Mandarin Companion: stories you love with a Chinese twist!

mandarin companion secret garden

Studying specially constructed dialogues and learning Chinese grammar are helpful when learning a language, but if you can learn Chinese while having fun, it is even better.  Mandarin Companion books help you do just that. Read More…

Allset Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki

allset learning chinese grammar wiki book

My review of Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Elementary Edition

For the past couple of years I’ve been studying from “Integrated Chinese” published by Cheng & Tsui.   This textbook is pretty much the standard textbook in most U.S. universities and many high schools.   I’ve benefited tremendously from Integrated Chinese. Read More…

How to learn Chinese characters with Yoyo Chinese

Learning to read Chinese characters must be a daunting challenge for foreigners because each character is unique, right?

Well, not exactly.   While there are thousands of Chinese characters, they are comprised of about  214 “building blocks” called radicals.  As you learn to combine the radicals, you build up words.

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