- Learning Chinese effectively isn't only about what you study — developing better strategies for how you study can make a major difference.
- Spaced repetition software (SRS), such as Anki, helps learners review vocabulary at carefully timed intervals and retain more over the long term.
- Timeboxing breaks intimidating study goals into short, manageable sessions, making it easier to stay focused and build a consistent learning habit.
- Memory aids and mnemonics can make Chinese vocabulary and characters easier to remember, and memory itself is a skill that can be developed with practice.
A lot of emphasis is placed on "what to learn" throughout one's journey to acquire Chinese language ability. Olle Linge, founder of Hacking Chinese, approaches language acquisition from a different stance: he focuses on "how to learn."
"I have seldom been taught the most important thing of all: how to learn a language."
— Olle Linge
We at CLI respect the wisdom that Olle has accumulated and made accessible to the public since 2010. In this article, we'll look at three of the most powerful learning techniques he discusses in depth on Hacking Chinese and how you can apply them to your own Mandarin studies.
01 Not "What to Learn," but "How to Learn"
When learning Chinese, it's easy to focus almost entirely on what comes next: which vocabulary list to memorize, which grammar point to study, or which characters to learn. But the methods you use to learn that material can be just as important.
Olle Linge's work at Hacking Chinese focuses heavily on this question. Rather than simply providing more Chinese material to study, he explores ways learners can make their existing study time more efficient, sustainable, and effective.
Three techniques are particularly useful: spaced repetition, timeboxing, and memory aids. None requires you to completely change the way you study. Instead, each offers a practical way to get more from the time you're already spending on Chinese.
02 Spaced Repetition Software (SRS)
Olle makes a simple and strong case for the power of spaced repetition. Here's what he has to say about his experience with the spaced repetition software Anki:
"At the moment, I’ve studied >20,000 Chinese words and if you gave me a test on all of them, I would score 90-95%. More amazing still, I only spend about 30 minutes a day maintaining vocabulary."
— Olle Linge
If you're not familiar with spaced repetition software, we recommend checking out our guide, What Is Anki?
Spaced repetition is a learning technique in which previously studied material is reviewed at progressively longer intervals. The idea is to revisit information around the point when you're beginning to forget it, strengthening long-term retention without spending unnecessary time repeatedly reviewing material you already know.
This can be especially useful when learning Chinese, where acquiring and retaining a large vocabulary — along with thousands of Chinese characters — is a long-term process.
Hacking Chinese contains several articles about SRS. Olle's introduction to spaced repetition software is a useful starting point.
Don't try to cram every Chinese word you encounter into your SRS deck. Prioritize useful vocabulary that you actually want to remember and encounter regularly in your studies.
03 Timeboxing
Timeboxing simply means setting a limited amount of time to focus on a single task. Olle states that "timeboxing works best for tasks that are continuous." He suggests targeting durations between 10 and 15 minutes and emphasizes the importance of creating a task you're confident you can complete.
"It means that rather than saying that you’re going to review vocabulary using spaced repetition software until you’re done, you say that you’re going to work hard on reviewing characters for exactly ten minutes."
— Olle Linge
The distinction is small but important. "Study Chinese vocabulary" is an open-ended task. "Review vocabulary for 15 minutes" has a clear beginning and end.
Olle provides an example of applying the timeboxing technique using Anki. If you're not yet familiar with Anki, you can download it for free.
"I start Anki and use the built-in timeboxing settings. I think I can concentrate for fifteen minutes and I set the timer. Fifteen minutes later, I have reviewed eighty words. Then I feel happy for having achieved something, but I don’t review more words right now. Instead, I spend ten minutes to look up some characters that have been confusing me. Then I move back to Anki.
"Another fifteen minutes and eighty words pass by. I take a break, brew some tea, look out through the window for a while. Then I do another fifteen minutes. Then, seeing that I’ve already gotten through a substantial amount, I decide to play some Starcraft. In total, I complete around 200 words, feeling happy and satisfied with every step along the way."
— Olle Linge
The advantage of this approach is psychological as much as practical. A goal such as "become fluent in Chinese" can feel impossibly large. A focused 10- or 15-minute study session is much easier to start.
"Without breaking a major goal like learning Chinese into several smaller parts, it will feel overwhelming, but if you break it down to bite-sized pieces, it suddenly doesn’t look all that scary."
— Olle Linge
Try setting a timer for 10–15 minutes and give yourself one clearly defined Chinese-learning task. You can also read Olle's full article on timeboxing Chinese.
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04 Memory Aids and Mnemonics
Properly using memory aids and mnemonics can significantly improve your ability to remember new information. For Chinese learners, they can be particularly helpful when trying to connect unfamiliar characters, pronunciations, tones, and meanings.
Hacking Chinese has several useful articles exploring different approaches, including Remembering Is a Skill You Can Learn and Memory Aids and Mnemonics to Enhance Learning.
"The most common mistake people make when it comes to memory is to treat it as being something fixed; either you’re born with a brilliant memory or you’re not."
— Olle Linge
The important idea here is that memory isn't simply something you either have or don't have. Techniques for organizing, associating, and visualizing information can be learned and improved.
To illustrate this, Olle points to the story of Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein, New York Times contributor, and TED speaker.
When learning Chinese characters, for example, a memorable visual story can help connect a character's components with its meaning. The stranger or more vivid the association, the easier it may be to retrieve later.
When a Chinese word or character repeatedly refuses to stick, don't simply repeat it more times. Try creating a visual image, story, sound association, or other mnemonic that gives your brain an additional route back to the information.
05 Putting These Techniques Together
These three techniques work particularly well when combined. You might use Anki to schedule vocabulary reviews, timebox those reviews into focused 15-minute sessions, and create mnemonics for the words or characters you repeatedly struggle to remember.
More importantly, they encourage you to think deliberately about the way you study. Learning Mandarin takes time, and there is no single technique that eliminates the need for consistent practice. Better learning strategies can, however, help make that practice more efficient and sustainable.
They also work best alongside meaningful exposure to the language. Listening to native speakers, reading material at an appropriate level, having conversations, and receiving feedback from a teacher all give the vocabulary and grammar you're studying a real context.
06 Keep Learning with CLI
We hope you'll apply these techniques to your own Chinese-learning journey. Whether you're using spaced repetition to build your vocabulary, timeboxing to make studying easier to start, or mnemonics to tackle difficult characters, small improvements to the way you learn can add up over time.
For more structured support, you can learn Chinese online with CLI's team of Chinese teachers or explore our Chinese Immersion Program in Guilin.
You can also continue exploring Olle's work at Hacking Chinese.
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