All Episodes
Hacking Chinese Podcast — 319 episodes
317 - Getting the most out of Hacking Chinese in 2026 (back-to-school course discounts)
316 - How to nail dictation tests in Chinese: A guide to 听写/聽寫 (tīngxǐe)
315 - Communicative handwriting: Writing Chinese with a real purpose
314 - How to create mnemonics for general, abstract or overlapping character components
313 - Why you should listen to the Hacking Chinese Podcast
312 - The Chinese iceberg: Why speaking more isn’t enough to speak better
311 - New book: Hacking Chinese: The Snake Collection
310 - 30 minutes of podcast, 3 minutes of Chinese
309 - Dealing with Chinese characters you keep mixing up
308 - How much Chinese should you listen to every day?
307 - How technology can stop you from learning Chinese
306 - How technology can make learning Chinese easier
305 - When spaced repetition fails, and what to do about it
304 - How to make Chinese easier by using mnemonics and memory techniques
303 - Learn Chinese by playing Chinese chess (象棋, xiàngqí)
302 - The best podcasts for learning Chinese in 2026
301 - Effective progress or experience points? The double-edged sword of measuring your Chinese learning
300 - Why learning Chinese pronunciation by using English words is a really bad idea
299 - How to not memorise Chinese characters: The anatomy of bad mnemonics
298 - The best time to start learning Chinese is now: A guide for expats
297 - Improve your Chinese conversations by listening to the listener
296 - Chinese is fascinating and exciting, not weird and stupid
295 - Which Chinese language course should you take?
294 - The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
293 - Remembering is a skill you can learn: Mnemonics for Chinese learners
292 - A practical guide to your ideal Mandarin self: Build motivation that lasts
291 - Are mnemonics too slow for Chinese learners?
290 - Spaced repetition: What it is and how to use it to learn Chinese
289 - Reader and listener survey + Lunar New Year discount
288 - New book: Hacking Chinese: the Dragon Collection
287 - How to get honest feedback to boost your Chinese speaking and writing
286 - Chinese reading practice for beginners: 7 resources to improve your Mandarin
285 - Chinese subtitles and transcripts: Reading before, while or after listening
284 - Chinese listening, fast and slow: Three ways of slowing down Mandarin speech
283 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2025
282 - Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more
281 - Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better
280 -Chinese characters and words that refuse to stick: Killing leeches
279 - Learning Chinese words: When quantity beats quality
278 - A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand
277 - Cultivate your Chinese flashcard garden... or burn it down and start afresh
276 - 4, 3, 2, 1: Fluency! A great technique to boost your Mandarin speaking ability
275 - How to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese
274 - Why not going to China now could actually be good for your Chinese
273 - What a big Rubik’s Cube taught me about Chinese characters
272 - Learning (or not learning) Chinese slang
271 - 7 ways to learn to write Chinese characters
270 - How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach
269 - Same building blocks, different characters: How component placement changes meaning in Chinese
268 - 16 myths about learning Chinese that are holding you back
267 - How to improve your Mandarin speaking skills with a tutor
266 - What important words are missing from HSK?
265 - 5 common challenges in Mandarin listening comprehension and how to overcome them
264 - Learning Chinese through comprehensible input
263 - Classroom Mandarin: Essential expressions for learning Chinese in Chinese
262 - Getting the most from Hacking Chinese in 2025: Back-to-school course discount, 2025
261 - Should you learn to speak Chinese before you learn Chinese characters?
260 - 16 reasons to learn to write Chinese characters by hand
259 - Using AI chatbots for low-stress Mandarin speaking practice
258 - How to find the perfect Mandarin tutor for you: A complete guide
257 - Student Q&A: July, 2025: AI feedback, input methods and topics for writing
256 - 8 reasons to learn to write Chinese characters by hand
255 - 7 characteristics of a great Chinese tutor or private teacher
254 - How to get the most out of your Chinese tutoring sessions
253 - 8 myths about learning Chinese that are holding you back
252 - Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 7: How to navigate different types of listening in Mandarin
251 - Student Q&A: June, 2025: Beginner listening, group conversations, and Chinese news
250 - Will Hacking Chinese help you learn Mandarin?
249 - Zi.Tools: A powerful free resource for exploring Chinese characters
248 - Student Q&A: May, 2025: Learning Chinese characters and words with flashcard apps
247 - 7 kinds of tone problems in Mandarin and what to do about them
246 - Why using a good dictionary can be bad for your Chinese reading ability
245 - The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
244 - Student Q&A: April, 2025: Reading with Pinyin, Chinese texts on your phone, and deciphering handwriting
243 - How to use mnemonics to learn Mandarin tones and pronunciation
242 - Don’t be a tourist if you want to learn Chinese
241 - Cramming vs. spaced repetition: When to use which method to learn Chinese
240 - The best YouTube channels for learning Chinese
239 - Student Q&A: March, 2025: Chinese slang, leaving expat bubbles, and competing with other learners
238 - Learning Chinese by playing board games
237 - Love and language: Challenges and opportunities in learning Chinese with a partner
236 - The Input Pyramid: Chinese Listening for Any Situation
235 - Student Q&A: February, 2025: Improving listening ability quickly, using transcripts, and understanding rapid Mandarin
234 - Reader and listener survey + Lunar New Year discount
233 - The three roads to mastering Chinese
232 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2024
231 - Student Q&A, January 2025: Chinese that reads like English, feedback from AI, and writing formal Chinese
230 - What native speakers know about Chinese (and what they don't)
229 - Don’t use mnemonics for everything when learning Chinese
228 - Benchmarking progress in Chinese to stay motivated
227 - Can English learning materials help you learn Chinese?
226 - Student Q&A, December 2024: Learning similar Chinese characters, polyphonic characters, and flashcards vs. reading for building vocabulary
225 - Which Chinese learning resources are worth paying for?
224 - Welcome to The Fluent Listener, a new course from Hacking Chinese!
223 - Four key principles to improve your Mandarin listening comprehension
222 - Student Q&A, November 2024: Pros and cons of digital tools for Chinese reading, and the struggle to find comprehensible and interesting texts
221 - How to learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo) in two hours
220 - Do you really know how to count in Chinese?
219 - Three things I wish I had known as an advanced student of Chinese: Time machine, part 3
218 - Don’t learn Mandarin pronunciation by reading, listen and mimic instead
217 - Student Q&A, October 2024: Pronouncing the final -i after sh-, the initial z- and if Pinyin is a good transcription system
216 - How to use YouTube and other video platforms to learn Chinese
215 - Three things I wish I had known as an intermediate student of Chinese: The time machine, part 2
214 - YouGlish: A free service to hear and see Chinese words in context
213 - Student Q&A, September 2024: Slowly spoken Chinese, passing listening exams and understanding numbers
212 - Getting the most from Hacking Chinese in024: Back-to-school course discounts
211 - Three things I wish I had known as a beginner student of Chinese: The time machine, part 1
210 - The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
209 - Student Q&A, August 2024: Avoiding mental translation, untranslatable words and why practising translation is good
208 - Insights from my recent trip to China: The importance of top-down listening
207 - Chinese character variants and font differences for language learners
206 - Why you should preview before every Chinese lesson
205 - How I used a notebook to learn more Chinese, and why you should too
204 - Student Q&A, July 2024: Reading speed, children’s books and Chinese literature
203 - The three factors that determine how much Chinese you learn
202 - Habit hacking for language learners
201 - Should you learn the pronunciation of radicals?
200 - Student Q&A, June 2024: How much time on flashcards, Remembering the Hanzi, and resources for learning characters
199 - Chinese character learning for all students
198 - Learning to hear the sounds and tones in Mandarin
197 - 24 great resources for improving your Mandarin pronunciation
196 - Student Q&A, May 2024: Understanding strangers, listening with transcripts, and which podcasts to avoid
195 - Why is listening in Chinese so hard? Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 6
194 - Chengyu, a magic key to Chinese language and culture, or a waste of time?
193 - Interview: Insights from Skritter’s Complete Guide to Learning Chinese
192 - Student Q&A, April 2024: Learning chengyu, listening to yourself and using role-playing games to learn Chinese
191 - Is speaking more important than listening when learning Chinese?
190 - The best podcasts for learning Chinese in 2024
189 - Real communication: What it is, why you want it and how to get it
188 - How to learn Chinese in the long term with intrinsic motivation
187 - Student Q&A, March 2024: Reading aloud, finding word boundaries, and working actively with reading materials
186 - Outlier Chinese Character Masterclass review: Understand more, learn faster, remember longer
185 - The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones, part 3: Learning to hear and say tones
184 - The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones, part 2: How important are tones?
183 - The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones, part 1: What are tones?
182 - Student Q&A, February 2024: Typing or handwriting, using new words in texts, and how to use AI to improve your writing
181 - Listen more and learn more by building a personal Chinese audio library
180 - 8 great ways to scaffold your Chinese listening and reading
179 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2023
178 - Student Q&A: Chinese music, too much Mandarin in the classroom, and listening
177 - 12 ways chatting online will improve your Chinese
176 - How to best use flashcards to learn Chinese
175 - Why flashcards are terrible for learning Chinese
174 - Student Q&A, December 2023: How many words to learn, if it's good to learn radicals, and whether to learn simplified or traditional characters
173 - Why flashcards are great for learning Chinese
172 - Chinese reading speed revisited
171 - Is learning things by heart good for improving your Chinese?
170 - The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for all levels (2023 edition)
169 - Student Q&A: Reading Pinyin or characters, comprehensible vs. compelling content and reading tools
168 - Shapeshifting Chinese characters
167 - You won't learn Chinese simply by living abroad
166 - 100 hours of Chinese listening in 3 weeks: What I learnt and how to apply it
165 - Student Q&A: Expanding vocabulary quickly, learning by watching videos and nailing dictation tests
164 - Listen more than once: How the replay button can help you learn more Chinese
163 - The cheapest and most convenient way to improve your spoken Chinese
162 - Improving your Chinese pronunciation by mimicking native speakers
161 - Student Q&A: Listening more than once, assessing pronunciation and the merits of flashcards
160 - How long do you have to study Chinese to make it useful?
159 - Getting the most out of your learning with Hacking Chinese
158 - Should you throw away your Chinese textbook?
157 - How translation to another language can help you learn Chinese
156 - Hacking Chinese Podcast three-year anniversary Q&A
155 - Is Chinese difficult to learn?
154 - Timeboxing Chinese: Get more done in less time
153 - Insights from the new HSK 7-9: Interview with Sara Jaaksola
152 - How I learnt Chinese, part 7: Teaching, writing, learning
151 - How narrow reading and listening can help you bridge the gap to real Chinese
150 - Seeing through the illusion of advanced Chinese learning
149 - Why travelling isn't the best method to learn Chinese
148 - How I learnt Chinese, part 6: Graduate program in Taiwan
147 - Learning Chinese with the aid of technology: Interview with Jake Gill from Skritter
146 - Get to know your Chinese voice to level up your speaking ability
145 - How learning some basic theory can improve your Mandarin pronunciation
144 - Learning Chinese is more like walking a thousand miles than running 100-metre dash
143 - How I learnt Chinese, part 5: Returning to Sweden
142 - Becoming a better listener as a student of Chinese: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 5
141 - Vocabulary lists that help you learn Chinese and how to use them
140 - Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists?
139 - How I learnt Chinese, part 4: My second year in Taiwan
138 - 6 benefits of learning Chinese through sports
137 - Should you use an efficient method for learning Chinese even if you hate it?
136 - Don't try to improve everything at once when learning Chinese
135 - How I learnt Chinese, part 3: My first year in Taiwan
134 - Learn Chinese by playing Mahjong (麻将, májiàng)
133 - Hacking Chinese Pronunciation: Learning Mandarin finals
132 - Can ChatGPT pass the HSK?
131 - How I learnt Chinese, part 2: Learning Mandarin in Sweden
130 - Beginner Chinese listening practice: What to listen to and how
129 - Using the HSK as a roadmap to learning Chinese
128 - How I learnt Chinese, part 1: Where it all started
127 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2022
126 - 8 tips for learning Chinese as an introverted student
125 - Hacking Chinese reader and listener survey
124 - Learn Chinese efficiently, not quickly
123 - Learning to process spoken Mandarin quickly and effortlessly: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 4
122 - Learning Chinese words, characters and components
121 - Using what you already know to aid listening comprehension in Chinese: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 3
120 - The simple trick I used to double the amount of Chinese I listen to
119 - Standard pronunciation in Chinese and why you want it
118 - Tone errors in Mandarin that actually can cause misunderstandings
117 - How to study Chinese when you don’t feel like it
116 - Are there any shortcuts for learning Chinese?
115 - The 10 best free Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
114 - Learning the neutral tone in Mandarin
113 - Training your Chinese teacher, part 1: Introduction
112 - From sound to meaning in Mandarin: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 2
111 - A guide to Chinese listening comprehension: Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 1
110 - Kickstart your learning with the Skritter Character Course
109 - Focusing on Mandarin tones without being distracted by Pinyin
108 - Take responsibility for your Chinese learning now
107 - 50 beginner questions about learning Chinese
106 - Learning to pronounce Mandarin with Pinyin, Zhuyin and IPA
105 - 10 ways of using games to learn and teach Chinese
104 - Hacking Chinese Podcast two-year anniversary Q&A
103 - How to learn Chinese characters as a beginner
102 - 7 ways to write Mandarin tones
101 - Chinese language question triage: When to ask whom about what
100 - The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers
99 - How to become fluent in Chinese
98 - How to learn from your mistakes and errors when learning Chinese
97 - Do you have to learn to write Chinese characters by hand?
96 - Which words you should learn and where to find them
95 - Why you should use more than one Chinese textbook
94 - Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation's four strands
93 - On accuracy, communication and comprehensibility when learning Chinese
92 - Obligatory and optional tone change rules in Mandarin
91 - How to find more time to practise Chinese listening
90 - Are authentic texts good for learning Chinese or is graded content better?
89 - What to read to improve your Chinese and why
88 - How to learn Chinese pronunciation as a beginner
87 - Focusing on tone pairs to improve your Mandarin pronunciation
86 - Time quality: Studying the right thing at the right time
85 - 500 resources for learning and teaching Chinese, tagged by level, topic and type
84 - How to start learning Chinese again after a break
83 - Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters?
82 - How to survive and thrive in a difficult Chinese course
81 - The benefits of using 语文/國文 textbooks to learn Chinese
80 - Is taking a Chinese course that's too hard good for your learning?
79 - How to improve your Chinese handwriting
78b - 文字冒险游戏及其在对外汉语教学中的应用
78a - Text adventure games and how to use them in the Chinese language classroom
77 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2021
76 - A guide to Pinyin traps and pitfalls: Learning Mandarin pronunciation
75 - Two reasons why pronunciation matters more than you think
74 - My best advice on how to learn Chinese characters
73 - How to improve fluency in Chinese by playing word games
72 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 6: Learning and remembering compound words
71 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 5: Making sense of Chinese words
70 - Why spaced repetition software is uniquely well suited to learning Chinese characters
69 - Should you learn the names of the strokes in Chinese characters?
68 - The 7 best Chinese reading resources for beginners
67 - 6 challenges students face when learning to read Chinese and how to overcome them
66 - Should you enrol in a Chinese course or are you better off learning on your own?
65 - Learning to read handwritten Chinese
64 - Why your Chinese isn't as good as you think it ought to be
63 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 4: Learning and remembering compound characters
62 - The building blocks of Chinese, part 3: Compound characters
61 - The beginner's guide to Chinese translation
60 - Using voice messaging as a stepping stone to Chinese conversations
59 - Can you use your phone's speech recognition to practise Chinese pronunciation?
58 - A smart method to discover problems with Mandarin sounds and tones
57 - 7 ideas for smooth and effortless Chinese listening practice
56 - Getting the most out of your learning with Hacking Chinese
55 - Basic characters, components and radicals: The building blocks of Chinese, part 2
54 - Chinese characters and words in a nutshell: The building blocks of Chinese, part 1
53 - Boosting your Chinese character learning with Skritter
52 - Hacking Chinese Podcast one-year anniversary Q&A
51 - Chinese language logging, part 3: Tools and resources for keeping track of your learning
50 - Chinese language learning in the twenty-first century: Towards a digital ecosystem? Interview with Julien Leyre
49 - The benefits of using Wikipedia to look up words when learning Chinese
48 - How to get past the intermediate Chinese learning plateau
47 - The new HSK 3.0: What you need to know
46 - Learning to understand regionally accented Mandarin
45 - The importance of tones is inversely proportional to the predictability of what you say
44 - Lost in transcription: Saylaw, Ice Island and Aristotle
43 - How important is reading speed on tests like HSK and TOCFL?
42 - Chinese language logging, part 2: A healthy, balanced diet of Mandarin
41 - Chinese language logging, part 1: Why and how to track your progress
40 - It's time to level up your Chinese pronunciation
39 - How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know
38 - What's the difference between Chinese pronunciation and Pinyin? Does it matter?
37 - Learning the second tone in Mandarin Chinese
36 - Chinese input methods: A guide for second language learners
35 - Why is listening in Chinese so hard?
34 - Does using colour to represent Mandarin tones make them easier to learn?
33 - The best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
32 - 6 things in Chinese that are harder to learn than they seem
31 - Hacking Chinese Challenges - Building language skills through daily practice and friendly competition
30 - Learning science in Chinese with 李永乐老师
29 - 5 levels of understanding Chinese characters: Superficial forms to deep structure
28 - 20 tips and tricks to improve your Chinese writing ability
27 - 7 things you were taught in Chinese class that are actually wrong
26 - Learning the third tone in Mandarin Chinese
25 - Welcome to the Hacking Chinese Pronunciation Course
24 - The most serious mistake students make when learning Mandarin pronunciation
23 - Best of Hacking Chinese 2020
22 - Can too much guidance make you learn less Chinese?
21 - How to not fail with your New Year resolution to learn Chinese
20 - 7 things Chinese students should during the winter vacation
19 - Nine answers to questions about Pinyin and Chinese pronunciation
18 - The forking path: A human approach to learning Chinese
17 - How good is your Chinese?
16 - An introduction to extensive reading for Chinese learners
15 - Celebrating ten years of Hacking Chinese
14 - Why you should listen to the Hacking Chinese podcast
13 - Dealing with Chinese characters you keep mixing up
12 - When spaced repetition fails, and what to do about it
11 - Why learning Chinese pronunciation by using English words is a really bad idea
10 - Chinese is fascinating and exciting, not weird and stupid
09 - Are mnemonics too slow for Chinese learners?
08 - How to get honest feedback to boost your Chinese speaking and writing
07 - Diversify how you study Chinese to learn more
06 - Learning Chinese words: When quantity beats quality
05 - The key to unlocking your first semester of Chinese
04 - Why not going to China now could actually be good for your Chinese
03 - How to not teach Chinese characters to beginners: A 12-step approach
02 - What important words are missing from HSK?
01 - Should you learn to speak Chinese before you learn Chinese characters?
0 - Welcome to the Hacking Chinese Podcast!