CCi’s Chinese Language Learning resources
Disclaimer: Inclusion of resources does not constitute endorsement of views expressed on the individual sites. These sites are provided as resources ONLY. Created by Hannah Lyon; updated by CCI Board
NOTE: If you are an adoptee who would like a resource to be added to this list, please contact us! Conversely, if your resource has been included in this list and you would like us to take it down, please let us know, and we would be happy to do so
Free
American Mandarin Society: AMS offers a Reading Challenge program that allows you to read a Chinese book along with them. They also often offer translations pieces on contemporary party bulletins, directives, and speeches. https://www.mandarinsociety.org/chinese-reading-challenge/
ChinaLawInfo Database: Database of China’s laws in English and Chinese that may be helpful for specialized reading practice for advanced learners. https://lawinfochina.com/Search/SearchLaw.aspx
The Chairman’s Bao (Free but with premium option): News articles tailored to every level of HSK (1-6). Includes vocabulary cards and a function to save words you need to practice as well as a voice recording of the article. https://www.thechairmansbao.com/
Chinese Grammar Wiki: (Free) Browse anything you've ever wanted to know about Chinese grammar. It even has grammar organized by lessons in popular Chinese learning textbooks to help with classes. I also met the guy who runs this and he's really cool.
http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Main_Page
East Asia Student: (Free) A former student’s blog. Has good explanations for Chinese grammar and on Chinese language and culture in general. http://eastasiastudent.net/
Interpreting Speech: A blog by a doctoral student at Peking University on interpreting Mandarin - English. Includes interpreting practice in many different situations and blog posts on slang and common expressions http://carlgene.com/blog/interpreting-speeches/ .
Mandarin Weekly: Although the newsletter is no longer sent out weekly, they have all back-issues of the newsletter on the site. The newsletter collected Chinese language learning resources, especially videos, from around the web. Also includes cultural pieces with vocabulary supplements. http://mandarinweekly.com/
Memrise: (Free) Good for learning to read characters. http://www.memrise.com/home/
MIT Open Course (Free): Pretty good free course, but lessons are mainly in pinyin, not characters. https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-21g-003-learning-chinese-a-foundation-course-in-mandarin-spring-2011/index.htm
Books
Beyond the Basics: Upper level Chinese for intermediate and Advanced learners. Covers practical topics such as describing a person, dining out, political elections, movies, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Basics-Edition-Chinese-Language/dp/0887276237/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396385358&sr=8-1&keywords=beyond+the+basics
Chih - P'ing Chou Text books: Series for upper level Chinese studies. Includes A New China, A Kaleidoscope of China, Anything Goes, and All Things Considered among others. The texts are generally drawn from newspaper sources and usually focus on different societal issue in contemporary China, such as filial piety in today's China, Chinese American relations in respect to Taiwan, China’s housing situation, and one country two systems. There's a chapter in Anything Goes on Identity Formation for Chinese Adoptees. http://www.amazon.com/Anything-Goes-Advanced-Princeton-Language/dp/0691153116/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396385102&sr=8-1&keywords=anything+goes+chinese
Easy Steps to Chinese: Fun and effective, this textbook series adopts an exciting new approach to teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The task-based program, designed by the authors of the popular Chinese Made Easy and Chinese Made Easy for Kids, is based on feedback and helpful suggestions from teachers who use those series in their classrooms. https://www.blcup.com/EnSeriesBook/index/1366
Encounters Chinese: Provides a complete system of learning Chinese. Not only reading and writing but also access to full audio and media website where you can hear how it sounds. There is also cultural content to fully learn about China and mandarin. https://encounterschinese.com/
SB1 Character Writing Workbook:
Online Workbook (Quia printed code)About: http://encounterschinese.com/about-program
Integrated Chinese Series 听说读写: ($50ish per book plus more for workbook): This is one of the most common books used to learn Chinese in high school and college classes. There are four levels with 10 lessons each. Lessons consist of a dialogue, vocabulary, grammar points, phrase usage, and practice prompts. You can also buy the workbook and character book for added practice. My school's intensive Chinese program does one book per semester. http://www.amazon.com/Integrated-Chinese-Simplified-Characters-Textbook/dp/0887276385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396112226&sr=8-1&keywords=integrated+chinese
Jia you! Chinese for the Global Community
JIA YOU! CHINESE FOR THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY is a full-year program for intermediate students of (Mandarin) Chinese. It is designed for college students in second-year Chinese as a foreign language program and senior high school students taking the AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam. The program aims to equip the students both linguistically and culturally to communicate successfully in Chinese within and beyond the school setting. https://www.amazon.com/JIA-YOU-Community-Simplified-Traditional/dp/1428262180
Lonely Planet Phrasebook: Excellent to use while traveling. ($8). Very useful and comprehensive. /react-text
http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Mandarin-Phrasebook-Anthony-Garnaut/dp/174321197X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396110308&sr=8-1&keywords=mandarin+phrase+book
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide- Claudia Ross Jing-heng Sheng Ma http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Mandarin-Chinese-Grammar-Practical/dp/0415827140/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396110155&sr=8-2&keywords=modern+mandarin+chinese+grammar
New Practical Chinese Reader Compiled under the sponsorship of the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOTCFL), and in consultation with the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) Guidelines, the New Practical Chinese Reader (NPCR) series is designed to help native English speakers easily learn Chinese. https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Chinese-Reader-Vol-English/dp/7887039754
You can find the dialogues for some of the NPCR lessons on YouTube:
V.1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB1B262B05A6992FD
V.2 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL76C77D2229EAF542
V.4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c9yCy8ay6o&list=PL14D5D3A4D4A01B8A
Ni hao textbooks
The Ni Hao textbooks feature a wide range of situational settings and vocabulary to encourage students to practice Chinese in everyday activities. Each lesson presents conversations as illustrated scripts that facilitate role-playing and help students put their communicative skills into action. Engaging additional sections clearly explain new vocabulary and language usage, character stroke order, and Chinese culture. Songs, rhymes, tongue twisters, cartoons, stories, and interesting features of Chinese characters tie the lessons together and make learning fun. https://www.chinasprout.com/shop/BLT004
Online Paid Classes
Chineseclass.com ($$): Provides culturally relevant lessons that are easy and fun to listen to. https://www.chineseclass101.com/
Chinese Language Institute ($$): CLI’s online Chinese lessons bring the classroom directly to you. https://studycli.org/learn-chinese-online/
Chinesepod.com ($$): Chinesepod provides over 4,000 video lessons in small bits, including on trendy topics such as dating, going out with friends, and breaking up. https://chinesepod.com/
E-Chinese Learning ($$): Learn Chinese 1-1 with native Mandarin Tutors. https://www.echineselearning.com/zh-hant/chinese-resources/
FluentU: ($$) Excellent source. Learn Chinese by watching videos with interactive transcripts below. http://www.fluentu.com/
Italki ($$): Choose from over 10,000 teachers for 1-on-1 online video lessons based on your goals and interests. Pay per lesson or buy a bulk package (only available for some teachers). Great for conversation practice and brush-ups as well as personalized content. http://www.italki.com/dashboard
LTL Language School ($$) - LTL Flexi Classes offer 24/7 option to learn Chinese. Includes options for Cantonese. https://ltl-xian.com/online/
Mango Languages ($$ but some libraries offer it for free): Many libraries may offer access to this - check with your local public library. Very simple to use. Slow pace that teaches by giving you a phrase, teaching you grammar points and what each individual word means. Pretty practical lessons. Also offers Cantonese. http://www.mangolanguages.com/
Rosetta Stone ($275+++): I have used this and would not really recommend it for Chinese. I thought it moved too slowly and didn't really fit with my learning style. I do use the audio recordings from it for pronunciation practice though, but you can do this with any kind of slow recording http://www.amazon.com/Rosetta-Stone-Chinese-Mandarin-Level/dp/1617168718/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396112853&sr=8-2&keywords=rosetta+stone+mandarin
Living Languages Mandarin (Complete version for less than $40): I haven't used this for Mandarin, but it's pretty good for Korean. Comes with three textbooks, audio recordings, and a notebook! Plus online resources. http://www.amazon.com/Living-Language-Chinese-Complete-Edition/dp/0307478610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396112730&sr=8-1&keywords=living+language+mandarin
IPhone / Smart Phone
Skritter (free, but with paid add-ons): Learn how to write Chinese and Japanese characters. Supports 181 different commonly used Chinese textbooks such as Integrated Chinese, Ni Hao, and the Chih-P'ing Chou textbooks (All Things Considered, Anything Goes) http://www.skritter.com
Pleco (free): Chinese dictionary app complete with handwriting input, audio supplements, document readers, and flashcards. Affectionately called Pleco 老师 by many a student of Chinese. https://www.pleco.com
Learn Chinese (Mandarin): by Mind Snacks (4.99 for 80 lessons) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/learn-chinese-mandarin-by-mindsnacks/id485803286
Lingo Deer (free): App that teaches Chinese, Japanese, and Korean through mini-modules and multiple choice questions. Highly fun. https://www.lingodeer.com
DuoLingo (free): The infamous green bird does not want you to break your streak. https://www.duolingo.com/
Watch Chinese Videos (for listening practice)
bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/?spm_id_from=333.788.0.0 Based on popular Japanese video sites, bilibili offers what is called “bullet screen,” which allows viewers to post on-screen comments that fly across videos in real time. These “bullet screen” comments can be toggled on or off.
Iqiyi: http://www.iqiyi.com/ Try watching a Chinese television show on a China video streaming site. It might help to turn on closed captioning to read along with the spoken dialogue. *Note: due to copyright and region restrictions, not all videos may be available to stream outside of China. IQiyi also offers premium subscription for access to certain videos.*
QQ Video: http://www.v.qq.com (sometimes you can't stream certain videos outside on Mainland China)
YouTube Channels
Bai Jie's daily Chinese slang channel: Small morsel sized slang for beginners and long-time learners alike. https://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyFreshChinese
Kevin in Shanghai: Funny bits on culture. Often invites friends from around Chinese speaking areas to compare accents. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_HW6aVLpyvPIhc7w8YA8Ag
Learn Chinese with Yang Yang - Yoyo Chinese: Good for beginner / intermediate levels. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJyGe2H0C9q6QH0-hH04zw
Online Chinese-English Dictionaries
Chinese-English Online Dictionary: My personal favorite Online Chinese-English dictionary. http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php
Iciba.com: Includes lots of English - Chinese example sentences so you can see your word in context. http://www.iciba.com/
Qhanzi Handwritten Chinese Input: Has good character recognition software where you can draw characters you do not know the pronunciation of. Fairly forgiving of stroke order mistakes. Dictionary also includes “Today’s Proverbs” and “Today’s Quotations,” famous sayings translated into Chinese https://www.qhanzi.com/
Written Chinese Dictionary: https://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/
Zhongwen.com: http://www.zhongwen.com/
Classical / Literary Chinese
Chinese Text Project: The Chinese Text Project is an online open-access digital library that makes pre-modern Chinese texts available to readers and researchers all around the world. The site attempts to make use of the digital medium to explore new ways of interacting with these texts that are not possible in print. With over thirty thousand titles and more than five billion characters, the Chinese Text Project is also the largest database of pre-modern Chinese texts in existence. https://ctext.org/
An Introduction to Literary Chinese: Michael A. Fuller’s textbook for beginning students contains 35 lessons of increasing difficulty designed to introduce students to the basic patterns of Classical Chinese and to give them practice in reading a variety of texts. The lessons are structured to encourage students to move beyond reliance on the glossaries provided in the text and to become increasingly familiar with dictionaries and other reference works. https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Literary-Chinese-Revised-Monographs/dp/0674017269
Language of the Dragon: Heavy on chengyu, but a decent introductory text. Two volumes.
FREE online here: http://web.csulb.edu/~txie/360/Etext/index.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Language-Dragon-Classical-Chinese-English/dp/0887272983
A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese: Paul Rouzer’s new introductory text. Forty lessons designed to introduce beginning students to the basic patterns and structures of Classical Chinese are taken from a number of pre-Han and Han texts selected to give students a grounding in exemplary Classical Chinese style. Two additional lessons use texts from later periods to help students appreciate the changes in written Chinese over the centuries.
Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar: Edwin Pulleyblank’s outline of grammatical concepts.
https://www.amazon.com/Outline-Classical-Chinese-Grammar-Pulleyblank/dp/0774805412
Zdic.net: An online Kangxi Cidian for those studying Literary Chinese.
https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E7%93%8A
Miscellaneous
Stroke Order: http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E5%9C%8B
Vocabulary / Character recognition: www.chineasy.org (Vocabulary/Memorization for certain characters if mnemonics are helpful to you or if you are a visual learner)
Spotify: Learn Chinese playlist by Spotify. Very good audio. Has a lot of content from travel essentials to basic and advanced knowledge
Wyoming Attorney - Business Skills Learn Mandarin Chinese: Quite a comprehensive list of resources and tools to learn and practice Chinese, as well as various strategies. https://wyomingllcattorney.com/Blog/Business-Skills-Learn-Mandarin-Chinese