How to Make the Most of Mandarin Language Exchange
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Recently, one of my students posted a message in the I’m Learning Mandarin Discord server. If you’re no…
Read more ← All categories
Methodology & Study Plans
Sentence mining, immersion, study plans, and the science of language learning.
53 posts
Getting Smart about Mandarin Listening
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about how to improve your Mandarin listening skills. I chose this…
Read more
Four Attitude Shifts You Need to Master Mandarin Speaking
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Over the next few weeks I'll be taking the I'm Learning Mandarin podcast in a slightly different direct…
Read more
Former NASA Employee Applies Engineering Approach to Mandarin learning (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Ash Henson is the co-founder of Outlier Linguistics, a company dedicated to creating tools and courses…
Read more
Special Live Q&A: Ask Me Anything with Will Hart
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify In this episode, I share our special live q&a session with Will Hart. Will should need no introduction…
Read more
Live Q&A: How To Practice Mandarin Speaking Early On (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify In a recent episode, we announced the launch of our Discord Server. In just over a week we’ve seen the…
Read more
How to Say Hello in Chinese
In this guest post, Chinese learner Lewys Thomas takes some of the most common examples of textbook Mandarin phrases all learners get taught and offer…
Read more
5 Things I Learned From 5 Days of Total Mandarin Immersion
I've just returned from five glorious summer days in Cheddar, UK, where I was leading our annual Mandarin Retreat Summer Camp. I began organising Mand…
Read more
Fluent Mandarin Star Uses Sentence Mining to Learn Spanish (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google Today's podcast episode features a Chinese learning superstar who should need no introduction.…
Read more How to Build Your Perfect Step-By-Step Mandarin Learning Plan
Will Hart is an Educator, fluent Chinese speaker. In this blog post, he lays out the building blocks all learners can use to create an effective Manda…
Read more
My Top Five Podcasts For Learning Mandarin at an Intermediate to Advanced Level
In previous posts, I’ve discussed how listening to podcasts has played a crucial role in my Mandarin learning. There are two reasons why I value podca…
Read more
Learning to Listen: The Neuroscience of Language Learning
Duncan Parrish is an I’m Learning Mandarin contributor and coordinator of Arti Languages, a project using mobile games and cognitive science to enhanc…
Read more
5 Things I Learned as a Keynote Speaker at the Swire Chinese Conference 2024
Last week I attended the annual Swire Chinese Language Conference in Birmingham as a keynote speaker. Organised by the Swire Chinese Language Foundati…
Read more
Five Ways I Maintain my Mandarin Speaking Skills While Living in UK
In 2023 I spent the year living, studying, and working in Taipei. I had the chance to take an advanced Mandarin course for a semester at NTU where I w…
Read more
Practicing Output is Every Bit as Important as Comprehensible Input (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google A few weeks ago, I received a message from an I'm Learning Mandarin listener from the US called…
Read more
How to Practice Speaking: Live Q&A with Will & Mischa (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google If you've listened to this podcast for long, you'll know that our purpose here is to support le…
Read more
The Fluency Simulator: Why You Should Get Into Intensive Listening (Again and Again)
Duncan Parrish is an I'm Learning Mandarin contributor and coordinator of Arti Languages, a project using mobile games and cognitive science to enhanc…
Read more
What is Micro-Fluency and Why Should You Aim for It?
Duncan Parrish is an educational technologist and coordinator of Arti Languages, a project using mobile games and cognitive science to enhance how we…
Read more
Why Memorising Chinese HSK Vocab Lists is a Bad Idea
In a previous post, I discussed why language proficiency tests are largely a waste of time as they distract you from working towards your real goals.…
Read more
Does Your Chinese Teacher Meet These Five Essential Requirements?
Chinese teachers are everywhere. There are thousands upon thousands of them. They can be found on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Italki… Anywhe…
Read more
There Isn’t a Shred of Evidence That Speaking Early is Harmful for Your Chinese
“When should you start speaking Chinese?” This is the question at the centre of one of the longest standing debates in the language learning community…
Read more
Chinese Grammar Isn't As Simple As You Think!
I’ve often heard learners and teachers alike say Mandarin grammar is ‘simple.’ Unlike European languages, they point out that there are no genders, ve…
Read more
Can You Learn Mandarin From Outside Chinese Speaking Countries? Yes, Here’s Why
Ask someone who has never learned a foreign language to fluency what they imagine the best way to do so might be and many will reply: “Go and live in…
Read more
You Don’t Understand Everything In Your Native Language. Stop Trying To Do So In Chinese
One of my most misguided thought patterns when learning Chinese involved the belief that my ultimate goal must be to understand everything. This was t…
Read more
The Beginner's Guide To Surviving a Weekend of Total Chinese Immersion
Lingo Geek is a language blogger, teacher and volunteer at Mandarin Retreat, organising immersive weekend trips for Chinese learners in the UK. In thi…
Read more
Refold: Making Immersive Language Learning Mainstream (Podcast)
On to today’s podcast! On today's episode, I speak to Ethan, the CEO of Refold, an immersion-based language learning system that offers a guide and a…
Read more
Your Ultimate Guide to Mastering Chinese Listening in Five Steps
Of the four core language learning skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing - I've found listening to be the toughest to crack. For long peri…
Read more
Four Myths About Learning Chinese Debunked
1. You Need to Go to China to Learn Chinese When I first started learning Chinese teachers and fellow learners often told me the only way I could poss…
Read more
Tolerating Ambiguity: How to Cope With Not Understanding Chinese (Podcast)
New language learners often find it difficult to cope with the experience of not understanding. We’re used to being in situations in our native langua…
Read more
How To Make the Most of Your Language Exchange Partnerships
In this post blogger and teacher Lingo Geek draws on his personal experience to offer four tips for using language exchange apps and developing learni…
Read more
Four Things to Look For in a Good Chinese Tutor (and What to Avoid)
Searching for a Chinese tutor online can be a headache. Whilst there are plenty of online apps and websites pairing language learners with tutors it c…
Read more
Does Stephen Krashen's Input Hypothesis & Comprehensible Input Work for Learning Mandarin Chinese?
Professor Stephen Krashen has arguably had more of an impact in the field of modern language education than any other academic linguist. His Input Hyp…
Read more
What's the Big Deal About Sentence Mining? (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor. Please subscribe on your favoured podcast provider and leave a review. Last Christmas…
Read more
Benny Lewis on Learning Chinese, Embracing Mistakes & Why He's Not a Language Learner (Podcast)
On today’s episode, I interview arguably the world’s most popular language learner, the one and only Benny Lewis. To many listeners, Benny or Benny th…
Read more
Your Ultimate Guide to Chinese Sentence Mining in 5 Basic Steps
Illustrations by Esther Birts Many Mandarin learners are obsessed with building a large vocabulary. Often this can seem like a competition where stude…
Read more
The 5 Most Common Chinese Learning Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
(Illustrations by Esther Birts) A large part of my motivation for writing this blog is to discuss mistakes I've made in my approaches to learning Chin…
Read more
How Many Words do you Really Need to Speak Fluent Chinese?
One of the most frequently asked questions from new Chinese learners is: "how many words will I need to learn before I'm fluent?" In this guest post c…
Read more
Struggling to Speak Authentic Chinese? This Method Will Help Master Mandarin Grammar
In a previous post, I wrote about my ‘traffic light system’ for improving spoken Chinese. This involves categorising my Chinese tutor and friends into…
Read more
Improving my Spoken Mandarin with the Traffic Light System
Towards the end of last year, I wrote a blog setting out my objective for 2022. In it I stated that by 2023 I hope to have developed enough confidence…
Read more
“Wow! Your Mandarin is Awesome!” Decoding Chinese Politeness (Podcast)
Anyone who has learned Mandarin will be familiar with how encouraging Chinese people tend to be towards those of us who take an interest in their lang…
Read more
Don't Blame Native Speakers for Not Understanding You
I recently came across a video parodying a phenomenon allegedly encountered by many Japanese learners. The sketch (see below) involves a group of five…
Read more
Key Predictors of Mandarin Success (Podcast)
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Pocket Casts and Breaker. On today’s episode, I discuss learning Mandarin with a ma…
Read more
Three Ways Native Speakers React to Chinese Learners
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. Two years ago I hosted a party for the language exchange group I…
Read more
Can You Speak A Foreign Language With 400 Words?
Two years ago I had an experience which completely altered my perspective on language learning. I travelled to Taiwan for a three-week trip and quickl…
Read more
Learning Mandarin in a Pandemic (Podcast)
The I'm Learning Mandarin Podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts as well as Spotify. The global pandemic has had a profound influence on the way w…
Read more
This Tutor Almost Made Me Give Up Learning Chinese
Most of my experiences with Chinese tutors over the years have been excellent and I have benefited from their guidance immensely. However, a couple of…
Read more
Immersion Vs Structured Learning (Podcast)
https://anchor.fm/mi-kai/episodes/Acquiring-Mandarin-Naturalistic-Immersion-or-Structured-Learning-e150c4i Anyone who studies a language has to combin…
Read more
My Mandarin Methods & Resources (Video)
This week I was interviewed by Elle Lebel of the online language learning tool LingQ to discuss my resources and methods for learning Mandarin. The di…
Read more
How to Assess Your Chinese Level
Assessing your level of Chinese may sound simple but it is easier said than done. There is no objective test that can accurately measure your ability…
Read more
Why I Don't Study Formal Chinese Grammar
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. In the four years I have been learning Chinese I have spent very…
Read more
How Useful are Flashcards for Learning Mandarin Vocab?
Mandarin learners are often divided on the topic of flashcards. How useful are they? How should they be used? At what stage are they most useful? In t…
Read more
Four Language Gurus Whose Advice is Golden
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. When I first started learning Mandarin I quickly found myself dr…
Read more
Has Lockdown Helped or Hindered my Chinese Learning?
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. The pandemic has had a profound impact on the way we all live an…
Read more