Keeping it real

“…I saw your post about learning Chinese and wondered if you have any recommendations on apps for learning Mandarin that don’t suck?”

大家好！As requested, this is a master-post of apps that I think are good for learning Chinese (not in any particular order). Apps have ! beside them while teaching companies/HSK have * beside them.

You can refer to my post here about good Chinese translation apps too!

1. Duolingo !

This is the most common one. There are so many good things about this app:

- it’s free, shows your progress, easy-to-use, allows you to asks questions in a forum, provides pinyin and pronunciation, gives definition of the characters, and has great customer support. You can engage in Duolingo on their app or in a web browser.

It has quick and detailed lessons, and in my opinion, makes things easy to remember. I also believe they have a good system as well. They also send out reminders to your phone and email, and I especially love the motivating messages it gives you once you complete a lesson.

2. Drops !

This app is used by a lot of people wanting to learn Korean, but it also has a Mandarin option. It can be downloaded as an app on your phone, or it can be started in a web browser. It is free, but you can get more access with their premium option.

This app emphasizes learning the characters individually as well as their pronunciation and meaning. Instead of a Duolingo format, it has a matching-game format. I think it’s great if you’re super busy and need a quick practice!

3. Quizlet and Memrise *

Sites like quizlet and memrise can actually be very productive. It’s free and allows you to access people’s Chinese vocabulary/journey through their sets. Not only that, but it also helps you practice with little games and tests. Memrise also has a translation option! Just be careful, some sets may not be fully correct. (I thought about making some sets on these sites if you guys are interested).

4. HSK *

HSK is the Chinese proficiency test. If you are interested in going to college in China, most of them require an HSK score of at least 4. There is an HSK website which is generic teaching and supports HSK standards. There are also plenty of videos on YouTube that can teach you Chinese according to the HSK guidelines. This is the official HSK website that will help you learn.

Here is a list of websites that also offer HSK teaching as well as other services:

1

2

3

4

5. Coursera *

Coursera is a website that can help you learn many things other than languages like humanities or computer science. On this site, there are plenty of courses where you can enroll and be taught Chinese by Chinese teachers. These courses feature lectures, activities, interactive games, etc.

6. Chengtsui *

I love Chengtsui! Chengtsui is more of a program than an app. This company creates a community centered around Asian and Middle Eastern culture. They make very good textbooks that makes learning Chinese easy. They also release catalogs with Chinese traditions and mythology as well as famous Chinese celebrities like Jay Chou and Jeremy Lin. This is not free, however, if you do buy one of their textbooks, it is a great resource.

7. FluentU !

FluentU is similar to Duolingo and Drops. It has many languages you can choose from and creates an easy and immersive learning environment. They have cool videos that you can watch to help you learn Chinese as well as pictures, pinyin, pronunciation, and a translation feature. However, FluentU is not free after 14 days. Many people recommend this source though.

8. HelloChinese !

Hello Chinese is an app that has become increasingly popular. It is very colorful, playful, and immersive. It has speech recognition, fun games to play, and teaches you how to write Chinese characters. This is a great app if you’re a beginner.

9. LingoDeer !

LingoDeer is another app that has become increasingly popular. It is very similar to HelloChinese and Duolingo. It has over 10 million learners and has a rating of 4.8 out of 5. It is almost entirely free and offers a premium option (which is on sale sometimes).

10. Skritter !

Skritter is an app that teaches you Chinese by showing you how to write Chinese (or Japanese) characters. There are over 9,000 lists to study and practice writing from that helps you learn daily words. It’s very good for learning characters, and this app also includes a flashcard tool and handwriting recognition.

11. The Chairman’s Bao *

The Chairman’s Bao is actually a very interesting and helpful resource that will help you use your skills outside of a learning app. This website/app helps you learn Chinese by making you read news articles about the happenings in China. It has many different levels, so whether you’re just starting out or if you’ve been practicing for a few years, it’s a very good source! Another good thing about it is that it follows the HSK guidelines and standards. It is not free, but it allows you to pick certain plans that benefit you.

12. Ninchanese !

Ninchanese is an app that has more of a cute, game concept which makes learning very fun - the characters in this app come with a cute backstory (ft. cats). It is free, but it offers many premium options as well. One thing I like about this app is that it teaches about the aspects and traditions of Chinese culture too.

13. ChineseClass101 *

This is a website/app with Chinese teachers that teach you Mandarin through pictures, audio clips, and short videos. They have great study tools and also teach some cultural aspects, and you also get to have your own teacher! This website/app is paired with their YouTube channel, so you can also watch their more detailed videos. It is mostly free and offers some premium options.

14. Chinese Skill !

This app helps you learn in a cute and systematic way with an adorable panda character! It is free and is similar to apps like Ninchanese, Duolingo, HelloChinese, and LingoDeer.

15. Standard Mandarin *

This app/website really emphasizes learning the pinyin and tone, and you should know that tone while speaking Chinese is the most important thing. It is free, but it also offers some premium options. What I like about this is that it also helps you learn Chinese idioms (chengyyu)!

16. Zizzle

Zissle is similar to Skritter. This app helps you learn to write Chinese characters. It is has a free trial, and then students must buy a monthly subscription. What is good about this is that is corresponds to HSK levels.

17. ChinesePod !

ChinesePod is a website/app that has been around for 15 years. It is centered around video and podcast learning. It helps learners go at their own pace with self-teaching methods and provides an immersive environment by teaching the culture as well. This website/app also has a corresponding YouTube channel like ChineseClass101, and their plans also include flashcards, vocabulary lists, and grammar tips. They have several different plans you can choose from.

18. Pimsleur !

This is a very renowned app and has a lot of good reviews. It offers many languages to learn and guarantees fast learning.

Other great apps:

Daily Chinese - words and idioms: teaches you idioms, tracks your progress, gives you several topics to choose from

Chineasy - Learn Chinese easily: a cute graphic app with mini lessons, stoke orders, and pictures that show you how the characters were created

Du Chinese - Mandarin Study: good reading practice, short videos, emphasizes pronunciation

Trainchinese: dictionary, has several topics to choose from, audio recognition

Chinese stroke order: simple app that helps you write Chinese characters

Learn Mandarin- ed wonderland: colorful app, many topics and scenes to choose from, corresponds with HSK levels

Evidence:

Two, you don’t understand, magnetic fields are the bane of my existance and I have a masters dissertation about them. I studied how magnetic fields develop in low mass stars and every single meeting with my supervisor ended in some conversation about how stupid magnetism is.

“Oh yeah and this is effected by the magnetic field strength…”

“But why?”

“God knows, I don’t have a clue.”

Was literally said to me by a professor who has spent 20 years of his life looking at magnetism in stars.

ALSO:

“Don’t ask why, we don’t know. Maybe magnetism? Who knows anything about magnetism.” - My Stellar Physics professor when asked about certain processes in stellar formation, something he has been studying for 10 years.

In honour of my favourite genre, have a very personal, very subjective recommendations list!

-        The Secret History (Donna Tartt)

The obvious choice, a classic. In my personal opinion, it’s not perfect and there are better dark academia books out there, but it has massively shaped the genre and therefore deserves recognition. Also, the aesthetic is on point! Read if you want to get a feel for the genre or if you’re simply curious.

-        If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio)

Basically a newer, better The Secret History?? Plenty of similarities, minus certain problematic bits that were present in TSH. Amazing prose, incredible characters, absolutely worth the read. A prime example of dark academia! Read if you love Shakespeare and college settings and compelling characters and drama and just beautiful writing!

-        Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates)

Also a fairly good example of the genre, but tragically underhyped. Darker than, for example, If We Were Villains. Set at Oxford! Will mess with your head. The characters are not necessarily likeable, but interesting. The writing is fairly complex. Read for a dark academia thriller which takes the unreliable narrator to an impressive new extreme (in a good way!)

-        Truly Devious (Maureen Johnson)

A rare YA dark academia book! Read for murder and mystery and a beautiful boarding school setting as well as a really likeable main character! Due to its nature less dark and somewhat less mature than most of the other books on this list, but if you’re looking for more of a quick and fun dark academia read, this is the one for you!

In a similar vain: The Vanishing Stair (Maureen Johnson)

Cannot actually vouch for this as I haven’t read it yet, but it’s the sequel to Truly Devious and I have heard good things.

-        The Secret Place (Tana French)

MASSIVELY underappreciated dark academia with (gasp) supernatural elements?! The most beautiful prose and funniest dialogue you will ever see. Incredible characters. Again, amazing boarding school setting and close group of female friends! (They will break your heart). Also murder. Also half of the story being told from a detective’s PoV. Read if you value good literature. Just. Read it.

-        The Likeness (Tana French)

Actually, maybe I was kidding before, maybe this book is the most underappreciated dark academia book out there? Either way, it’s my favourite. Within dark academia and within ALL OF THE BOOKS. This is it. The perfect novel. Characters that own my hearts to this day. Writing so beautiful that it had me sobbing uncontrollably on several occasions. The university it is set in is Trinity College Dublin. (Cue me being bitter that I don’t go there every single day for the rest of my life.) Very intriguing mystery, too. Hilarious dialogue. All the emotions. All the heartbreak. Just… I love it so much, okay? <3

-        The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)

Good, very good. Set in a boarding school near the ocean, but unfortunately, only the past tense story line is and we don’t get to see too much of it. Very interesting characters. Much heavier on the dark than the academia. Read if you’re looking for more of a classic murder mystery/thriller and are not too focussed on the academia. Also read for an interesting group of female friends.

-        The Basic Eight (Daniel Handler)

Very promising, but wasn’t my cup of tea at all. The setting is an American High School on the West Coast. The murder isn’t that much of a mystery. I’m mentioning it here because I know that other people love this book, even though I really didn’t. I would say don’t read, but see for yourself, I suppose.

-        The Lessons (Naomi Alderman)

Yes, okay, an interesting one. Set at Oxford, which was amazing. Interesting characters with interesting dynamics. I read it quickly and was quite entertained. But there were certain problematic bits (regarding LGBTQ+ representation and mental illness), so you’ve been warned. Not my fave, but I mostly enjoyed it while reading it.

There are a few more dark academia books on my shelves, which I unfortunately cannot include on this list, as I haven’t read them yet. One of them is “The Lake of Dead Languages” by Carol Goodman. Another is “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh. Might edit this post later to add these and more. xx

UPDATE!! (With slightly longer descriptions this time, because people are actually reading this? Reblogging even? Wow!) 

-        The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman)

THE ALL-FEMALE DARK ACADEMIA NOVEL WE ALL NEED AND DESERVE…?? The setting is A++. An all-female boarding school in the Adirondack Mountains in New York! There is a lake that features so heavily in the story, it basically counts as a main character. Told from the PoV of a teacher who used to go to the school. There are two close groups of female friends, one in the present timeline, one in the past. Both have dark, dark secrets and both fit the dark academia genre so well! Also, heavy focus on Latin rather than Ancient Greek, which I have all the love for. This one is a gem, so give it a chance!

-        Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)

An actual classic, as in… first published in 1945. And it reads like it. The beginning came with beautiful vibes! Our young boy Charles starting his time at Oxford, meeting a lot of pretentious people, including one Lord Sebastian Flyte, who Charles is suspiciously fascinated by. Sebastian is the biggest dork to ever dork, carries around with him an actual teddy bear named Aloysius, the absolute madmen?? But it’s all downhill from there, with alcoholism and war and depressing times… And Oxford only really features in the first half or less.

-        People Like Us (Dana Mele)

Another rare YA dark academia!! Features a group of Mean Girls who one day, when out at night to go swimming, find one of their classmates floating dead in the lake. Which is an excellent dark academia set-up, let’s be honest. Also, sapphic girls, incredible sapphic girls with really complex relationships! Bi main character! A fun and quick read, much like “Truly Devious”. More descriptions of the beautiful boarding school buildings would have been welcome, but at least we got a few! Anyway, go forth and enjoy this little beauty.

-        Party Girls Die in Pearls (Plum Sykes)

Umm… I barely even comprehend this book’s existence? Has a prime dark academia set-up with a murdered girl in Oxford, but I still somehow DNF’d it after about 20 pages?! The main character’s name is Ursula Flowerbutton, and if you think that’s quirky and funny… good for you, you might actually enjoy this book. But you’ll also have to endure descriptions of clothes, oh, so many descriptions of clothes! And for anything unique to Oxford that might make the book fun because only those who know will know… you’ll get a footnote. So actually, everyone will know, with zero effort. Definitely not for me, but if you want to read a glossy magazine style dark academia, knock yourself out, friend!

-        The Night Climbers (Ivo Stourton)

Breath-taking! A piece of beauty! Set at Cambridge (and the campus features heavily!), a main character reminiscent of Richard Papen, an intriguing group of new friends that he would do anything to belong with. Including… climbing the buildings of Cambridge at night? Without proper equipment, just with his hands and feet?? Honestly, out of the books on this list, this one is the closest in style and maturity and characterisation to The Secret History! The writing is absolutely gorgeous, the plot fascinating. And it’s dark academia that features a non-violent crime, which works surprisingly well. All in all: A STUNNER THAT FANS OF THE SECRET HISTORY SHOULD CHECK OUT!!

-        As I Descended (Robyn Talley)

A queer, sapphic Macbeth retelling?? Also a rare YA dark academia with strong supernatural elements?! The representation is on point, with two hispanic main characters, wlw, mlm and one of the girls in the main couple being disabled! The boarding school setting is also on point (and uniquely different as the school building is actually a former plantation in Virginia). This book is so different and so spooky! It wasn’t perfect and some say the retelling didn’t work 100% (I, personally, felt that the plot slowed down a bit), but the atmosphere is amazing and the characters are pretty cool, too!

For example, if we’re going to end reliance on factory farming, it would really help for more people to learn to garden and grow food. Same for other hands-on skills like cooking, crafts, home repair, tech repair, etc. Even small things like using re-usable water bottles and bags or thrifting/swapping items to cut down on waste would be regular features of a post-capitalist society, so making them more widely practiced now is a great thing. 

The new approach has so far only been tested in the lab and on mice, but it could offer a potential solution to antibiotic resistance, which is now getting so bad that the United Nations recently declared it a “fundamental threat” to global health.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria already kill around 700,000 people each year, but a recent study suggests that number could rise to around 10 million by 2050.

In addition to common hospital superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), scientists are now also concerned that gonorrhoea is about tobecome resistant to all remaining drugs.

But Shu Lam, a 25-year-old PhD student at the University of Melbourne in Australia, has developed a star-shaped polymer that can kill six different superbug strains without antibiotics, simply by ripping apart their cell walls.

“We’ve discovered that [the polymers] actually target the bacteria and kill it in multiple ways,” Lam told Nicola Smith from The Telegraph. “One method is by physically disrupting or breaking apart the cell wall of the bacteria. This creates a lot of stress on the bacteria and causes it to start killing itself.”

The research has been published in Nature Microbiology, and according to Smith, it’s already being hailed by scientists in the field as “a breakthrough that could change the face of modern medicine”.

Before we get too carried away, it’s still very early days. So far, Lam has only tested her star-shaped polymers on six strains of drug-resistant bacteria in the lab, and on one superbug in live mice.

But in all experiments, they’ve been able to kill their targeted bacteria - and generation after generation don’t seem to develop resistance to the polymers.

Do you need to distract yourself? Or are you simply bored? Here are some great websites to make the time pass.

create pixel art

Awesome photo editor and art program, all free…!

Totally free transparent textures

make a cute chibi

draw some cool generative art

be a graffiti creator

create a picassohead (you don’t need to be a picasso to do so)

paint online

another awsome site to create pixel art on

and another one

create your own mandala

or color one

create an avatar

or you can try creating your own superhero

here you can interact with organisms in different environments to see how to music changes

here’s a website that translates the time into hexidecimal colours,

Here is a website where you can travel along a 3D line into the infinite unkown

here is a website where you can listen to rain with or without music

Need a model in a certain pose for drawing? here

Want to build your own planet

here is a website where you can create your own galaxies

make your own pattern (very useful if you need a new background)

create next hit comic

make a city which looks like something from 90′s games

draw a mandala like design

jig saw puzzles

more jig saw puzzles to solve

create a stunning HTML5 animation - no coding!

make a movie

create and dress up dolls

play a piano

you can also play a guitar

create sounds

another sound creator

create a logo

design your dream home

sketch rooms

explore fashion trends and create your own sets

build a website

try this app for building a website

Or maybe start learning how to code!

design your own t-shirt or a beanie or sweatpants and order them

design your own phone case

pretend to be a graphic designer with this cool online tool

Make your own Glitch art

Here’s another glitch art maker

And another!

Holy hell, here’s a third!

make an image look like it was created by a commodore 64

freaking cool text generator!

Easy to use word processor

Make up really cool patterns or run your photos through it :)

Write an essay on anything with no hassle

Wanna see how something you write would look like if it was on JacksFilms YGS((Your Grammar Sucks videos on YouTube))?

Make pictures out of text

ASCII word generator

Need an idea for some fanart-here :D

Still haven’t found something that would float your boat? Try these:

watch a documentary

learn to code

do something yourself

workout with the help of this great youtube channels

learn things

play pokemon or zelda or other awesome old school games

waste your time on miniclip

play games at additing games

or try games at agame

calm your thoughts

the quiet place

it will be okay

vent or listen to someone

pour out your soul

explore the sky

look at art from around the world

virtually visit museum of iraq

explore world with arounder

create a music playlist

list through rare books

scroll useful science website

create sand art

brain games

try out tastekid and discover new favorite band or movie or book

interactive 3D anatomy

random street view

post a secret

create a family tree

find our what’s the difference between x and y

help scientists and become volunteer researcher

create your own font

read a classic short story

In the mood to read, but not sure exactly what book to go for?

scribble on maps

listen to letters

play with acrobots

listen to podcasts

make a bucket list

Ever want to see the most truly useless websites in creation?

Prank a friend with this blue screen of death!

Zone out watching the colors drip down

Maybe none of these peeked your interest-maybe you’ve been wanting to create an o.c, but never really knew how to start-or you just enjoy making O.C’s….

This masterlist is to help you in making your own OCs….it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose! (´ヮ`)!

How to Write Better OCs:

basic tips on how to make your oc even better

tragic backstory? learn how to write one/make yours great

writing specific characters

a wordier, great guide on how to develop your character

kick out those vague descriptions and make them AWESOME

Character Development:

how to actually make an OC

Q&A (to develop characters)

more Q&As

giving your character a backstory

how to write an attractive character

Need an Appearance idea?

Humanoid generator? check

Here’s another one

and maybe if you didn’t like those this’ll work

Need Monsterpeople?

Well, then here ya’ go

Maybe you need Cats?

Diversity

adding more racial diversity

avoiding tokenism, AKA, how to add diversity to your cast not just because you “need” it

writing sexuality and gender expression (doesnt include non binary, if you have a good ref to that, please add on!)

masterpost on writing more diversity into your story

cultures of the world

guides to drawing different ethnicities (not just a great art reference, but also really helpful in appearance descriptions!)

Mary Sue/Gary Stu

Test to see if your character is a Sue

Explains subdivisions of Sues/Stus

Powerful Characters Don’t Have to Be Sues

Villains

villain generator

need an evil sounding name for your evil character? bam

villain archetypes

what’s your villain’s motive for being a villain?

Relationships

character perceptions (What your character thinks of themselves and what others think of them)

how to write strong relationships between two characters

8 ways to write better characters and develop their relationships with others

OCxLove Interest Handbook

develop your couple with good ol’ Q&A!

how to write realistic relationships

how to write relatives for your characters (this is more OC related to a canon character, but will help in writing family members in general)

ARCHETYPES

12 common archetypes

8 archetypes for male/female characters

female archetypes (goes pretty indepth from two main categories)

a list of archetypes

NAMES

how to name your character

random name generator

most common surnames

surnames by ethnicity

APPEARANCE

tips for better design

basic appearance generator

pinterest board for character design (includes NSFW and images of skeletons/exposed muscle (?) so tread carefully!)

clothing ref masterpost

Clothing generator

Another clothing generator

More clothing generator

Aaaand even more

Steam punk clothing

Char Style preference

Dress Generator

DETAILS

give your character better powers

a list of professions

proactive vs reactive characters

positive and negative traits

interest generator

skills generator

motivation generator

123 ideas for character flaws

list of phobias

Oh shit someone died

Backgrounds and stuff? yep

Quirks

Personality. you need that shit

Need something fandom related?

City generator hell yeah

location? got ya

World-building?

make your own god damn laws

Landscape.

Need Item names?

Fantasy/sci-fi/etc. medicine names

Stuff to make things more interesting.Weapons, clothes, treasures… whatever your characters need.

Item & Artifact Generators

Other stuffs!

Genre, Plot, & Story Prompt Generators

How did your characters meet?