Learning
Adults, from zero to a workable middle, who are stuck on a start, a tone, a character, or the choice of a tool.
Field notes on learning Mandarin
Hanzi Heard
Mandarin you can use with a real person — at a counter, on a train, in a classroom — and a way to choose a course or an app with evidence you can check.
The characters are hanzi. Heard is the standard that matters: not only whether software accepted the sound, but whether someone listening would. The shelves below are the map. The first essays are still being checked against their sources.
目录
Contents
一Start here从这里开始Where an adult begins, or begins again, before collecting another app.二Pronunciation声与调Pinyin, tones, and the gap between a green check and a person who understood you.三Skills听说读写Listening, speaking, reading, characters, words, and grammar — one stuck point at a time.四Courses and tools课与器Courses, apps, teachers, and dictionaries, on terms you can check.五China travel在路上The Chinese you need to pay, ride, check in, order, and ask the way.六Study in China在校Language programs, named requirements, and costs that are not blended into one number.凡例
How a page earns its place
- 一One problem on a page. Not a whole course squeezed into an essay.
- 二A price, a refund rule, or a feature claim comes from the official page, with the date we read it.
- 三We do not write that we tested something unless we did. One person’s post can show that they reported it. It cannot show that a product always behaves that way.
读者
Who it is for
A trip
People about to be in China who need the language for a payment, a ticket, a room, or a meal — not a list of sights.
A longer stay
People weighing a language program or a term of study, who need requirements and costs kept specific.
The longer account of how the notebook is edited is on the about page and in the editorial policy.