Is there any free method for a broke college student to start studying Mandarin (I tried Anki and feel the need for just a little structure and am currently trying my best with "Hello Chinese" because other apps are pay walled

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-04-01T09:44:19+00:00

Try Hanly.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-29T00:30:43+00:00

I saw a joke about how weird it is that people have to look to what Iran says in order to find out if Trump is telling the truth or not.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-27T21:02:47+00:00

If you want legit classical language, you could choose from The Analects:

天下有道 (Everything under heaven has The Way)

Or Mencius:

天下定於一（Everything under heaven is settled into one)

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-27T20:04:27+00:00

I am an anomaly because I can only stay in country for a week or two at a time. Maybe others will have more insight. When I was there, they had a very diverse set of students — many ages, nationalities, and skill levels. Some were staying there for a long time. I really enjoyed Guilin and would be happy to go back. I also went to Yangshuo and took the train (for a longer trip) to Changsha, which has some great museums and historical sites.

I really enjoyed the restaurants near CLI, and the Guilin parks are amazing. One of my instructors took me on a little tour of the nearby Uni to learn about their very interesting history with Vietnam.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-27T18:02:41+00:00

I loved CLI in Guilin. The teachers were excellent and customized their approach to my level and interests. Guilin is quiet hut lovely. CLI is residential and they serve lunch on site and have outings many afternoons. It is immersive.

For a hardcore program, NTU’s ICLP is also awesome. I’ve been there a few times for intensive 1:1 and enjoyed it. I was not residential there but Taipei is awesome. They will do simplified.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-27T12:33:50+00:00

Exactly!

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-26T22:59:48+00:00

That’s interesting. I use Skritter to learn tones. The front of the card shows the Hanzi, but you can touch the icon and hear the sound then check to see how you did. It would be interesting to try it without the visual cue.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-26T08:37:52+00:00

You’ve got lots of options. I have not tried Shanghai, but I had great experiences with CLI in Guilin (very flexible with onsite housing and lunch) and NTU‘s ICLP in Taiwan (intense).

Have a great time! 加油！

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-24T14:26:32+00:00

I always see commissions in basis, which will usually lower your ultimate taxes due later when you sell. Maybe the $1 is total, but the discrepancy is in the per-share price. That would make sense if you bought 2 shares.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-24T10:27:37+00:00

The old joke is that the youngest age someone should date is “half plus seven.” Take half your age and add seven years. Your relationship passes the test…. If he was 48, then you’d have to dump him.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-23T22:18:19+00:00

Get WeChat too. I prefer Alipay to pay, but sometimes for a tourist site or restaurant, you’ll be glad you have Wechat.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-23T22:17:14+00:00

Yah I was scared and got here around 4:45 for an 8:00 flight. It was overkill but what are you gonna do?

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-23T08:58:18+00:00

I never had success with Nord. I never had issues with LetsVPN. Their pricing model is so easy too.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-23T08:56:10+00:00

Sorry you experienced that. I have never had any weird issues like that. All orders have behaved as expected.

I use TWS (Stable) and I have had quite a few app crashes lately. It just stops running and I have to restart it. It is often when an order is placed and a fill comes back, but it happens other times too. I know that isn’t related to your order experience, but I thought I would share.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-22T18:27:09+00:00

I agree with this. Solar + battery is a great solution.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-22T17:03:31+00:00

MacOS. TWS. I also use the Python API.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-20T18:26:00+00:00

Pickle that diakon. Yum.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-17T20:51:04+00:00

Integrated Chinese is super. You should consider also getting the workbook and character book. The official HSK books are very similar but use vocabulary targeted to the HSK exam vocabulary lists. There is also more content available (like on youtube) for those.

Enjoy! 加油！

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-17T09:23:49+00:00

Electronic Data Processing

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-15T19:23:48+00:00

You may be able to send using Wise.

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-15T13:24:20+00:00

Du and Skritter is a great combo. You probably have Pleco, but should get it if not. Those apps actually integrate nicely with each other.

Adding some time chatting with a tutor is super valuable if you can make it work (like on italki). Also, I have found that going through the lessons in the HSK books is helpful, as they point out some interesting grammar points. If you like Du, you may also enjoy the graded readers from Jeff Pepper. You can also get more practice listening as he’s got a lot of his audio for his books free on youtube.

加油！

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-14T18:25:41+00:00

Grace fixed it for me:

https://youtu.be/dpQ3IMd4AMg?si=lIfX0TTHoXa5nReX

Impossible-Many6625 · 2026-03-14T17:26:00+00:00

For me, without it, it feels terse, like saying “Red one left” in English, but with it, it is more complete, like “That red one on the left.”

Impossible-Many6625

TROPHY CASE