I Share All of My Previous Newsletters With You in This One

Author

Sandy Cheng
August 26, 2024

As I started writing these weekly newsletters nearly half a year ago (I still can’t believe I’ve managed to release one every week without skipping!), I thought it was time to give you some instructions (a roadmap) on how to use these newsletters to get the most out of them. Since the topics change from week to week, it might be a bit difficult to navigate the website and find exactly what you’re looking for. So, I’ll summarize here for you, with links, what you can find in each issue. If that’s what you’re looking for, feel free to jump to the latter half of this newsletter. But first, let’s start with how you can use my newsletters to study. I suggest saving this email to your Favorites for future reference.

Whatever your Chinese level, I encourage you to try reading my newsletters in Chinese (and even better, follow along with the Chinese audio). If you’re a beginner, it might seem intimidating, but I do my best to keep the newsletters brief and use easier, everyday language to make the reading and listening experience smoother for you. I also provide English translations in case you find the Chinese too challenging.

Your best tools for practicing reading Chinese are a free app called Pleco and a Google Chrome extension called Zhongwen, which I’ve discussed in previous newsletters (linked below). Any characters you aren’t familiar with can be quickly translated with Zhongwen by hovering over them with your cursor. I suggest saving these words in your Pleco dictionary so you can review them in the app, which will accelerate your learning progress.

Beyond reading and listening practice, I also strive to provide information on various Chinese language entertainment options, so you can find things that truly interest you and keep you motivated. Boredom is the enemy of language learning, and since everyone is different, you’ll need to find what keeps your interest high. So, be sure to check out the list in the second half of my newsletter, I’m certain you’ll discover something you won’t regret exploring.

Now, let’s dive into the list!

THE ESSENTIALS

PLECO : in this newsletter I talk about the most essential free app on your phone, which is basically a Chinese-English dictionary, but with some important other functions as well.

ZHONGWEN : in this I’ll talk about a browser pop-up dictionary that makes your Chinese reading much faster than any other tool out there. Best used together with Pleco to save the characters that you aren’t familiar with.

LANGUAGE REACTOR : another browser tool that can provide Chinese subtitles to Youtube and Netflix videos.

LANGUAGE LEARNING TIPS

How to Build Better Habits That Help You Learn Chinese : based on James Clear’s Atomic Habits.

MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS

TV SHOW RECOMMENDATIONS

CULTURAL TOPICS

OTHER TOPICS

DOWNLOADABLE STUDY CARDS

I have only created study cards for 1 movie and 1 tv show so far, but if you find them useful, do tell me, and I’ll make more!

MY VIDEO TRANSCRIPTS

I hope today’s newsletter helps you navigate through my previous writings and that at least some of them provide you with interesting and useful information or recommendations. As always, if you have any feedback on what you’d like to see more or less of in these newsletters, feel free to send me your thoughts!

Sandy