Chinese Learning Resources

Enriching Your Chinese Studies Online

Shanghai at Twilight (Kevin Ho/Flickr)

Whether you're new at learning Mandarin or speaking fluently, there is a wealth of online materials to help you support your learning. But another important use of the internet for learning language is connecting to other learners, sharing you experiences, asking questions, and getting a broader understanding of the culture and country the language evolved in. Below are some initial suggestions for enriching your Chinese studies online.

Asia Society’s China Learning Initiatives has also developed and collected a trove of resources over the last 10 years, which you can also view below.

Know of something that’s great but not included in these lists? Help us out and send us a quick note with a link to your suggestion and a brief explanation on why you think it’s important others know about it. If we post it, we’ll list your name as having contributed it!

Resources

Discussion Forums

Below are the resources we found useful or interesting. If you find others, please share them with us, and we'll add them to this collection!

Reddit has a ton of forums where you can ask questions and start discussions, listed below by forum title:

One particularly interesting Reddit thread is an AMA (‘Ask Me Anything’) with Chinese Pod (which, by the way, should be on your list of Podcasts already. If it’s not, add it!). They took questions from Redditors and then posted the highlights on their blog, entitled ‘Six Chinese Study Hacks from Our Reddit AMA.’

Speaking of hacking, there’s a whole website devoted to Hacking Chinese!

Stack Exchange has a section for Chinese learning, too.

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Chinese Learning Apps and Sites

Below are the resources we found useful or interesting. If you find others, please share them with us, and we'll add them to this collection!

We don’t like to endorse one service or site over another, but since the tragic demise of popular Chinese-English (more-than-)dictionary *nciku, we have found some to be pretty solid surrogates:

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General Learning Tools

Below are the resources we found useful or interesting. If you find others, please share them with us, and we'll add them to this collection!

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News and Specialized Topics

Below are the resources we found useful or interesting. If you find others, please share them with us, and we'll add them to this collection!

  • For those of you with a more political bent, Asia Society’s own ChinaFile is a great resource.
  • Sinocism is also a firehose of information about all things happening in China.
  • There are tons of sites that help you keep up with cutting-edge pop culture (especially internet culture). Our top picks are:
    • ChinaSmack: All articles are translated into English from Chinese media sources, and if you hover over the English text, the original Chinese text pops up. This is a great way to advance your reading!
    • TeaLeafNation's crew scans Chinese social media for reaction to big news events and delivers you a broad variety of Chinese voices across the spectrum.
  • Green Honey is a great site that crunches data on various aspects of Chinese.
  • If history is your thing, check this out: China History Podcast
  • Any aspiring legal professionals out there? Ever wanted a source of solid insights into Chinese Law? Look no further than China Law Blog.

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Additional Chinese Learning Resources

First-graders holding the Chinese Spring couplet on the Lunar New Year day
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Maryknoll School

Maryknoll School is the largest K–12 Catholic, co-educational institution in Hawaii. The school follows a 50/50 immersion model for students in grades K–3, with 50% of student instruction in Mandarin and 50% in English.
Proud students at the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade
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West County Mandarin School

West County Mandarin School is a public Mandarin immersion school in Richmond, California. The school currently serves students in K–3 (soon to Grade 8). The school follows a 50/50 immersion model in all grades.
Students from Sister School in China visit Logansport High School
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Logansport Community School Corporation

Logansport Community School Corporation (LCSC) is located in Logansport, Indiana, and serves approximately 4,200 students in Kindergarten through grade 12.

Multilingual Education

This Multilingual FAQ, published by the California Department of Education, contains very helpful responses to a list of frequently asked questions.
Why Speak Chinese? [Still from student submission]

Why Speak Chinese?

Asia Society's China Learning Initiatives held a contest—Why Speak Chinese—to celebrate the hard work of students and let others see their peers from so many different backgrounds learning Chinese and loving it.
Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku, Japan

New Ways of Seeing: How Multilingualism Opens Our Eyes and Trains Our Minds for a Complex World

In a new Asia Society publication, Chris Livaccari explores how multilingualism is a key aspect of life for most people in the world—and has been throughout history—and is a rich source of engagement, playfulness, and joy.
Shanghai at Twilight (Kevin Ho/Flickr)
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Chinese Learning Resources

Online resources to help you enrich your study of Chinese, whether you're just beginning or advanced!
Greg Matza (left) and Howie Southworth at the Great Wall of China
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China in Plain English

This 11-episode series follows Howie Southworth and Greg Matza as they make their way through China, but neither of them speaks Mandarin. Through their adventures and misadventures, we learn about China through a new and fascinating lens.
Tsinghua University, East Gate

China's Education System: The Oldest in the World

It may sound incredible, but China’s formal education system—the oldest in the world—was established nearly two millennia ago.
(Jennifer Hakes/Yinghua Academy)
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Yinghua Academy Chinese Immersion Charter School

Yinghua Academy, a National Blue Ribbon School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the first Chinese immersion public charter school in the United States. Yinghua serves over 700 students in grades K-8.
Raleigh Charter High School contestant participating in a speech competition
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North Carolina Public Schools

North Carolina has seen significant growth in the number of Chinese language classes offered in grades K-12, in immersion and other classes, face to face and online. A number of collaborative initiatives contribute to this growth.
An elementary school Japanese language class. (Sarah Lovrien/Asia Society)

World Language Teachers Find Familiar Ground with the Common Core

Heather Clydesdale on how the pedagogical approaches that world language teachers have been using for years bear striking similarities to the Common Core.
(Clipp2nd/Flickr)

Why Language Immersion Works Well for Young Children

Research shows that learning a second language as a young child provides lifelong benefits.
4th grade Mandarin Immersion class (Portland Public Schools)
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Portland Public Schools Chinese Program

Portland Public Schools is home to an innovative K-12 Mandarin immersion program that has multiple points of entry and pathways to advanced Chinese language proficiency.
The Great Wall of China (stuckincustoms/Flickr)

CELIN Briefs on Chinese Language Learning and Teaching

There is a great need in Chinese language education for research-based information, examples of best practices, and useful resources for administrators, teachers, and parents. In response to that need, we developed this series of briefs.
ISTP's teachers help students to become self-directed learners.
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International School of the Peninsula

The International School of the Peninsula (ISTP) is an independent school in the heart of the Silicon Valley that offers rigorous, dynamic bilingual programs in Mandarin Chinese and French to students from preschool through 8th grade.
Musician Wu Man holds her pipa. (Stephen Kahn)

Wu Man: Playing the Pipa From Mao to Kung Fu Panda

The acclaimed traditional Chinese musician discusses learning her craft amid the Cultural Revolution, and how she's sought to bridge cultures through music.
Year of the Monkey (epicfireworks/Flickr)

Happy Chinese New Year of the Monkey

Chinese New Year is coming up on February 8. This year will be the year of the monkey (猴; hóu). This is a great opportunity for students to participate in interactive projects while learning at the same time.

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