Listening

Bilibili

Bilibili is a popular Chinese video-sharing platform known for its diverse content, including anime, dramas, movies, and educational videos. Often compared to YouTube, Bilibili offers an engaging experience with its unique "Bullet Screen" feature, where real-time comments stream across the screen as you watch. This dynamic feature not only makes watching videos more interactive but also provides an opportunity to learn current popular expressions and slang. Explore the site to find videos that interest you and immerse yourself in contemporary Chinese language and culture.

Appropriate Level: Advanced, Near-Native

ChinesePod

ChinesePod is one of the most well-established and widely recommended platforms for learning Chinese. It boasts an extensive library of lessons spanning all proficiency levels. At higher levels, lessons are conducted entirely in Chinese, while beginner content includes a balanced use of English for better comprehension. Although the lessons cover a wide range of topics, they don't always follow a structured progression, so supplementing with a textbook or another course can help ensure you build a solid foundation without gaps in your learning.

Appropriate Levels: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced

Lingopie

Wanna watch Netflix show in Chinese but afraid of the language being too hard? Try Lingopie! It offers a wide range of TV shows and movies in Chinese, with interactive features that help you learn as you watch. The platform provides subtitles in both Chinese and your native language, along with tools to highlight and save new vocabulary. This immersive approach combines entertainment with education, making language learning both effective and enjoyable. It also offers a plug-in that can be used with Netflix.

Appropriate Level: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced

敖老师的中文电台

This Spotify podcast is hosted by an experienced Chinese teacher, 敖(Áo)老师, from Yale University. Using her own voice, she shares stories about Chinese people and society, focusing on topics that resonate with U.S. college students. The vocabulary can be challenging, so it’s best suited as extensive listening material, ideal for immersing yourself in the language rather than studying each word in detail.

Appropriate Level: Advanced

Credits: This podcast is created by Jingjing Ao from Yale University.

Chinese Meditation

Chinese Meditation is a meditation platform designed specifically for Chinese language learners and teachers. Its goal is to provide high-quality language input while immersing students in a calm and restorative atmosphere. All content is developed by a team of professional language teachers, using carefully selected vocabulary and sentence structures tailored to different proficiency levels, making it both soothing and educational.

Appropriate Level: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Near-Native

Credits: This website is created by Panpan Gao, Zhou Kang and colleagues at MIT.