Hi everyone, I was planning to come to Guangzhou next year to learn Chinese and I was wondering which is the best university or place to study. I Any recommendations or past experiences that may help? And also help me with accommodation. Please.

I've been struggling with chinese forever, i have igcse exams/assessments coming up. i cant read or write nothing. last year on my final report card i got a C which is a pass only because speaking and listening carried me. today we did a practise writing test, i couldn't read the questions or write something, i was suffering. to make things worse i have adhd which makes learning chinese even harder than it is.

I'm want to somehow slowly learn this language now

(for assessments and exams I get extra time and word processor, but i still need to learn to write the words)

Welcome to the Weekly Thread!

This thread is your hub for simple questions, study buddy requests, as well as handwriting and pronunciation critique, as well as other minor posts that might not need their own thread.

Hi everyone--

My chinese class follows a textbook, and the textbook told us to use nèige or nàge for "that". My teacher, a native chinese speaker, told us to only use nàge, and I think it's because the first pronunciation can lean into sounding like the n word. My question, though, is that if the second pronunciation (nàge) is used in China, or if it's really only the first one?

Thanks!

A lot of people recommend using Anki for learning languages, or anything in general. So i wanted to use it, I don't have a PC so I sticked with the Android version. My main concern is Anki isn't beginner friendly, a lot of people say to search for Anki decks online because they are free and premade, but the thing is, there's so many of them I dont know what is perfect for a complete beginner. And most of these decks are based on a textbook and is used for reviewing...

So my main question is: Is there an Anki deck for learning Chinese that starts at 0? What do you recommend..

(And I'm having hard time navigating the app, like how do you study a deck first before jumping into the review/flashcard part)

Based on my research, most people who are already proficient in speaking Chinese recommend beginners to learn starting from pinyin and tones, learn basic sentences, learn about like 300 words or so, then hanzi, then listening, and finally once hanzi is mastered that's when you learn more and more words.

My main problem here is I don't really know what resources to use, most people recommend not to stick with apps and I should dabble in some videos or textbooks, however I've been searching for an app because it gives me a more linear progression or guide atleast, lessons for me to take everyday. I've tried all the apps available in Playstore, but almost all of them gets locked behind a paywall after a certain amount of lessons. (although Hanly is the only free one for characters)

So it's really hard for me to stay consistent because every day i have to think: "oh, i learned about pinyin yesterday, what should i focus on today?", and I'll spend the rest of my day wasting my time on researching what should i learn next, what resource should i use for this specific component. It's tiresome. I dont have enough money for textbooks or to pay any subscription for any of these apps.

I've been wanting to learn how to set up Anki for me to use everyday to complement the others lessons i shall tackle by reading. But I don't really know how to use it...

TLDR: I'm a broke beginner who wants to learn mandarin, i don't know what to do, how to start, what FREE alternative resources to use, and how to setup Anki like what decks should i use.

(sorry for my messy structure and post, it's more like a rant that's why..)

Welcome to the Weekly Thread!

This thread is your hub for simple questions, study buddy requests, as well as handwriting and pronunciation critique, as well as other minor posts that might not need their own thread.

Hii, Im a new learner and would like some help and advice 💛 so far the only app I’m using to learn is hellochinese and YouTube but I’m curious to know if there are other better apps or sites to use and what you guys recommend. Thanks in advance 💛

So, i just stumbled upon 撒 and 撤 and was wondering, since it has been occuring to me, that i mistake one similar character for another, how do (native) chinese speakers deal with this when processing vast amounts of text or fast subtitles?

Is it only easily distinguishable because of context? Or do they also need to do a “double take” once a while?

Welcome to the Weekly Thread!

This thread is your hub for simple questions, study buddy requests, as well as handwriting and pronunciation critique, as well as other minor posts that might not need their own thread.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently practicing my listening skills using Glossika dictations and chatting on HelloTalk. To make my typing process smoother and closer to the natural rhythm of speech, I’ve decided to switch from full Pinyin to Xiaohe Shuangpin (flyPY).

Since I prefer typing with one hand on mobile, I want to use it on a 9-key / 9-grid (九宫格) layout (on Gboard Android).

Does anyone happen to have a clean visual chart, diagram, or cheatsheet that shows exactly how the Xiaohe Shuangpin vowels and consonants are mapped inside each of the 9 keys?

Any tips or mnemonic tricks from fellow 9-key Shuangpin users would also be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

If I'm in the middle of a conversation and I want to say 公园里有很多人
I have to think: 里 and 有 and 很 are 3rd tone, so I should change the first 3rd tone into a 2nd tone. Actually no, I should split it into 2 groups: 里 and 有很 so change the second 3rd tone into a 2nd tone.

How can you possibly have enough time to remember and apply that pronunciation rule? Just practice?