You’ve taken up learning Chinese but you don’t know where to start. Scrolling through applications, downloading, trying them out, uninstalling, and repeating this process over and over can be incredibly frustrating and discouraging. Every language learner would prefer to spend time learning the language over wasting time trying to figure out which resources are unique, helpful, and easy to use.
While every learner’s needs are different, here are four resources we recommend for you to check out based on our experiences.
Website: HSK Reading
Offers: Reading, Listening, Vocabulary
How It Works
There are three different general reading levels to choose from. Clicking on a story to read – a dialogue or article will come up. From there, you can hover over characters to understand their meanings. There is a translation button as well – which will show the story/article in English. There is also a mini quiz at the bottom to test comprehension.
Why We Like It
With an opportunity to practice reading comprehension as well as learning new vocabulary, HSK Reading is one of the best websites for accessible and free reading materials. This resource provides articles and narratives for multiple levels mainly focused around the HSK (The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi – Chinese Proficiency Test). The creators of this resource have studied Chinese for over 8 years – finding other contributors with varying backgrounds to add new material. Additionally, multiple readings offer audio recordings for listening practice – to help really hone the listening comprehension skills.
Similar Resources
- App: Du Chinese
- App: Readibu
- Website: Mandarin Bean
Chrome Extension: Zhongwen
Offers: Vocabulary, Reading Assistance
How It Works
After downloading the Chrome Extension on your Chrome browser, you can toggle the extension on/off with the icon next to the search bar. After turning on the extension, you can hover over Chinese characters on your screen by putting your mouse over new vocab words to see the definition of words and see the varying definitions, usages, and the pinyin of each definition of the same character.
Why We Like It
If you are someone looking to take on reading on a variety of websites, rather than reading off of a website like HSK Reading, this extension allows for anyone to see real-world content without feeling lost. Zhongwen helps by providing definitions for unknown characters and breakdowns of more complex words – instead of having to go back and forth between a translator while surfing the web. The extension is easy to download and doesn’t require a long set of directions for set up. Zhongwen also shows the simplified and traditional forms of characters, pinyin, and dictionary definitions – for learners of both styles.
Download the extension from the Chrome Web Store
Similar Resources
- Extension: LiuChan Chinese Popup Dictionary
- App: Pleco Chinese Dictionary
YouTube: Grace Mandarin Chinese
Offers: Advice, Grammar, Speaking, Culture
How It Works
Scroll through the channel and click on any video which sparks your interest! With a variety of information – Grace Mandarin Chinese offers language lessons as well as real-world examples which you might not find in textbooks.
Why We Like It
There are many content creators on YouTube dedicated to teaching languages. However, this channel stands out to us for a few reasons. Grace Guo, a native speaker from Taiwan, offers clearly structured lessons, visuals, and examples in both traditional and simplified characters. Whatever your needs are, this channel has something for you. Some of the most exciting videos are the Chinese Slang videos as well as her culture videos.
Visit the Grace Mandarin Chinese Youtube Channel
Similar Resources
- YouTube: Izzy Sealey
- YouTube: Mandarin Click
- YouTube: ShuoShuo Chinese
YouTube: Rita Mandarin Chinese
App: HelloChinese
Grade: Grammar, Vocab, Lessons, Speaking
How It Works
After downloading the app from the app store – you can immediately start going through lessons. Each lesson teaches vocab, tests for audio listening, and also tests for pronunciation. HelloChinese also allows users to skip ahead by testing out of levels if you already have previous Chinese knowledge. This feature is incredibly helpful if you are a learner gradually moving away from the basics of Chinese and don’t want to be held back when learning.
Why We Like It
This mobile app shines when compared to more well-known language apps like Duolingo or LingoDeer, because it focuses only on Chinese. Also, this application teaches vocabulary which is frequently used in conversation rather than randomly choosing topics from the language. HelloChinese has familiar features and lesson formatting while also offering more realistic – and more useful – vocabulary and sentences. One feature that stands out is the frequent reading lessons with supplemental questions. Finally, this application is free to use; the premium subscription is entirely optional and does not prevent the non-paying users from enjoying the app.
Visit the HelloChinese website and download it from the app store
Similar Resources
- Website/App: NinChanese
- App: ChineseSkill
Kasey Lee
Kasey is a first year Chinese student who enjoys studying languages so she can communicate with more people. She speaks English, Korean, Spanish, and wants to become fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin, and Japanese.