Blogs Blogs Blogs! A Comprehensive Review of the Hottest Mandarin Blogs for Learners

Chinese Hacks

Chinese hacks is a compelling and easy-to-use blog that not only allows you to read about other people’s experiences with learning Chinese but also provides you with valuable resources, phrases, idioms, vocabulary, fun and many more elements essential to learning the language. The website is designed in a way that is very inviting to prospective learners, allowing you to focus on different things based on your mood. It has an easy-to-follow list format for each tab and covers a vast range of materials, from articles for those who want to take a break to much more intensive looks at phrases and typography.

The website is designed in a way that is very inviting to prospective learners allowing you to focus on different things based on your mood. It has an easy-to- follow list format for each tab and covers a vast range of materials from articles for those who want to take break to much more intensive details on phrases and typography.

East Asia Student Blog

East Asia Student is a blog started by Hugh Grigg – an East Asian Studies student from the University of Cambridge. This website covers class notes, translations of texts, explanations of many things like grammar and Chinese software, and lastly– for those who love current events– commentary and debates concerning the latest from the news. This is the site of choice for real East Asian culture enthusiasts who prefer a more personal flavor. The writer is charmingly honest but clearly dedicated to soaking up and documenting everything they can about East Asia.

Hacking Chinese

Hacking Chinese “focuses on how to learn Chinese, something which is neglected by most teachers and courses that simply focus on what to learn. By putting the process in focus, (they) strive to unveil the mysteries of language learning and thereby help you improve the way you learn.” The website suggests that its approach is more wholesome when it comes to learning Chinese as it allows for the user to learn in their own way.

The website delivers on these bold claims with an introductory level for learners of each skill level who may want to use the website (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). While the website does have a vast number of resources covering all language learning areas (writing, reading, speaking and listening), this is a website more geared towards academically inclined learners, rather than a collection of stories or blog-like material. This is a complex but comprehensive website for those who take their desire to learn Chinese very seriously.

Yoyo Chinese

Yoyo Chinese is perhaps the most professional-looking Chinese learning blog out there. The dedication and commitment of their staff shines through with the quality of the articles. They also provide comprehensively well-made tutorial videos for academically inclined serious learners of Chinese, as well as key insights into culture, life and modern issues in daily China. Thanks to the vast variety of contributors and perspectives, the professional tutorial videos, and the easy design, this website deserves nothing less than a five-star rating.

Culture Yard

Culture Yard is dedicated to helping serious students master the Chinese language. Their blog is a varied resource for learners of all levels who want to know more about the Chinese language and culture. You can find explanations of topics such as Chinese culture, useful Chinese phrases, Chinese characters and idioms, and reviews of Chinese-learning apps and websites, just to name a few. The part I like most is the idioms section, which provides the most classical idioms’ stories and uses as well as examples.  

Since all of Culture Yard’s writers are long-time China enthusiasts with real experience living in China and learning Chinese, each article breaks down China and Chinese from a learner’s perspective with clear and concise explanations and insights.

Sinosplice

Sinosplice is different from other blogs above. Blogger John Pasden, who is also a Chinese expert, records his life living in China, from his city’s recent news to new discoveries like a milk tea shop or mistranslations from Chinese to English. No matter whether you live in China or other areas, it’s a quite unique view of Chinese and a foreigner’s life in China. It also presents Chinese people’s lifestyles so that you have a way to understand them better. Besides the little stories about his personal life, much of the content also contains his language observations, including word construction and cross-cultural knowledge.

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