This article is intended to go over some of the most common mistakes committed by students when trying to learn Chinese. The points listed here are based on my experience as a student and as the manager of a small Chinese Academy. 1. Neglecting to study Chinese characters One of the most complicated aspects of the Chinese language is without a doubt its writing system. Learning how to read and write characters is a difficult task that can discourage many students. Many students who are anxious to learn Chinese as quickly as possible decide to put aside studying writing to focus on learning how to speak Chinese through the phonetic system (pinyin). There is no doubt that learning Chinese exclusively through pinyin is the most... Show more

Learn 4 tools and techniques to stop translating in your head and start thinking in Going through lessons is enough to get by and learn the basics of , but to truly become fluent you need to be able to think in . This will allow you to have conversations with ease, read smoothly, and comprehensively understand natives. To do this, you need to go beyond just completing daily or weekly lessons. We naturally translate in our heads because it's viewed as the easiest way to learn the definitions needed when learning a language. This way of learning can actually hinder your skills and fluency later on. If your brain has to make neural connections between the word you're learning, what it means in your native tongue, and the physical object... Show more

Dear Chinese Students, Today we're pleased to announce the launch of ChineseClass101.com. This is a joint project between Popup Chinese and the folks at Innovative Language Learning. If you're familiar with the Innovative Language approach to teaching, you'll know the strength of their materials has always been tight, step-by-step progressive lessons for beginners. At Popup Chinese, we've historically geared our materials towards more advanced students, so when we had the chance to cooperate with the Innovative team and work together to build something that could take advantage of the powerful system they've already built we leapt at the chance, and began work designing a focused and stepwise program for Mandarin instruction. ... Show more