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Learn Chinese Online: 77 Excellent Free Resources

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Learn Chinese

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:

Free Resources to Learn Chinese Online – Index

  1. Dictionaries
  2. Grammar
  3. Audio and Video
  4. Reading
  5. Prounciation (pinyin)
  6. Characters, flashcards and SRS
  7. Motivation and advice (Personal blogs)
  8. Motivation and advice (Company blogs)
  9. HSK (standard Chinese language proficiency test)
  10. Forums and Social Networks
  11. For those looking for a specific resource
  12. Conclusions;

When we firstly published it, in June 2012, this list contained 25 resources. However, we update it every year with the best web sites 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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One-to-One Chinese Online Lessons: Our Review of the Best Platforms

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chinese 1 on 1 online

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 individual lessons online, which constitute a veritable revolution, as they permit access to good teachers regardless of where you are.

Click here to skip directly to the review of the platforms offering 1on1 lessons which we recommend [Read more…]

Study Chinese in Hong Kong – Best Private Schools and Universities

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Study Chinese in Hong Kong

Study Chinese in Hong Kong – Index

  1. Pros of Studying Chinese in Hong Kong
  2. Cons of Studying Chinese in Hong Kong
  3. Private Schools in Hong Kong
  4. The Best Universities for Studying Chinese in Hong Kong

Studying Chinese can be a great choice as you’ll stand apart from foreign job-applicants that merely have a “B.Sc or M.Sc” on their CVs. Truth be told, if you can speak Chinese you’ll find job opportunities, not only in Asia, but in Europe, the US, and plenty of other places.

If you read this article, I assume that you’re interested in pursuing Chinese language studies in Hong Kong.

Today, I will explain both the benefits and disadvantages of studying Chinese in Hong Kong and also what some of the best universities schools are. Let’s start and have a look at some of the pros of studying Chinese here.

[Read more…]

Study Chinese in Singapore: Best Schools and Universities

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Study Chinese in Singapore

Study Chinese in Singapore – Index

  1. The cons of studying Mandarin in Singapore
  2. The pros of studying Mandarin in Singapore
  3. Private Schools in Singapore
  4. Universities for studying Chinese in Singapore
  5. Get a free quote to study Chinese in Singapore

Singapore is one of the most developed and well-functioning states in the world. It’s not strange that numerous foreigners wish to relocate here to study or pursue career goals.

Many foreigners who move to Singapore never look back and decide to stay here for years, not rarely over a lifetime. What makes this small nation stand out is its multicultural environment, cultural heritage, and ease of doing business. Quality of life is high and the food amazing.

Having said that, Singapore has some notable pros and cons if you plan to study Chinese there. In this article, we review what the main benefits and drawbacks are. I will also list universities and private schools that offer programs and courses in Chinese and how much it costs.

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Chinese Courses: A Review of the Best Learning Programs and Tools

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chinese courses

Chinese Courses – Index

  1. Podcasts and Videos
  2. Writing and reading Chinese characters
  3. HSK Courses
  4. Grammar Books
  5. Multimedia Chinese Courses

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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The Best Way to Learn Chinese Through Videos: FluentU

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Fluentu learn chinese with videos

FluentU: Learn Chinese Through Videos – Index

  1. What is immersion and why is it so important?
  2. How can I achieve “immersion” in my own country?
  3. What is FluentU?
  4. Why do I like FluentU?
  5. What I don’t like about FluentU
  6. How much does FluentU cost?
  7. The FluentU app

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…]

Study Chinese in Xi’an: Best Private Schools and Universities

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Study Chinese in Xi’an

Study Chinese in Xi’an – Index

  1. Pros of Studying Chinese in Xi’an
  2. Cons of Studying Chinese in Xi’an
  3. Private schools in Xi’an
  4. The Best Universities for Studying Chinese in Xi’an
  5. Get a free quote to study Chinese in China

Xi’an is a historical and big city that served as China’s capital. Located in the middle parts of China, Xi’an has a history of thousands of years and one of the country’s best cuisines, at least from my point of view.

Xi’an is not as popular as Beijing and Shanghai when foreigners decide to enroll in Chinese language programs overseas. Simply put, there’s less commercial activity and Xi’an gets less attention overall.

Having said that, it can be a great option if you want to travel to China and save costs at the same time. In this article, I list the pros and cons of living in Xi’an, which private Chinese language schools you should have a look at, and the best universities for Chinese language studies. Let’s start and have a look at the pros of living in Xi’an.

[Read more…]

Similarities and Differences Between Chinese and Japanese

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Similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese

Similarities between Chinese and Japanese – Index

  1. Main similarities between Chinese and Japanese
  2. Main differences between Chinese and Japanese
  3. Frequently asked questions
  4. Conclusion

A frequent question asked of students of Chinese or Japanese is “what’s the difference between Chinese and Japanese?”

This question, if asked by someone who hasn’t had the good fortune to learn one of these two languages, derives from the simple recognition that both languages use Chinese characters: 汉字 (“hanzi”, in Chinese) or 漢字 (“kanji”, in Japanese).

Although this question is based on a rather limited premise, there is however a thread between the two languages that ties them inseparably together.

Nevertheless, as two rather different languages, it would, therefore, be appropriate to rephrase the question this way: “what do Chinese and Japanese have in common?”

Main similarities between Chinese and Japanese

Here are what, in my opinion, are the main similarities between the two languages:

Nouns

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How Long It Takes to Learn Mandarin?

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how long it takes to learn chienese

Click here to discover what Chinese courses
that we recommend at the moment!

How long does it take to learn Mandarin? – Index

  1. The swim or sink dude
  2. The full-time student
  3. The long-distance Chinese learner
  4. The exchange student
  5. The “I would love but I can’t” guy
  6. The angry expat
  7. The indifferent person
  8. Some final words
  9. Frequently asked questions

First of all, I believe that we are our habits and that our habits are influenced by our goals and the external environment.

Hence I think you can roughly predict how long it will take you to learn Mandarin by honestly answering to which of the following categories you belong. [Read more…]

The Relationship Between the Chinese Language, Everyday Life and Superstitions

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The relationship between the Chinese language, everyday life and superstitions

This article has the objective of describing the particular type of relationship that exists between the Chinese language and the everyday life of those who speak and read it.

From this close relationship you can identify a series of “superstitions” (or customs) that are more or less strictly followed by the population of the Middle Kingdom.

In order to fully understand those relationships, we need to first consider some aspects of the Chinese language.

What are the characteristics and peculiarities of the Chinese language?

One always hears that Chinese is a strange language that is difficult to learn, especially for someone coming from a Western culture.

This is probably true in part, as every language in the world has its simple and complex aspects. [Read more…]

Learn How to Write Chinese Characters: Skritter Review & Discount

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If you sign up to Skritter using one of the links on this page with the coupon “SDC3952” you get a 33% discount for the first six months (only valid for new accounts)

Skritter review – Index

  1. What is Skritter?
  2. Why do you need a software to write characters?
  3. How much does it cost?
  4. How to use the software
  5. The advantages of learning how to write characters
  6. Common mistakes
  7. Other features of Skritter

What is Skritter?

Skritter is, in my opinion, the best way to learn how to write Chinese characters.

I used it ten minutes per day for about one year and I managed to learn how to write more than 1,000 characters (all the characters on the HSK4 list, to be precise). Also, I learned the meaning and pronunciation of those characters.

Why do you need a software to write characters?

If you watched the video at the beginning of this post you already know that the software is pretty cool.

But the real reason for using Skritter is the algorithm behind the software, which allows you to remember more than the 90% of the characters that you are studying (in the photo below you can see that in 30 days I was able to remember the 92.9% of the characters that I studied, [Read more…]

Chinese Letters and Chinese Alphabet: Why Both Terms Are Incorrect

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chinese alphabet

Click here to discover what Chinese courses
that we recommend at the moment!

I have been living in China for more than five years and every time I go home, people ask me:

“Isn’t it really hard to learn Chinese letters?”

To which I respond: “Not as hard as you think.”

The next question is usually:

“Do you know the whole alphabet?”

To which I don’t know what to say, so I just answer “No, not yet.”

This article is dedicated to the people that ask me these things, as well as for those who are interested in Chinese writing and don’t know where to start.

When you finish reading this article, you will have a basic idea of Chinese writing and will have learned some of these incorrectly named Chinese letters effortlessly, in such a way that you are not going to forget them easily.

If you stumbled upon this article accidentally because you want to get a tattoo with Chinese letters, wait a second, as you might still learn something and avoid getting a tattoo of something that your future Chinese girlfriend/boyfriend is going to laugh at every time they see it. [Read more…]

Guide to the HSK 6 Test – Advanced Chinese for Foreign Students

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Guide to the HSK 6 Test

Guide to the HSK 6 Test – Advanced Chinese – Index

  1. Premise
  2. Exam structure
  3. Find the error
  4. Particular constructions
  5. Uncommon words
  6. List of frequent chengyu
  7. The differences between 口面用语 and 书面用语
  8. Reading
  9. The final exercise: the summary
  10. Listening
  11. Recommended manuals

P.S. Click here to test your HSK level with our free quiz!

Premise

Before taking the time to read this guide, know that you can only really appreciate it if you’ve already reached level 5 of the HSK exam or if you’ve already attained a good level.

Consider too that you’ll have to know more than 2500/3000 words before being able to specifically work on the HSK 6. Happy studies!

Structure of the test

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Writing Chinese: Basic Rules and the Order of Strokes

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Chinese writing

Chinese writing has a fascination all its own: from the ornamental aspect, which all can appreciate even without being an expert, to the symbolic value which is exotic to us, to the long tradition that the characters bring from over two millennia of history full of meaning and even magic.

There are those who don’t consider it so much as a form of writing the words of a spoken language as much as a system for “writing the world”.

In this article I will speak to you about the rules through which this “world” is created on paper: starting from an alphabetic writing you’ll be used to, up to simple signs that indicate sounds whose combinations create the written text, while the question becomes a little more complicated for Chinese.

Chinese writing – Index

  1. Order and direction of writing
  2. The strokes
  3. The classification of strokes
  4. The combination of strokes
  5. The order of strokes
  6. Why learn the order of strokes?
  7. Curiosities

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List of 148 well-known Chengyu (or idiomatic expressions)

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Chengyu List

The Chengyu, in Chinese 成语, are four character expressions that express a particular meaning, taken from the stories of classical China. There are lots of Chengyu in the Chinese language and they get used quite a bit.

When a foreigner manages to master the Chengyu – along with idiomatic expressions – both in written and spoken language, it means they have reached a very high level in the Chinese language.

In the course of my studies I’ve run into several of these expressions and wanted to draw up those I have encountered most frequently.

So below you will find a list of 148 Chengyu and idiomatic phrases that are among the most used in modern China:

1. 不可得兼 (bù kě dé jiān): “you can’t have both at the same time”

2. 不得其法 (bù dé qí fǎ): “not knowing the right way”

3. 心神不宁 (xīn shén bù níng): “to feel bad about nothing” [Read more…]

Pleco: Review of the English/Chinese Dictionary for iOS and Android Smartphones

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Pleco Dizionario

Learning Chinese has become an increasingly common objective not just for future Sinologists and experts but also for neophytes in the world of business where it has become continuously more important.

There are in fact an infinite amount of resources for how to best learn this language and facilitate learning for the user in this difficult undertaking.

These days, the quickest and most intuitive are certainly the numerous mobile apps for learning a language, and when it comes to Chinese, there’s one you probably already know.

I’m talking about Pleco, the English/Chinese dictionary for iOS systems and Android for which I’ll now present a brief review.

Review of Pleco – Index

  1. What does Pleco represent today?
  2. What is Pleco?
  3. What are the positive aspects of Pleco?
  4. Pleco’s main features
  5. What are the negative aspects of Pleco?

[Read more…]

Chinese Radicals: The Basic Unit of Characters

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Chinese language characters

When speaking about the Chinese language, one of the most disturbing “facts” is that there is no alphabet. “So how do they do it? Is every word different? And how do they remember how it is written?”

It’s not easy to respond to these and other similar questions without understanding a little bit more about Chinese writing. In this article I will try to speak about the “alternative” system to the alphabet, that of radicals: perhaps, after having read it, you too will better understand the logic behind the Chinese language!

The radicals – Index

  1. The smallest unit
  2. The strokes
  3. The “parts”
  4. The radicals
  5. “radicals for consulting a dictionary”
  6. “radicals for learning characters”
  7. Function 1: indicating the shape of a character
  8. Function 2: suggesting the meaning of a character
  9. Function 3: suggesting the sound of a character

The smallest unit

What is the smallest unit of the Chinese language? For us it is the letter: a graphic symbol that indicates a sound (technically called a phenome). This makes English (along with Italian, Spanish, and German) an alphabetical language.

The smallest unit of the Chinese language is the syllable: this means that the characters (the units of writing that have the same function of our letters), in Chinese 汉字 (Hànzì, “Han characters”), correspond not to a single sound but to a syllable – making Chinese a syllabic language. [Read more…]