Dave is a designer of websites, learner of Chinese and lover of technology. Originally from the UK , he's been living in Taiwan and learning Mandarin Chinese for the last four years. He founded and runs Chinese Hacks, a blog dedicated to effectively learning Chinese.
Realising that my collection of Chinese language books has grown to the point were they’ll require a big box and hefty shipping cost to get them back to the UK when I return from Taiwan, I have been looking for … Continue reading
Here’s a couple of websites that I’ve been following lately that feature practical examples of Chinese calligraphy. I say practical as the words that are featured are generally everyday words and names that would useful to beginners, as opposed to … Continue reading
I thought for ages before deciding on a title for this post, no matter what I came up with they all seemed, well, wrong. This just seems to be one of those phrases that is difficult to express succinctly in … Continue reading
Stationary shops are everywhere in Taiwan, and you can get all kinds of notebooks and study resources in them, including these mini word card key rings. The key rings come in all different colours and sizes, some of them have … Continue reading
Here’s a play on words seen on a Coke tissue dispenser at a restaurant. I’ve been seeing a lot more of this type of ad recently, such as the “brain freeze” sign at a 7-11, so I’ll keep an eye … Continue reading
While this has little to do with actually learning Chinese, it does involve Chinese characters, which is hopefully enough to justify a post here on ChineseHacks – plus the outcome of this was so cool I had to share it. … Continue reading
The first time I heard 超（chāo）”super” used to emphasise a statement I was in a curry house in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, when one of the delivery people came back into the restaurant from outside and said 外面超冷（wài miàn chāo lěng）, which … Continue reading
The story behind the Chinese word for contradiction is an interesting one. The story goes that an arms trader at a market was touting his spears as the strongest, and able to pierce any armour. While at the same time … Continue reading
Here’s an interesting play on words that I saw in a Taiwanese 7-11 recently. Also, while taking this photo I was informed by a member of staff that photos weren’t allowed – but in the interest of Chinese language learners … Continue reading
I love visually creative tools for learning Chinese, and these free BoPoMoFo (Zhuyin) flashcards fit right into that category. “What’s BoPoMoFo?” I can hear you shouting – Well, BoPoMoFo is the phonetic alphabet that is used in Taiwan in lieu … Continue reading
