Hacking Chinese Podcast

Mountains, trees and rocks are easy to use in mnemonics. But what do you do with character components whose meanings are general, abstract or overlapping?

#learnchinese #mnemonics #characters #components #vocabulary

Link to the article this podcast episode is based on: How to create mnemonics for general, abstract or overlapping character components:

Listening to a podcast about learning Chinese is not the same as learning Chinese, so why spend your limited time on the Hacking Chinese Podcast?

#learnchinese #podcast #hackingchinese

Link to The Hacking Chinese Podcast: https://www.hackingchinese.com/podcast/

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90% of an iceberg is underwater, yet we mostly pay attention to the bit that sticks up. The same is true for proficiency in Chinese: speaking ability is easy to see, but relies on a much larger system underneath.

#learnchinese #speaking #input #iceberg

Link to the article this podcast episode is based on: The Chinese iceberg: Why speaking more isn’t enough to spea...

I have published a book! It's called Hacking Chinese: the Snake Collection and contains articles I wrote in 2025, the Year of the Snake. The articles cover a wide variety of topics, but Chinese characters, tutors and input are the most prominent.

#learnchinese #anthology #hackingchinese #snake

Link to article on Hacking Chinese: New book: Hacking Chinese: The Snak...

Most learners know they should “listen more”, but what they listen to matters. To improve, you need to make sense of spoken Mandarin, not listen to people explain Mandarin in English.

#learnchinese #listening #podcast #english #input

Link to the article this podcast episode is based on: 30 minutes of podcast, 3 minutes of Chinese: