How Mandarin is actually learned
Long pieces on method: what tones really are, why word counts mislead, how review scheduling works, and what an examination does and does not measure. Written by the editorial team, reviewed before publication, and revised rather than quietly deleted.
Why Your Tones Collapse in Sentences
Your flashcard tones are fine. Your sentence tones are mush. That is not a contradiction — isolated syllables and connected speech are two different skills, and almost nobody is taught the second one.
Nadia Haddad · May 4, 2026 · 5 min read
The 把 Construction, Explained Slowly
Most learners do not struggle with 把 — they avoid it, for years, behind a set of workarounds smooth enough that nobody notices. Here is what the pattern actually does, the three rules that govern it, and the places where no workaround exists.
Nadia Haddad · April 20, 2026 · 5 min read
Chinese for Work: A Starting Vocabulary for Meetings, Email and Introductions
Workplace Chinese is not advanced Chinese. It is a different set of very ordinary words that general courses skip: how you are addressed, what you say to hold the floor in a meeting, and the four lines that make up most internal email.
Omar Benjelloun · April 6, 2026 · 6 min read
What HSK Does Not Test: An Editorial View on Certificates and Real Life
HSK Guide’s editorial view, not a description of the examination’s design: a certificate measures a sample of a skill under standard conditions, and standard conditions are not living conditions. The gap we keep seeing, and what to do about it.
Yasmine Berrada · March 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Studying in China: The Chinese You Actually Need
Your first month is not made of conversation about hobbies. It is made of counters, queues, forms, deposits and one very useful verb. The vocabulary of registration day, the dormitory, the bank, the hospital and the classroom, in the order you will need it.
Rania Tazi · December 15, 2025 · 11 min read
How these are written
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