of subscriptions. Also, I will point out the most common mistakes that people make when they start using a podcast to learn a language. [Read more…]

At the end of 2020, a new version of the International Chinese Language Education Standards (汉语国际教育汉语水平等级标准) was published to bring the current situation up to date. This revision has caused significant uncertainty and speculation in terms of how it could affect the current official Chinese language level evaluation system, in other words, HSK exams.

What are HSK tests?

Introduced in 1992, the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK, 汉语水平考试) is the official standard Chinese language level test for non-native speakers.

The HSK is designed and managed by the Hanban (汉办), a public institution working under the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.

What are the International Chinese Language Education Standards?

The International Chinese Language Education Standards (汉语国际教育汉语水平等级标准) are a guide establishing the guidelines that apply to Chinese language learning by non-native speakers.

On the practical level, these standards are the basis for designing and evaluating the different skill levels. Therefore, they are guidelines that determine how to teach Chinese, how and what you should study, and how skill levels are evaluated. [Read more…]

Online learning becomes increasingly popular and we’ve seen many schools popping up in the past years. LTL Flexiclass has received much attention thanks to its special way of training students.

As increasingly more Chinese-learners want to know more about LTL Flexiclass, I decided to write this article where we review the following topics:

What is LTL Flexiclass?

LTL Flexiclass offers online-based courses and offers both fixed- and flexi-classes. In short, flexi-classes means that you participate in classes with 3 and a maximum of 6 students, for maximum quality and attention.

The fixed classes include group classes, 1-on-1 classes, HSK classes, kids classes. Everything is online. In addition, they are most famous for the flexi-classes that include different levels, spoken only classes, and online meetups. [Read more…]

Cantonese isn’t as big as mandarin, nor is it that popular among foreign learners. However, some people still want to learn the language, might they plan to relocate to the Southern Chinese areas, or have a family that speaks the language.

Cantonese is spoken in Macau, Hong Kong, and in the Guangdong province, including cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Also, you’ve probably noticed that many Chinese communities overseas also speak the language in cities like San Francisco and London.

The reason is that many immigrants from Guangdong previously settled in larger cities in Europe and the US, preserving the language in these areas. Truth be told, Cantonese is not the easiest language to learn due to the many tones, for many people difficult pronunciation, and characters.

But, it’s still possible and something you should try if you are interested in the language!

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This guide was written by our two experts in Chinese: Aldo Terminiello and Armando Turturici. The first part was written by Aldo, while the second was from Armando. Enjoy the read!

Introduction: Translation in China

In China, translation was of vital importance at key moments in history. For example, in the second century A.D., when Buddhism reached the Middle Kingdom and it was necessary to translate the sacred texts from Sanskrit; in the eighteenth century, when Christian missions (especially the Jesuits) translated the holy texts into Chinese and the key texts of the boundless Chinese literature into Latin in order to get to know the civilization they were trying to convert to Christianity.

In the nineteenth century and the first few decades of the twentieth century, China realized it was technologically underdeveloped compared to the rest of the world, and felt the need to import lots of scientific and literary texts, setting off a third great wave of Chinese translation.

During the first half of the twentieth century, the translation of Russian revolutionary texts had a great impact and could be considered the fourth period of Chinese translation.

As a common factor during these periods, there was a need to import knowledge and make it available to Chinese people in their own language: translations for religious, ideological or cultural purposes, rather practical goals that also reflect the translation theories created during those periods, which were manuals that simply explained: “how to translate well”.

The urgency of communication nowadays makes the situation is very different: translations are more and more often conducted in both ways, in Chinese, and from Chinese.
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If you’re interested on studying in a specific city, click here to find the list of cities that we have already published a specific guide.

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This article is a collection of all the articles on Chinese grammar that we’ve published here on this site.

General characteristics of the Chinese language

In this article we’ll explain what counts as so-called “Mandarin Chinese”, how many dialects are spoken in modern China, what the Chinese writing is and the word in Chinese; how Chinese phrases are usually structured will also be explained.

In the final analysis, we’ll jump into the language, starting with personal pronouns, the numbers 1 to 10. To conclude we’ll explain how to ask questions and make simple negations.

Click here to read the article on the general characteristics of the Chinese language.

Classifiers

In this article, we explain a class of grammar that we don’t have in the Italian language: so-called classifiers (as sinologists call them) or numerators (as Japanese linguists call them) that are there, even with differences, much more so in Chinese than Japanese.

In brief, classifiers (in Chinese) are inserted between the number and noun so as to formulate the numeral or quantitative constructions (10 pens, 5 books, etc). For each class of nouns, there’s an appropriate classifier that unfortunately you need to know and study.

Click here to read the article on classifiers. [Read more…]

Welcome to SDC’s Chinese level test. Before you start, it’s important that you read the instructions closely so that the test is as accurate as possible.

• Test for levels HSK1, HSK2 and HSK3: This test is especially designed to assess Chinese levels up to HSK3 (or A2 of the European Reference Framework). We are currently working on offering other tests for more advanced levels that will soon be available on our website.

• Maximum duration of one hour: Even though the majority of people can finish the test in a bit more than 30 minutes, we have limited the test time to one hour so that results are as accurate as possible (simulating an official exam). Make sure you have enough time to complete the test!

• The level test has eleven exercises: We have divided the level test into four listening exercises, three reading exercises, two grammar exercises and two writing exercises.

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Today I want to talk about the new Chinese language courses “Hacking Chinese – A practical Guide to Learn Mandarin” and Unlocking Chinese – The ultimate course for beginners created by Olle Linge, author of the well-known blog, “Hacking Chinese.”

Who is Olle Linge and what is his philosophy on learning?

Olle Linge is a Swedish young man who, after studying for almost a decade, obtained a masters degree for teaching Chinese as a second language in Taipei. Besides teaching Chinese privately and managing “Hacking Chinese”, which is in my opinion one of the two or three best websites around, Olle has also created two courses that promises to teach you how to learn Chinese.

Olle sums up his philosophy on learning through an ancient proverb:

“授人以魚，不如授人以漁.”

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” [Read more…]

In this article, I am going to review FluentU, a database of YouTube videos in Mandarin with subtitles (and much more).

Why?

Because I think videos are the best way to achieve “immersion” while studying a foreign language. Admittedly, talking with native people on a regular basis is even better; however, it’s not always possible and, at least when you are starting out, it’s extremely difficult.

What is immersion? And why is it so important?

You can’t learn a new language by just “studying.” In the end, mastering a language comes down to being able to communicate effectively with native speakers. The language you can learn through books is usually quite different from the spoken language, and with Chinese, the gap is even larger than with English or French, for example.

During the time I spent in China, I met many people who, after studying Chinese in their country for several years, came to China and became completely frustrated. Why? Because Chinese people were unable to understand them and, even worse, they couldn’t understand what Chinese people were saying. Even if they had good grammar and vocabulary basics, they had never been in contact with the “real” language. [Read more…]