FluentU

Review: Learning Chinese through video with FluentU

This week FluentU (who changed their name from Fluent Fix - which personally, I liked a bit more) announced that they now have over 300 videos available for Chinese study on their site. 308, at the moment actually, and more all the time. Congratulations to the FluentU team on all that hard work!

But what's FluentU anyway, you ask? In their own words:
"FluentU is a new way to learn Chinese through authentic vi…

Skritter iOS App

Skritter goes mobile, putting strokes in the palm of your hand

I'm a busy guy. Or at least that's been my long-running excuse as to why I don't spend more time practicing my Chinese. Fortunately Skritter is making it harder for me to live by that self-defeating mantra with the release of their new iOS app.

Out just yesterday, the Skritter mobile app is set to revolutionize the way we study written Chinese. Already a popular browser-based resource, the app puts touch character…

Chinese Grammar Wiki

Chinese Grammar Wiki: Learning Chinese grammar just got easier

AllSet Learning, the Shanghai-based language learning consultancy founded by long-time China blogger John Pasden, has just released what is surely a boon for any mandarin learners who aspire to achieve better Chinese grammar -- the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

From the AllSet Blog: Web-savvy learners of Chinese have known for some time that there’s no single comprehensive grammar resource for Chinese grammar on the e…

Dashan (Mark Rowswell) hosting a live broadcast for China Central Television in November 2006

Mark Rowswell explains why foreigners hate Dashan

I find it unlikely that there could be a foreigner in China that doesn't know the name Dashan, and there's certainly no Canadians unaware of the mystical Big Mountain of Chinese. 大山 comparisons, jokes and CCTV9 Chinese lessons have been a formative staple over the course of my time in China.

This past November the following question was posted on Quora: Why do so many Chinese learners seem to hate Dashan (Mark Row…

Laowai Ladies

Lady Laowai: Women foreigners who have inspirational Chinese

Recently the guys over at the Skritter blog (Skritter's an excellent tool for studying Chinese, by the way) did a blog on Famous Foreigners Who Can Speak Chinese Really Well. The 10 people they listed are a great inspiration to all of us who are studying Chinese. If they can do it so can we!

I thought it was terrific, but I had one little problem with their list. The 10 Famous Foreigners were all men! Not one woma…

The Huntsman Fluency Imbroglio

Are you fluent in Chinese? This is a question that laowai often field from curious friends and relatives back home, the vast majority of whom being unable to judge for themselves. The question also arises when would-be job seekers formulate their resumes- while showing fluency in Chinese will look impressive, what happens when an interviewer says something to me and I stumble?

The issue has even popped up in the U…

Business cards from prostitutes

Prostitutes and Full Immersion Learning

The best thing about learning the language of a country you are living in is full immersion learning. Everyone is a potential teacher, and everything around you is your learning materials.

I really learned this lesson during a recent trip to Beijing. It was a weekend, and all the hostels were sold out so we were stuck staying at a low-end business hotel. You know, a sketchy place with smoke scented rugs; scuffed,…

Brendan O'Kane

Mandarin Monday: Popup Chinese’s Brendan O’Kane lays down some learning know-how

Our Mandarin Monday interview for this week is none other than well-known blogger, podcast host and translator, Brendan O'Kane.

One of the original founders of Paper Republic, Brendan is a host of the Mandarin Chinese language learning podcast Popup Chinese, and teaches a course in Chinese-English literary translation at IES Abroad Beijing.

He also (and far too infrequently!) blogs at bokane.org (English) and 在…

John Pasden

Mandarin Monday: Sinosplice’s John Pasden offers up some Chinese advice

For this week's Mandarin Monday, we've hit up the juggernaut of Chinese learning, John Pasden.

John surely doesn't need much introduction for anyone studying Chinese. In China for more than a decade, John's been mastering the language for most of that time, including securing a masters in applied linguistics in Shanghai. He pens the popular Sinosplice blog, oversees academic content and serves as host at ChinesePo…

David Flynn

Mandarin Monday: ChineseHacks’ David Flynn doles out some learning insight

Wha?! Mandarin Monday on a Wednesday? What the hell is going on. Yeah, I screwed up and totally forgot. Hopefully a bit of mid-week mandarin is just as good though.

For the third installment in our weekly Mandarin Monday series that discusses Chinese learning we've hit up David Flynn. Dave is originally from the UK, he's been living in Taiwan and learning Mandarin Chinese for the last five years. He founded and ru…