If you have time, add Suzhou to the trip to Hangzhou, and could do a Pearl River Delta trip after Guangzhou, take the train down to Shenzen, subway down to HK border, ferry over to Macau, although that would eat up several days.
1 Like
As of today (February 07, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-02-07
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,367 | 90 | 1,457 |
| Non-learned | - | 917 | - |
| Total | - | 1007 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,374 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
| Level | Learned | Out Of |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 7-9 | 546 | 1200 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Learning
HelloTalk
I’m beginning to make a larger effort to force myself to speak more on HelloTalk. Granted, I only just finally replied to a voice message from over a year ago, and the guy was nice enough to not mind and still reply welcomingly.
I think I’ve talked about this before, but as a working adult, especially in the US (unless you’re in NYC or Chicago), it gets harder and harder to casually just make friends here and there. It’s not really a time issue as it is an energy issue.
HSK
I’ve slowed down a little bit in my progress, so this is more of a self-reminder to get on it lol.
iTalki
I have a “favorite” teacher on iTalki. She’s great, and we’ve been having lessons together for about 3 years now(?) Because she’s great, however, her calendar is SUPER booked!!! I ended up buying two 10-lesson packages with her, just so I could schedule a few months in advance.
The hard thing about classes is that it’s hard to feel like you’re making progress unless you’re taking classes regularly. Of course, since iTalki is a paid platform (understandably), the money adds up.
TokiMonki: thoughts??
There’s this guy I’ve followed on Instagram for a little while, and I think he has some great, bite-sized videos of natural/authentic Chinese phrases or points. He founded a site called TokiMonki which is supposed to pair serious Chinese learners with serious English learners, and essentially you’re provided a topic, video, article, etc. and there are different modes to practice on: summarizing the text, discussing your thoughts, asking questions, practicing reading out loud, etc.
It seems like a great idea since I think a lot of language exchange “partners” might struggle to focus on the learning aspect (if that’s what they’re looking for).
Once again, however, it’s a paid platform. There is a free tier! I might give it a shot. I was just curious if anyone else has tried it out.
China Trip
Thank you, these sound like great ideas! I have a pretty packed itinerary for my trip already, but I’ll definitely note it for future travel. I have a notebook where I’m noting things in lists and maps. On rednote, I also have a China travel collection lol.
As of today (March 09, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-09
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,373 | 96 | 1,469 |
| Non-learned | - | 921 | - |
| Total | - | 1017 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,390 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
Back in Consolidation Mode
I haven’t really learned much more since about a month ago. I’ve been feeling more easily exhausted lately. While I’m still going to work toward the HSK this year, I’m not sure if I’m going to end up taking it in 2026. Primarily because, while there is a clear curriculum for the HSK 5, I’m not proactive enough to study off of just the curriculum docs provided by the HSK department, and I have no idea when actually learning materials will be released. That, in combination with just needing more time to actually practice verbally, I don’t think I’d be ready within this year (unless I were able to practice diligently for 30+ minutes >=4 days a week).
China Trip
I realize I haven’t actually specified the dates for this trip with you all! And against the safety concerns running in my head, I’ll share them with you regardless lol
- Beijing Apr 5 - Apr 10 + Apr 12 - Apr 15
- with a side trip to Datong Apr 10 - Apr 12
- This whole Beijing + Datong segment is with a close friend of 6 years.
- Shanghai Apr 15 - Apr 21
with a side trip to HangzhouI was going to go to Hangzhou for literally only one day (take the bullet train in the morning and take a bullet train back the same day), but I already have 4 cities planned for this trip, and it’d be kind of a hassle to go for just one day, and not be able to explore too much. I’ll save it for a future trip.- I have at least 2 friends I could meet while I’m in
Shanghai. I think I’ll for sure meet one at least once, and he says he has other friends we could hang out with, but the other friend, idk lol
- Guangzhou Apr 21 - Apr 26
- no side trip
- I have 4 people I could meet! My iTalki teacher, two friends from HelloTalk, and a friend from college
HelloTalk
I’ve actually finally been using HelloTalk more! I’m trying to get more voice messages in, but baby steps.
It’s just a bit hard because of the time difference. Daylight savings aside, being in California has you in a 15- or 16-hour time difference with China at any point in the year. I usually calculate it “backwards” because it’s easier to subtract 8 or 9 hours rather than add 15 or 16 lol. But still, you can imagine, I’m getting ready for dinner and my friends are just waking up to go to work. Or, they’re about to go to sleep or are already asleep, and I’m barely waking up for my day. So, it’s harder to maintain convos with adults this way since people are not as likely to message during work (understandably). Also in the evenings (here) is probably the most active time for messaging, but I’m with my boyfriend so it’s awkward for me to be on my phone when I’m spending time with him. Just bad timing overall lol.
4 Likes
lol i just wrote up that you should visit more of the yangtze and pearl river deltas then realized i had given the same advice a month ago and you declined… sorry newborn, zero memory.
which is contributing to my backlog in hanzihero…
anyway trip sounds great and you sound super prepared both itinerary and language-wise.
1 Like
As of today (March 13, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-13
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,397 | 98 | 1,495 |
| Non-learned | - | 922 | - |
| Total | - | 1020 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,417 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
lol I still appreciate the thought! and thank you
As of today (March 17, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-03-17
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,417 | 98 | 1,515 |
| Non-learned | - | 923 | - |
| Total | - | 1,021 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,438 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
| Level | Learned | Out Of |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 7-9 | 610 | 1200 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
I have 791 characters to go (at the moment!)
No updates, which means it’s time for me to get back on it!
3 Likes
As of today (April 01, 2026)
Character Progression
2026-04-01
| Unskipped | Skipped | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learned | 1,426 | 99 | 1,525 |
| Non-learned | - | 923 | - |
| Total | - | 1,022 | - |
My HH learning total: 2,448 characters ([learned] union [skipped])
| Level | Learned | Out Of |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 7-9 | 620 | 1200 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Life Update
I’m getting married!!!
April fools (haha). I’m not getting married. However, my boyfriend is moving back to China because the situation in the US is astronomically bad and just plummeting endlessly.
With that said, I’ll be starting a long journey of trying to immigrate to China with him, which is all the more reason to crack down on my Chinese.
I feel like I’ve been “diligent” about learning and practicing, but in truth, once he’s gone, I’ll be able to practice like.. 2x-3x more than I currently am lol. Hopefully not to the point of burnout, but because I really won’t have much else to do outside of work. Of course I have hobbies, but most of my friends have moved away anyway.
China Trip
I’m going this Saturday! Time zones are so fun (sarcasm) because I’m leaving LAX on Saturday at noon (12:00) and I arrive in Shanghai at 17:00 (5:00pm) Sunday lol. Then I have a layover, and another flight to Beijing, where I’ll be arriving at 23:50 (11:50pm) Sunday. Essentially, one whole weekend: gone. Not a big deal tbh since I’ll be there for 3 weeks.
HEADS UP If you’re planning on going to China
Things I have learned so far
The competition to get a ticket to the China National Museum 中国国家博物馆 is FIERCE. Online ticket window opens at 17:00 (5:00pm) in China for 7 days later. It is like trying to get Taylor Swift tickets!!! The website slows down, even crashes, and you don’t even get the slot you want within 10 minutes of the window opening. Mind you, 17:00 in China is 2:00 (2:00am) in California. So, I was literally doing this exhausted, right before bed.
The Forbidden City 故宫 can only be reserved within 7 days (like the ntnl museum), but foreigners can go directly to the gate on any day without a reservation and get in for free!
The Phone Number Problem
Getting train tickets on 携程 or Trip.com isn’t too hard, but you should have your ID and everything set up in advance. 12306 is sort of dysfunctional if you don’t have a Chinese phone number. Again, you can use Trip.com.
Using the reserve in advance booking feature in 携程 is not very promising, though it claims to be. It’s a lot less likely to work if you don’t link your 12306, which, again, may be an issue if you don’t have a Chinese phone number. Just know that ticket windows for trains open within 14 days of the departure date, typically around 12:45 (pm) China time.
Some other events like dinner-theater may require a Chinese phone number if they don’t offer an international website.
BE WARNED
Essentially, a lot of stuff requires a Chinese phone number. While you can get an eSim for data before you go to China, you can also get a physical sim when you land in China. The problem is that, there’s no eSim that comes with a phone number for texting and calling, only for data. The physical sim in China can provide calling and texting. If you’re from the US like me, you know that a lot of smartphones nowadays don’t have a sim tray anymore!!! Luckily, I still have an iPhone 12 pro max that has a sim tray and the phone is fully functional. I’ve reset it to use it as an iPod, and will be adding a physical sim card once I arrive in Shanghai.
1 Like
Yeah the trains are awesome but booking can be a huge pain.
Last year when I went with my wife and 2 son’s we booked 4 tickets using the Railway 12306 app from Australia - I didn’t need a CH phone number, just my (and my families) Aus passports. 2 adults 2 kids. We had flights/hotels were all booked months in advance then just had to wait until 2 weeks out before trying to get tickets to make the holiday actually work!!! Was laggy as hell, but we eventually booked our 4 tickets … only to find out after that each of the seats was in a completely different row of the train (you don’t get to pick lol). My wife freaked out as she didn’t want to leave our 7 and 10 year olds sitting next to complete strangers for 6 hours straight. Luckily everyone actually on the train was exceptionally nice and swapped seats with me so my kids never actually had to sit alone, but my HSK4 level mandarin was really put to the test that day!
Outside stressing about tickets, I loved the train though - we went from Guangzhou to JiangJiaJie. I think it was ~6 hours all up, but comfy the whole way and the scenery was fantastic! One of the highlights of the trip.
Another thing we did before leaving was get both WeChat pay and AliPay setup before leaving - took a few days of sending in every increasingly invasive levels of ID to the Chinese government. Def wouldn’t have been easy to do once there, but wasn’t that bad when at home with all the documents handy. I’m sure you’re all over it, but for anyone else reading I def recommend getting those setup - most places don’t even accept cash any more so really hard to get by without them.
1 Like
As of today (June 03, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-06-03
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 653 | 1200 | +33 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Preamble 导语
Long time no see! I do keep up this log for myself, but I also enjoy the fact that some of you actually read this and reply sometimes.
Life Update 生活的消息
Good news: I’m getting married!!! FOR REAL THIS TIME!
Bad news: he’s moving back to China literally at the end of June, so we’ll be long distance for the foreseeable future.
If you don’t live in the US, the situation right now is as follows: if you’re not already 1) a green card holder or a citizen AND 2) at least 4 years in your career at this point, it’s extremely hard if not impossible to find a job right now. My boyfriend is unfortunately just a job-visa holder and unfortunately we didn’t get married like a year ago, but it’s not paying off for him to stay at the moment. So, I actually was the one to encourage him to move back to China since his resume would actually be far more competitive than most peoples’ back there. There’s actually a very high chance of him getting a good job in China right now despite the fact that it’s a “bad job market” over there.
China Trip 中国之旅
China was absolutely amazing. I was there for 3 weeks in April.
Beijing → DaTong (Shanxi) → Beijing → Shanghai → Guangzhou (+ Hong Kong for one day)
Favorite parts:
- Beijing 北京
- Forbidden City 紫禁城 (or 故宮)
- Shanghai 上海
- All of the coffee places
- Yu Garden 豫园
- The Bund 外滩
- DaTong 大同
- Yungang Grottos 云冈石窟
- The kind “revived” ancient city
- Guangzhou 广州
- Chaoshan hotpot 潮汕火锅 at 潮发
- The (relatively) relaxed vibe of the city
- Hong Kong 香港
- Admittedly, I was alone for this whole day, and it was a million degrees outside, so it was a little hard to enjoy. The food was good, and the city views were cool, hidden pockets of gardens/parks were interesting. It definitely would’ve been a lot more fun had I not been alone.
21 days is a little hard to fit into this post, but the overall trip was just amazing. Out of the 40+ meals that I had, I probably only had like one (1) or two (2) bad meals, which means at least 38 amazing meals.
I was only alone for ONE day out of this entire trip. I didn’t go with my boyfriend, but I had friends to see almost every single day of this trip.
Beijing + DaTong
I was with a close friend for my entire time in Beijing and DaTong. I could NOT understand the Beijing accent for my life. There was one time that I went to a (high-end) clothing store, and they spoke very standard Mandarin. So, it was really easy to talk with them. However, when I went to a spa, I got a massage and I literally could not understand most of the people working in there 
it’s rough.
Shanghai
Then, in Shanghai, I was with someone who I’d met only once or twice like 5 years ago, but he basically acted as my tour guide and private photography the entire 5 ish days that I was there, minus like one day where I met a friend from uni. I didn’t get to use Mandarin as much since most people working in service in Shanghai speak English very well and they just default to English when they see foreigners. One day, my (local) friend took me to try a foot massage, and the two ladies who helped us didn’t speak English, so we talked with them in Mandarin the whole time. They had non-local accents for sure, but it was still easy to talk with them luckily.
Guangzhou
In Guangzhou I met a (local) friend from uni, two friends from HelloTalk, and super randomly, an old friend (foreigner) I hadn’t seen since MIDDLE SCHOOL (13-14 years ago). I got to use Mandarin quite a bit in Guangzhou which was nice. The Cantonese accents are pretty varying from person to person lol. One of my friends from HelloTalk has a heavy Cantonese accent when he speaks Mandarin. He and I actually would message each other in Cantonese, but my spoken Cantonese is awful. So, we just spoke in Mandarin and English.
Hong Kong
I was going to meet my Chinese teacher in Guangzhou as well. I’d confirmed with her twice in advance about meeting, and then literally 2 days before meeting, she bailed on me 
I’m not gonna hold it against her, but it’s just a little lame since I’d already planned for it 6 weeks in advance and confirmed more than once leading up to it. However, since she bailed on me, that’s how I decided to go to Hong Kong for one day. My friend from uni couldn’t go with me because her pass or something expired(?). And, I do have a (local) friend in Hong Kong, but he’s doing a master’s program so he was too busy. Plus, we met on HelloTalk, so not much of a big deal to miss this opportunity. Hence, I went alone lol. In Hong Kong, I got to use like 3-4 sentences of Cantonese for the day lmao. The youth there speak English surprisingly well. I know that Hong Kong has a very strong tie with its British history, but the adults and elderly don’t speak English very well, whereas the youth speak it astonishingly well. Huge difference.
Work, Travel, and Chinese 工作、旅行与中文
Work
I studied data science for my bachelors and masters, but the job I’ve been working has been tangent to it, and not directly related. Lately, I’ve been in the middle of an insanely slow interview process for a classical data science role - classical in that it’s more research statistics and non-GPT ML modeling and analytics. The problem is that it’s a senior role and I don’t have recent direct experience. First round interview went well regardless, and I am likely going to round two. We’ll see.
Travel
With my boyfriend getting ready to go back to China, we’ve been going down his farewell checklist of things he wants to do. We’ve gone to Orlando, Florida for Disney World and Universal Studios, we went to Hawaii last weekend, we went to San Diego for a day. This weekend we’re going to Palm Springs, California, and the following weekend we’re going to Sequoia for a day, and the weekend after that we’re going to Catalina island for a day. It’s an extremely ambitious travel plan, but we’ve been keeping up well lol.
Chinese
Given work and travel, I haven’t been very diligent with my Chinese these days. I love the new “leeches” feature, but now my progress table would get more complicated. So, I’m just sticking to the HSK categories chart for now as I don’t have the energy to expand it yet
My reviews on here have gotten down to about 30-50 per day after about 2-3 months of consolidation. So, after a long hiatus of learning new items, I’ve ramped back up to 40 new items per day (not counting dictionary). Let’s see how long I’ll keep it up.
I’ve been wanting to read more, but I just can’t get myself to do it. I know that I should just be doing a little bit every day to maintain progress, but I’m tired(!!!) I wish I could say I was stronger, but I’m not
HSK
I’m a little pressed that the new HSK 3.0 is fully live next month but they haven’t released their personally sponsored HSK 4, 5, or 6 textbooks. Idk if they’re just guinea pigging the first three textbooks to see if they need to adjust 4-6, but I haven’t been studying for HSK as a result.
5 Likes
Congratulations on getting married. My marriage has been the greatest blessing for me. Nothing else comes close. I hope it will be the same for you and your future husband. Long-distance isn’t ideal in the long run. Are you still planning to move to China?
Your trip to China sounded very exciting. Was it that hot only in Hong Kong or was it bad in other places as well? I would like to eat superb Chinese meals with my wife but neither of us can bear hot weather…
2 Likes
Hiii, congratulations on your marriage! I wish you and your partner all the best 
2 Likes
Really interesting log! Congratulations on your marriage!
2 Likes
Congrats on the marriage!!
1 Like
As of today (June 10, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-06-10
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 711 | 1200 | +58 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Nothing Specific
@kalmapuudeli @Bassmd @Alufi @phil thank you!!! 
Learning 学习
I’m doing pretty okay on keeping up with the aggressive learning these days. Granted, my aggressive learning is limited to HanziHero at the moment. I think I’ll just wait till my bf moves back to China to continue with HSK more seriously. After work, we’re just trying to maximize our activities, especially on weekends.
1 Like
As of today (June 15, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-06-15
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 761 | 1200 | +50 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Fast Tracking Completion
I’ve set my settings to learning 20 characters a day (and 20 words). In theory, if I were to actually keep learning a new 20 characters a day, I’d finish all of the characters in the next 32 days. However, I know that’s not going to be the case. I want to challenge myself to learn all of the characters by September. Let’s see!!
If I were to go delusional mode, and learn 40 characters a day (unlikely), I could finish in exactly 16 days. Assuming I was ACTUALLY learning 40 characters a day every day. But that would also mean learning a bajillion characters without learning words to go with it. Wouldn’t be very smart, I think.
More! MORE!!
@phil I know this site already includes a large corpus of characters (and words, of course). Are there plans to add even more in the near future? Just curious, not a huge need.
Other Learning
In some threads we’ve talked about speaking being a huge driver of learning. Has anyone tried TokiMonki? I want to give it a try. Some people on Reddit have had pretty much only good things to say about it, but just curious if anyone here has tried it.
2 Likes
As of today (June 24, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-06-24
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 883 | 1200 | +122 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Fast Tracking Completion (continued)
Aiming to learn 20 characters a day (skipping some along the day) along with 20 words has definitely been keeping me on track. I think forcing myself to overload on characters right now is actually feeling easier and easier.
I’ve always been big on writing down the new items that I’m learning. Lately, I haven’t been writing down the items that I’m getting wrong so much, and I definitely should continue doing that, but at the very least, I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job on the new items by at least writing them down multiple times while I’m learning them.
1 Like
As of today (July 02, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-07-02
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 933 | 1200 | +50 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
| January | July | Delta | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 7-9 Characters | 461 | 933 | +472 |
Did you know you can filter the chart on the home page? I just found out by trying it lol.
Personal Life (& Chinese)
My spouse has moved back to China, and I’ve moved back home with my parents lol. Now, I have all the time in the world to learn Chinese. Basically, when I wake up at 5:30, it’s 20:30 in China. When I finish work around 14:00, it’s 5:00 in China. By 17:00 here, it’s 9:00 in China.
This essentially works out since we can call when he finishes his day. I also usually don’t have a lot of meetings in the early part of the day. So, we pretty much should always be able to call around that time.
Additionally, the off hours between each other means I can focus on developing my career, and progressing my Chinese as well.
TokiMonki
I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m pretty bad with jumping on new subscriptions pretty often to try things out, but I do now want to try TokiMoki lol. I’ll give you all an update on it once I’ve tried it out.
Ninchanese
I think Ninchanese is great and very in-depth. However, I don’t really like that you HAVE to go through their vocabulary lesson in order to “unlock” the next lesson. I’d prefer to just do things in the order than I want. I’m debating going back to this when I want to really prepare for HSK5.
HSK In General
Pretty much every single platform that prepares people for HSK, or at least groups things by HSK, has not made changes to reflect the new curriculum. I don’t blame them (that much) since the announcement kind of seemed to have dropped out of nowhere back in December. However!, it is still a bit frustrating that it has, after all, been 7 months since the announcement, and the New HSK 3.0 is officially in full effect as of this month.
Apparently the people who published the HSK Standard Course textbooks took a couple of years after the release of the previous version to get it all published. This year, they hit the ground running with the release of their New HSK Course textbooks but only for HSK 1, 2, and 3 which were released in February, March, and April respectively (roughly from what I call). I was thinking “wow perfect, I’ll be able to study for HSK 5 pretty soon then”. NOPE! Still no news, no announcement regarding their next set of textbooks. I heard there’s kind of an AI feature in the new textbooks, and I’ve heard pretty mixed reviews about some of the changes of the textbook layout. I’m guess they’re guinea-pigging these first three textbooks before locking in on the next set of textbooks..? But they’ve already chosen covers for HSK 4-9 (at least 6 more textbooks assuming they don’t do a ‘first half’ ‘second half’ edition).
I KNOW that the resources are available online at their source, but obviously I’m not the most proactive person, otherwise I wouldn’t need textbooks lol.
China
I’m going to China AGAIN in August!! Lol. It may be “too soon” given that I just went to China for pretty much all of April, but I really really fumbled scheduling this time off back in May. I can’t change it now, but it’s okay. I’m going to Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and then back to Shanghai. At least this time I’ll be with my husband! I didn’t go with him back in April because of visa concerns (and his job had 0 PTO), but now that he’s in China and currently jobless, I’ll be meeting him there 
3 Likes
As of today (July 04, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-07-04
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 961 | 1200 | +28 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
No updates
1 Like
As of today (July 05, 2026)
Character Progression 汉字学习进度
2026-07-05
| Level | Learned | Out Of | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 2 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 3 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 4 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 5 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 6 | 300 | 300 | - |
| HSK 7-9 | 981 | 1200 | +20 |
| Non-HSK | 28 | 229 | - |
This table includes all of the ones I’ve skipped.
Contents 内容
- iTalki Master Plan (via Claude)
- Story using learned items from past 7 days (via Claude)
iTalki Master Plan (via Claude) iTalki 的大纲
I’m going to China again at the beginning of August, and I do feel like I did pretty well while I was there in April in terms of talking with my friends in Chinese. Fortunately for me, however, they also know English, so I was able to fall back on English when needed. As I’ve mentioned before, there were some topics I had never prepared for, like services within a spa, or even just some things at the spa itself!!
I’ve sort of hit a bit of a rut with iTalki, because it’s a little hard to make meaningful progress over 30 minutes online. I want to work on both more advanced topics for the HSK and expressing myself more specifically in conversations about day-to-day items.
So I’ve created a sort of master plan to go over with my Chinese teacher on iTalki. I had one class with her two days ago (not part of the 15) and discussed this with her, and she’s totally down to help me.
Yes, I’m attending class 15 more times this month with just the one teacher lol.
For Claude’s part, I first prepared a list of topics that I thought of as day-to-day items, and I passed it along to create an overall gameplan for this month.
Prompt Ambiguity
I would like to provide you with a prompt but I’m actually not really sure how to provide it. I’ll provide steps instead:
- Come up with a list of topics you’d like to cover with your teacher
- In your GPT, you could say something like
- “Come up with a bulleted list of topics as a guide to practice with my Chinese teacher.” and paste your list of topics in the same message.
- You can also add these to your prompt
- “Come up with a x-class plan, expanding topics as applicable.” where x is however many classes you’re planning.
- “Add in a set of Mandarin discussion questions to prep before session per topic.”
My Claude Output Claude 的回答
15-Class Mandarin Conversation Practice Plan
15-Class Mandarin Conversation Practice Plan
Topics for day-to-day conversational practice, sequenced to space out heavier subjects. Guiding questions are flexible starting points — use them to open discussion, not as a rigid script.
Class 1 — Music (音乐)
Subtopics: Genres/styles, feelings & resonance, albums vs. singles, vocals vs. production
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你最近在听什么类型的音乐？为什么喜欢这种风格？
- 有没有一首歌让你特别有共鸣？是什么原因？
- 你觉得专辑和单曲有什么不同的意义？
- 你更看重一首歌的歌声，还是它的制作（编曲、混音）？
Class 2 — Movies (电影)
Subtopics: Genres/styles, feelings & resonance, releases/trailers, actors & production, expression
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你平时喜欢看什么类型的电影？
- 有没有一部电影让你看完之后久久不能忘怀？
- 你会通过预告片决定要不要看一部电影吗？
- 你觉得一个演员的表演和电影的制作，哪个对你更重要？
Class 3 — Books (书)
Subtopics: Genres/styles, feelings & resonance, quotes & dialogue, characters (protagonist/antagonist)
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你最近在读什么书？属于什么类型？
- 有没有书里的一句话让你印象特别深刻？
- 你喜欢什么样的主角？讨厌什么样的反派？
- 一本书的对话写得好不好，对你来说重要吗？
Class 4 — Jobs (工作)
Subtopics: Good/bad managers, job hunting & interviewing, daily responsibilities, coworkers & teamwork, quitting & handing off work
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你觉得一个好的经理应该具备哪些特点？
- 你有没有面试的经验？印象最深的一次是什么样的？
- 你平时的工作职责主要是什么？
- 你怎么看待和同事之间的团队合作？
- 如果要辞职，你觉得应该怎么好好地交接工作？
Class 5 — Friendship I: Closeness & Boundaries (友情一：亲密与界限)
Subtopics: Complicated relationships, making exceptions and why, setting boundaries and why, physical/emotional closeness
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你觉得友情有时候会很复杂吗？能不能举个例子？
- 你会为朋友破例吗？在什么情况下？
- 你觉得朋友之间应该设立什么样的界限？
- 你觉得朋友之间可以有多亲密（身体上或情感上）？
Class 6 — Money I: Saving & Budgeting (金钱一：储蓄与预算)
Subtopics: Saving money, budgeting a paycheck (expenses, savings, leisure)
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你平时怎么存钱？
- 你会怎么规划自己的工资（生活费、储蓄、娱乐）？
- 你觉得年轻人应该把多少工资存起来？
- 你有没有为了存钱而放弃某些享受？
Class 7 — US Social/Political Issues (美国社会与政治议题) (heavier)
Subtopics: Social unrest in the US, corrupt politicians, death of the American dream, 斩杀线
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你怎么看待美国最近的社会动荡？
- 你觉得腐败的政治人物是怎么影响普通人的生活的？
- 你觉得"美国梦"还存在吗？为什么？
- 你怎么理解"斩杀线"这个说法？
Class 8 — Transportation I: Cars & Public Transit (交通一：汽车与公共交通)
Subtopics: Need for cars, gas vs. EV, charging vs. gas stations, gas prices; bus/subway/train/high-speed rail, schedules, convenience
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你觉得在你住的地方，有车是必须的吗？
- 你怎么看电动车和燃油车的区别？
- 汽油的价格对你的生活有影响吗？
- 你喜欢坐公交、地铁还是高铁？为什么？
- 你觉得公共交通的时刻表方便吗？
Class 9 — Friendship II: Endings & Betrayal (友情二：结束与背叛)
Subtopics: Good/bad friend, how a close friendship can suddenly end, how an unexpected acquaintance can become a best friend, betrayal
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你觉得什么样的人是一个好朋友？什么样的是不好的朋友？
- 你有没有经历过一段友情突然结束？发生了什么？
- 有没有一个意外的相识后来变成了很好的朋友？
- 你有没有被朋友背叛过的经历？（如果不方便说细节也没关系，可以聊聊感受）
Class 10 — Money II: Debt & Economic Pressure (金钱二：债务与经济压力) (heavier)
Subtopics: Personal loans, interest rates, American debt, death of the middle class, extreme medical costs, extreme inflation
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你怎么看待个人贷款和利率的问题？
- 你觉得美国的债务问题会怎么影响普通家庭？
- 你怎么理解"中产阶级正在消失"这种说法？
- 医疗费用高昂对人们的生活有什么影响？
- 通货膨胀是怎么改变你日常花钱习惯的？
Class 11 — Transportation II: Air Travel (交通二：航空旅行)
Subtopics: Airports, security lines, connecting/overnight flights, time zone adjustments, seat selection, on-board service, carry-ons
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你喜欢坐飞机旅行吗？为什么？
- 机场安检排队的经历怎么样？
- 你坐过转机或者红眼航班吗？感觉怎么样？
- 你怎么倒时差？
- 选座位的时候你会考虑什么？
- 你对飞机上的服务（空乘、飞机餐）有什么看法？
Class 12 — Wars (战争) (heavier)
Subtopics: Iran war, Ukraine war
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你怎么看待伊朗的局势？
- 你怎么看待俄乌战争对世界的影响？
- 这些冲突让你对国际关系有什么新的想法？
Class 13 — Climate & Natural Disasters (气候与自然灾害) (heavier)
Subtopics: Heat bubble in Europe, global warming (general), hurricanes in the Caribbean, floods in south China & SE Asia, earthquakes
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你怎么看待欧洲最近的极端高温？
- 全球变暖对你的生活有影响吗？
- 你听说过加勒比海地区致命的飓风吗？
- 中国南方和东南亚的洪水让你有什么感受？
- 你所在的地方有没有地震的风险？
Class 14 — Energy & Global Development (能源与全球发展)
Subtopics: AI data center energy consumption, gas/coal/nuclear/renewable sources, development in China vs. USA vs. EU
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 你知道AI数据中心消耗很多电力吗？你怎么看这个问题？
- 你觉得哪种能源（天然气、煤炭、核能、可再生能源）最有前景？
- 你怎么比较中国、美国和欧盟在能源发展上的不同？
Class 15 — Immigration (移民) (heavier close-out)
Subtopics: Reasons, where and why, complications, visas, refugees
Example guiding questions (flexible):
- 人们移民的主要原因是什么？
- 你觉得人们通常会选择移民到哪里？为什么？
- 移民过程中会遇到什么样的困难？
- 你怎么看待签证申请的复杂性？
- 你怎么看待难民问题？
Note: For Classes 7, 10, 12, 13, and 15, feel free to slow down or skip subtopics that feel too heavy for a given session — these are meant to guide natural conversation, not to be fully covered in one sitting.
Story using learned items from past 7 days (via Claude)
I think I’ve also mentioned this before, but I’m not 100% against using AI, I’m just against using AI for grotesque image generation, and using AI for things that could more or less easily be accomplished on ones own.
For example, I took all of the items I’ve learned over the last 7 days (approximately 90 items since I wasn’t learning anything last Sunday through Wednesday (?)) and had Claude come up with a story "using all of the vocabulary, and if applicable, single characters that can act as standalone words".
Prompt
Here are some Chinese vocabulary (more than 1 character) and characters (just one character). Write a short story using all of the vocabulary, and if applicable, single characters that can act as standalone words. Put the used item in bold followed by its pinyin and meaning in parentheses.
Optional Addition
Turn this into a Word document. For Chinese text, use the font kaiti, for non-Chinese text, including pinyin, use Calibri Light, and apply italics.
Output
槐树镇的秋天
槐树镇的秋天
清晨，薄雾还没散尽，整个镇子笼罩在一片朦胧（ménglóng，朦胧 = 模糊不清、hazy/dim）的光影里。镇口那棵百年槐树（huáishù，槐树 = locust/sophora tree）下，几只鸽子（gēzi，鸽子 = pigeon）正低头啄食着面包渣子（zhāzi，渣子 = crumbs/dregs）。公园里那只人人喜爱的孔雀（kǒngquè，孔雀 = peacock）对着游客展开尾屏，尾羽张开时像是在咧嘴（liězuǐ，咧嘴 = to grin， show one’s teeth）大笑。
草坪上的玫瑰（méigui，玫瑰 = rose）沾着露水，散发出淡淡的香气。路过的老猎犬忍不住上前嗅（xiù，嗅 = to sniff）了嗅，凭借灵敏的嗅觉（xiùjué，嗅觉 = sense of smell）分辨着花香与泥土的气息。一缕（lǚ，缕 = a wisp/thread of）阳光透过云层，洒在小镇的砖房（zhuānfáng，砖房 = brick house）屋顶上。镇边的小河上，一座百年拱桥（gǒngqiáo，拱桥 = arch bridge）横跨两岸，几只帆船（fānchuán，帆船 = sailboat）缓缓驶过，河水拍打桥墩，发出有韵律（yùnlǜ，韵律 = rhythm）的声响。
一
小镇姑娘林晚是一名环保工程师，她的生涯（shēngyá，生涯 = career）从这个小镇的"低碳村"项目开始。她正忙着测量这片公顷（gōngqǐng，公顷 = hectare）土地的纬度（wěidù，纬度 = latitude）与土壤成分，为村民规划低碳（dītàn，低碳 = low-carbon）农业，随身记录着每块地施加肥料（féiliào，肥料 = fertilizer）后二氧化碳（èryǎnghuàtàn，二氧化碳 = carbon dioxide）排放的变化。她的工作十分忙碌（mánglù，忙碌 = busy），常常从早忙到晚，收工前总要把散落的测量仪器一一敛（liǎn，敛 = to gather/collect）好放进背包——仪器边角还嵌（qiàn，嵌 = to embed/inlay）着一小块太阳能电池板。她穿着一双沾满泥土的靴子（xuēzi，靴子 = boots），深一脚浅一脚地走在田埂上，累了就脱下靴（xuē，靴 = boot）倒出里面的沙子。
二
集市上人声鼎沸，来来往往络绎不绝（luòyìbùjué，络绎不绝 = an endless stream of people）。一个小贩（xiǎofàn，小贩 = peddler）扯着嗓子叫嚷（jiàorǎng，叫嚷 = to shout/yell）:"新鲜红枣（zǎo，枣 = jujube/date），又甜又实惠（shíhuì，实惠 = good value/practical benefit），今天贱卖（jiànmài，贱卖 = to sell cheap）啦!"一位绅士（shēnshì，绅士 = gentleman）模样的顾客停下脚步，与小贩洽谈（qiàtán，洽谈 = to negotiate）价格，两人很快达成（dáchéng，达成 = to reach [an agreement]）了共识（gòngshí，共识 = consensus），气氛十分融洽（róngqià，融洽 = harmonious）。绅士笑着说这红枣一点也不腻（nì，腻 = greasy/cloying），吃再多也不腻味，又倚（yǐ，倚 = to lean against）在摊位旁的木栏上，给妻子买了一支唇膏（chúngāo，唇膏 = lipstick），还赶上了商场的优惠（yōuhuì，优惠 = discount/preferential）活动。人群中，一个不讲卫生的男人当众吐痰（tǔ tán，吐痰 = to spit），又用手抹了把鼻涕（bítì，鼻涕 = nasal mucus），惹得旁人纷纷侧目，嗓子里那口痰（tán，痰 = phlegm）咳得他说话都不利索。
三
平静的日子并没有持续太久。一家外地公司的老板想要独霸（dúbà，独霸 = to monopolize/dominate）镇边那片老槐树林，推倒老屋建起一座摩天大厦（dàshà，大厦 = skyscraper/large building）。他先找人勘（kān，勘 = to survey）了地形，又雇工人砌砖（qìzhuān，砌砖 = to lay bricks），打下一根根木桩（mùzhuāng，木桩 = wooden stake）作地基。
村长起初不同意，但老板暗地里送了钱，让村长受贿（shòuhuì，受贿 = to accept bribes）。村长见钱眼开，竟然撕毁（sīhuǐ，撕毁 = to tear up [a contract]）了当初和村民签订的保护槐树林的合同，还嘲笑（cháoxiào，嘲笑 = to mock/ridicule）反对的村民，说他们的抗议不过是山寨（shānzhài，山寨 = knockoff/fake）版的示威，成不了气候。老板还当众骂道:“你们这些贱（jiàn，贱 = cheap/lowly）骨头，不识好歹!”
施工现场地势陡（dǒu，陡 = steep）峭，一根木桩没打稳，脚手架突然垮（kuǎ，垮 = to collapse）了下来，一位老工人被吓得双腿一软，瘫（tān，瘫 = to collapse/be paralyzed）坐在地上。事后调查发现，老板私自更改的图纸让大厦地基呈畸形（jīxíng，畸形 = deformed）结构，存在安全隐患;拆下来的旧砖块也碎成一堆渣（zhā，渣 = debris/dregs），散落一地。
村民们气愤不已，聚在槐树下与工人对峙（duìzhì，对峙 = a standoff/confrontation）。林晚也赶来劝阻，却被老板派来的人哄骗（hǒngpiàn，哄骗 = to deceive/coax）说这是"合法开发"。
四
正当矛盾激化时，一直帮村民维权的律师突然失踪，警方怀疑他被人绑架（bǎngjià，绑架 = to kidnap）。原来老板见事情败露，派手下将律师挟持（xiéchí，挟持 = to hold hostage）到城郊仓库，逼他撤销诉状。警方调查中还发现，老板长期滥用（lànyòng，滥用 = to abuse/misuse）职权，买通多名官员，案情滞后（zhìhòu，滞后 = to lag behind）多日仍无进展，警方只好张贴通缉（tōngjī，通缉 = wanted [by police]）令，追捕幕后主使。
混乱中，一个老实巴交的小贩因曾在老板手下打过短工，竟被冤枉（yuānwang，冤枉 = to wrong/falsely accuse）成同伙，百口莫辩，急得声泪俱下（shēnglèijùxià，声泪俱下 = to speak in tears/tearful plea）。真正知情的人寥寥无几（liáoliáowújǐ，寥寥无几 = very few），大家都不敢作声。老板的手下甚至公开嘲弄（cháonòng，嘲弄 = to mock/tease）警方办案不力，说他们永远也抓不到人。
关键时刻，林晚没有退缩。调查过程屡遇挫折（cuòzhé，挫折 = setback），她仍凭着过人的毅力（yìlì，毅力 = willpower）一点点收集证据，最终锁定了藏匿律师的仓库位置。警方连夜行动，成功解救人质，将幕后老板一举抓获。
五
审讯室里，老板低下身躯（shēnqū，身躯 = body/figure），对着警察和村民俯首（fǔshǒu，俯首 = to bow one’s head）认罪。他向被冤枉的小贩深深鞠躬（jūgōng，鞠躬 = to bow）道歉，请求饶恕（ráoshù，饶恕 = forgiveness）。小贩大度地原谅了他。
事情平息后，村委会与新的投资方重新商谈合作方式，双方谈得十分洽（qià，洽 = harmonious/on good terms），条件比从前公平许多。村民们脸上重新焕发（huànfā，焕发 = to radiate/glow with vigor）出光彩，这件事也激励（jīlì，激励 = to motivate/encourage）了更多人参与保护家乡环境。大家终于明白，一个村庄的未来不能只倚赖（yǐlài，倚赖 = to rely on）外来投资，更要珍惜自己脚下的土地。
镇政府决定为林晚和那位律师举行表彰（biǎozhāng，表彰 = to commend）大会，感谢他们保护家乡的功勋（gōngxūn，功勋 = merit/achievement）。村里向每家每户送去手写的请帖（qǐngtiě，请帖 = invitation card），邀请大家参加庆典。
那天，广场上装饰得俱全（jùquán，俱全 = complete/all-inclusive），连孩子们手里的布艺玩偶都是村里巧手大娘用刺绣（cìxiù，刺绣 = embroidery）手法缝制的孔雀，栩栩如生，连尾羽的轮廓（lúnkuò，轮廓 = outline/contour）都绣得清清楚楚。台下摆着一排排橡胶（xiàngjiāo，橡胶 = rubber）坐垫，供老人歇脚，一位白发老人向大家拱（gǒng，拱 = to cup one’s hands in a bow of thanks）手道谢。老槐树被村民称作镇上的瑰宝（guībǎo，瑰宝 = treasure/gem），此后再没有人敢打它的主意。
镇子渐渐恢复了往日的韵（yùn，韵 = charm/rhyme-like quality）味——河上仍是络绎不绝的行人，槐树下仍有鸽子啄食，一切都回到了原本该有的样子。
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