Summer’s officially arrived and what am I doing everyday?! Studying for the HSK level 5 Chinese test. And not just studying but studying my ass off. I’ve never studied for something like this, and frankly it’s pissing me off. I’m not the most academically gifted student, never have been. I’ve
Making it Official: My New Goal
Okay, I have thought long and hard about this and after looking things up on the internet and talking to several people I have decided to make a major commitment: On July 21st, I am going to take the HSK 5. For those of you not learning Chinese, let me
Impromptu Chinese Lesson
You would think that living in China while learning Chinese means I get a lot of practice. In some ways I do (and I certainly could never learn the language if I didn’t live here) but in many ways, it doesn’t help at all. Technically every minute outside I could
My Favorite Apps for Working and Living in China- Part 2
The other day I introduced several apps that I find make life in China easier. Today I’d like to recommend a few more specific to learning Chinese. While I like learning Chinese I’m especially bad a picking up a book and sitting down to study. That’s why I like apps
I Hired a Tutor!
So, I finally decided to fork over the cash, and get my own chinese teacher. You see, speaking Chinese is now a common thing in my life. I speak, or write, Chinese every single day now. Sometimes a lot, sometime a little, and my speaking and listening is getting noticeably
Another Weapon in the Language Learning Arsenal — FluentFlix
A few months ago a new start-up Chinese learning company called FluentFlix contacted me wondering if I would try, then review, their new website. (I give kudos to their research team if they managed to find my blog.) I finally got around to checking out their website, which just launched
A Compliment, Wrapped in an Insult (Wrapped in a Burrito)
The other day I wrote about Weixin (english name Wechat) the app that lets you chat easily with people in your area. I could go on and on about weixin and how I think it has actually changed the course of my life, but for now I want to relay
Summertime, and the Living is 很容易
It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about learning Chinese, but this semester I feel like I have taken some real leaps. Thanks to a pretty light teaching schedule I was able to attend Chinese class everyday. I finally advanced to level 3 and felt very comfortable in the class and
Jumping on the Skritter App Bandwagon
In the world of learning chinese, there are two big players: ChinesePod and Skritter. ChinesePod handles the listening and speaking part, and Skritter handles the writing part. I’ll admit in the language learning “trifecta” (reading, speaking, writing) I have decided writing is the least important. For awhile I basically ignored
China Fail
I know I’ve bragged talked a bit about learning Chinese here on this blog and how my progress has been. Maybe I’ve made it sound a bit too easy, or my level a bit too advanced. I offer this small tale from my recent travels as antidote to those past