Mandarin reading
Mandarin resources
Opinion-led pieces on learning Mandarin as an adult: methodology, vocabulary deep dives, regional notes.
Methodology
How to Learn Chinese Tones
Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral one, and pitch changes meaning. How to hear, drill and produce the tones, plus the errors English speakers make.
7 Jul 2026
Methodology
Best Way to Learn Chinese: Tones First (Honest Plan)
The best way to learn Mandarin is not how most apps teach it. Tones are make-or-break, characters are a separate track, and here is the honest, confident plan.
28 Jun 2026
Methodology
AQA GCSE Chinese/Mandarin (8673): Vocabulary
What the AQA GCSE Chinese (Mandarin) 8673 spec really demands: the vocabulary, the themes, the tier split, and how it maps onto frequency-first learning.
14 Jun 2026
Methodology
Colours in Mandarin: The 8 Basics and the 色 Suffix
Colours in Mandarin: the 8 basics with pinyin and tone marks, the 色 suffix, the X色的 adjective form, and the cultural loading the textbook tends to skip.
11 Jun 2026
Methodology
Days of the Week in Mandarin: 星期一 to 星期日
Days of the week in Mandarin, 星期一 to 星期日: the three competing words for week, the Sunday 日 vs 天 split, and how to say this week, last week and next Monday.
11 Jun 2026
Methodology
How to Say Happy Birthday in Mandarin: 生日快乐
How to say happy birthday in Mandarin: 生日快乐 and the longer 祝你生日快乐, the birthday song, the clock-gift taboo, and the milestone rules learners tend to miss.
11 Jun 2026
Methodology
Numbers in Mandarin: 1 to 100 and the 二 vs 两 Trap
Numbers in Mandarin, 0 to 100 million: the clean positional system, the 二 vs 两 distinction, why 万 chunks at 10,000, and the cultural numbers pedagogy skips.
11 Jun 2026
Methodology
English-Mandarin Code-Switching: Manglish and Singlish
Casual Mandarin in Malaysia and Singapore mixes Mandarin, English and Malay mid-sentence. What code-switching is, why it happens, and why courses skip it.
10 Jun 2026
Resources
Essential Mandarin Words for Travel: The 30 That Matter
The 30 essential Mandarin words for travel, from 水 and 饭 to 厕所 and 钱, with characters, tone-marked pinyin, and the phrase patterns to slot each one into.
10 Jun 2026
Methodology
How to Say Good Morning in Mandarin: 早上好 vs 早安
How to say good morning in Mandarin: the mainland 早上好 vs the Taiwanese 早安, why 早上好 sounds formal, plus 下午好 and 晚上好 and when each greeting is right.
10 Jun 2026
Methodology
How to Say My Name Is in Mandarin: 我叫, 我的名字是
How to say my name is in Mandarin: 我叫, 我的名字是 and 我是, the family-name-first convention, and how to ask someone's name without sounding stiff or textbook.
10 Jun 2026
Methodology
Malaysian Mandarin vs Mainland Putonghua
Malaysian Mandarin: the Hokkien substrate, the Malay loanwords, the code-switching, and the pronunciation features that set it apart from mainland Putonghua.
10 Jun 2026