I usually like to list out early on what resources I’m using for my target language. I’ve held off on Mandarin because, as I said yesterday, there are so many that I have and that I want to use. But for April, I’ve cut it down to eight. These are the eight that I’ve found the most helpful for where I am right now. I’m not including Anki (for flash cards), Dramafever (for Fabulous Boys and other dramas!) or iTalki (for tutoring), as I consider them supplemental and not necessarily Mandarin specific resources.
1.
Chinesepod
This is one of my favorite language podcasts (in any language). It’s thoughtfully designed and the Newbie series is actually level-appropriate for absolute beginners (as opposed to some other podcasts *cough*russianpod101*cough*). The episodes are self-contained, so you can listen to any one and have everything concisely and clearly explained without any prior knowledge. Plus, as it promises it teaches current Mandarin, with plenty of phrases and words that I actually want/need to know in every lesson. Up until yesterday, I only listened to the free ones available through iTunes, which is a pretty extensive collection. But I decided to see what the Premium service is like, so signed up for the 99 cent one month trial. It’s so useful. Being able to see the vocabulary words and dialogue written out (instead of having to look them up myself) in the premium version is extremely helpful.
2. 
CoffeeBreak Chinese podcast
I love the CoffeeBreak series, which I’ve used for French, Spanish, and German (they also have Italian). It uses the teacher/student model, where you as the listener learn along with the student. I am very pleased that I’m in on the groundfloor with this series – it just started in February, with a new episode released every week. One a week is the perfect amount. A lot of ground gets covered each episode, so it helps to have a week to re-listen and review. The podcast itself is free, but extra features (like lesson guide, transcript, and flashcards) require a paid membership. I’m just using the free version, which means that I have to write down (and possibly look up to double check spelling/tones) the vocabulary. The first season will be 40 episodes, and I hope there will be more seasons to come!
3. 
YoYo Chinese
YoYo Chinese’s tag line is “Mandarin in Plain English” and its video series delvers exactly that. Yang Yang (the creator and teacher in YoYo Chinese) gives beautifully clear explanations and is a perfect teacher for beginners. Some of her videos are also available for free on Youtube. I’m just using the free material for now, but I see myself getting a paid membership at some point. The blog is also full of good information.
This series produced by China’s CCTV consists of 100 fifteen minute videos that combine skits with teaching. This was produced in 2010, but somehow looks much older (maybe due to low production values?). It’s a bit cheesy, but it gives good, bite-sized information (I found episode 19, about pets, especially helpful). Bafflingly and frustratingly, the vocabulary portion doesn’t include any pinyin for the first 10 episodes, so I was not 100% of every word in the phrases that are being taught when I watched it. I have discovered that the official CCTV website includes a pinyin script for each episode, which helps enormously.
5. 
Barron’s Mandarin Chinese the Easy Way
This is my textbook for grammar learning purposes. I’m kind of a textbook hoarder, so I’ve got multiple ones for Mandarin. There’s several others that I used off and on last month that I enjoyed (chief among them Colloquial Chinese), but I had to choose one for this month. I chose Mandarin Chinese the Easy Way because of its simplified approach and because it has a decent amount of helpful exercises (with an answer key!).
Chinese with Mike started out as a Youtube video series that ended up with a book deal. The first 27 episodes are still available on Youtube, and are worth checking out to see if it’s your style. Mike Laoshi (Teacher Mike) gives bite-sized lessons (my favorite kind) sprinkled with lots of cheesy “Dad jokes.” The humor is not my style, and I kind of groan and bear it with the jokes, but Z thinks they are hilarious (he enjoys cheesy Dad jokes in general, and makes a few himself). Jokes notwithstanding, I like it for it’s simple explanations and non-overwhelming lessons. I do wish that the videos were downloadable instead of being on a CD so that I could watch them on my iPad.
It was a hard choice between this, ChineseSkill, and MindSnacks for which app I would use this month. I like them all, but went with Hello Chinese in the end (basically a coin flip). HelloChinese is “Duolingo Style” and I think is actually a step up from Duolingo – it includes learning writing, which Duolingo doesn’t do with its non-Latin based languages.
8. 
250 Essential Chinese Characters
As I’ve said before, this is the book I’m using to learn characters. Speaking and listening are my focus right now, so I’m not placing too much emphasis on characters. But they are important, and I want to learn them little by little. This is a great exercise book, and gives you everything you need to learn the character, including its radical, the stroke order, and example sentences.
Bonus resource: Pleco is a dictionary app that is almost essential. I finally got it after I saw it consistently recommended by other Mandarin learners. The app itself is free, but it is worth springing for the $30 basic bundle. You can look up words in Mandarin or in English and the app has audio so you can hear what the word sounds like, as well as stroke order diagrams and example sentences. There are even features in the paid version that I haven’t even touched yet, like flashcards and handwriting input.
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