Skritter Recommends--Apps, books, courses, and more (including deals, discounts, and exclusive offers)

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Deals, discounts, and exclusive offers for you!

Skritter earns a small commission from each purchase made using the links. It also helps us deepen our relationship with these companies, and negotiate even more deals for all of you in the future. Keep an eye on this space next week for a few more deals and offers for other brands we’re working with.

Happy studies!

Outlier Linguistics
Study along with the Outlier Linguistics Chinese Character Masterclass directly in Skritter.
Boost your character knowledge with the Outlier Dictionary in Pleco (which you can access directly from Skritter).

Yoyo Chinese
One of the most popular YouTube channels for learning Chinese and a great course-based language platform. The Yoyo Chinese Character Course 1 and Yoyo Chinese Character Course II decks are also available on Skritter for study!

Use code SKRITTER10 on check-out to save 10% on any purchase.

Fluent Forever
A best-selling book (by the same name) that turned into the most crowdfunded app in history! Learn about how the app works here. The Fluent Forever Japanese study deck is available on the Skritter: Write Japanese app, and the Fluent Forever Chinese study deck will be out soon (pending Fluent Forever team approval).

Discount Codes (which give us affiliate credit)
SKRITTER30O12 (30% off 12-month subscription)
SKRITTER30O24 (30% off 24-month subscriptions)
SKRITTERJP (2 free months of study time!)

Du Chinese
A powerful tool that makes learning Chinese simple and effective with loads of reading and listening materials sorted by HSK level.

Use code SKRITTER10 and save 10% off your first subscription purchase.

The Chairman’s Bao
The Chairman’s Bao has over 7000 news articles sorted by HSK level, content topic, and more. The app is constantly releasing new content based on current events and is a great resource for anyone looking to increase their reading comprehension.

Use code SKRITTER when signing up for Premium and save 15% off your first purchase.

Language Mastery–by John Fotheringham
John Fotheringham has created brilliant books full of tips, tricks, and resources that will help you build a personalized immersion environment using fun content from anywhere. He’s also the host of The Language Mastery Show, a 100% free Podcast that is full of interviews, and study tips.

These books are available for both Chinese and Japanese with custom-tailored content for each!

Language Mastery Chinese
Language Mastery Japanese

iTalki
One-on-one language lessons from anywhere. We really don’t need to say more about this service. It is one of the best ways to keep your language learning going during a global pandemic!

First time? Use the link above to create an account and you’ll get some free credits!

Hacking Chinese
The most popular Chinese language learning blog out there… and run by @SkritterOlle! Olle has challenges, resources, and posts about nearly everything related to Chinese learning. He also has two courses and a Hacking Chinese book that are just incredible!

Skritter Affiliate Course Links:
Hacking Chinese: A Practical Guide to Learning Mandarin
Unlocking Chinese: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

LTL Flexi Classes
LTL offers online classes that allow students to study anywhere at flexible times. In addition to Mandarin Chinese, they offer classes in Taiwanesse Hokien, Cantonese, Japanese, and more.

Use code SKRITTER100 at check-out to save $100 USD on your first month of classes.

That’s Mandarin
Founded in 2005, That’s Mandarin has been delivering excellence in Chinese teaching for over 17 years to more than 50,000 students of different nationalities.

NihaoCafe
NihaoCafe is a unique Chinese learning platform created by That’s Mandarin Chinese language school. It’s one of the oldest language schools in China, which was founded in 2007 and has served over 50,000 students to date. While the NihaoCafe platform is used only for premium online classes, Nihaocafe’s website and blog feature free resources for beginners — including interactive vocabulary lists and grammar descriptions. All their posts come with audios, examples and quizzes. They also produce 1-minute videos on simple grammar and vocabulary topics, which you can find both on their website and across their social media channels.

Mandarin Blueprint
Mandarin Blueprint has a variety of Chinese courses designed by a team of learners and teachers who know how to help you level-up FAST. Explore their full range of options here.

Skritter study decks coming soon!

Maayot
Maayot is a graded reader service. It features daily stories graded at levels that correspond to the HSK. They also offer writing and speaking correction. This integration will sync words that you view inside of Maayot automatically into a vocab list inside of Skritter named “Maayot”.

Skritter users can sign up for Maayot and save 50% off their first monthly purchase by using the coupon code SKRITTER.

If you already have an account for Maayot, integrate your account on the Maayot website.

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Just signed up to Du Chinese. Excited :smiley:

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We just added a new discount code SKRITTER for The Chairman’s Bao that’ll save you 15% on first purchase for anyone interested in their Premium package.

-Jake

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Hello dear ones from Skritter,
can you recommend textbooks and resources in traditional Chinese (long characters)?
Are there any relevant language exams?
I would really appreciate any tips and advice. The book and course market seems flooded with Mainland Chinese.

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You don’t mention what level you’re looking for, but here are some suggestions for textbooks. It’s not that hard to find them, just search for “textbook” + “traditional characters” and you’ll find a bunch. I only mention books I’ve personal experience of as a teacher or student here, and focus on main textbook series, not special-purpose stuff (such as business Chinese and the like):

  • Integrated Chinese (traditional version)
  • New Practical Chinese Reader (traditional version)
  • A Course in Contemporary Chinese
  • Practical Audio-Visual Chinese (a bit old by now)
  • Far East Everyday Chinese (even older)

As for language exams, the go-to solution ought to be TOCFL ( Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language), which is also available internationally, although how easy it is to find depends on where you live.

When it comes to resources, it depends on what resources you want and on what level!

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Many, many thanks!
Last December, I actually wanted to take the HSK 1 exam (online). However, I am not allowed to install Chinese software on my system for professional reasons, so I could not take the exam then. The exam lady here at the Confucius Institute in Germany forgot to mention that the exam is not held in a browser solution, but that you have to install software. I am simply not allowed to do that. Period. End. Out.
Actually, I am mainly interested in literature. Practically, of course, I have to learn Business Chinese.
One is the longing of the soul :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:- the other is the hard reality of daily business. :face_with_monocle:
Since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, I have been learning alone-without a teacher. The only Chinese course offered near me is at the adult education center. And it did not take place due to the corona pandemic. Before the pandemic, I drove 100 km to the nearest Confucius Institute. Unfortunately, the Confucius Institutes here in Germany are not so professional. They are just associations. They still practice organization. Not really teaching for adults. Kindergarden.

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There are a number of online options for learning Chinese, from apps to courses, using English at least, at which you seem proficient! You don’t need to install software.

Some are inexpensive, some are not cheap, but all are cheaper than in-person instruction. You can even get one-on-one teachers.

People here ( @SkritterOlle ?) must have lists of resources, but some excellent ones for reading are Du Chinese (app) and The Chairman’s Bao, and for listening/reading, there’s the excellent ChinesePod.

Loads more. Check threads on this forum for learning resources.

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You can check out LTL for small group classes. We’ve got a deal with them where you can get $100 of credit (about 5 free classes) which can help guide you through the HSK 1 materials. You can read our full review of the lessons here.

Du Chinese and TCB are also great for loads of reading materials, and we’re working on getting integrations with both of these apps so any time you save vocabulary they’re automatically added to a Skritter deck for study!

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Hello, I’ve finished the Skritter Character Course and I was wondering how useful the Outlier Linguistics Chinese Character Masterclass is, considering that it costs $99. Although it teaches more characters and components, should I buy it or should I learn more of the characters myself?

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This is just my personal opinion, but the courses are very different. In our course, we’ve tried to strike a balance between explaining how characters work and teaching the most common ones, but the Outlier course is considerably more in-depth. As such, it also (again, in my humble opinion) not as beginner-friendly. The course will teach you much about characters that we didn’t go into in our course, which is the main selling point of their course. You should not take it if your goal is merely to learn more characters. I don’t know what your level is, but I think a good approach is studying our course, then keeping on learning characters on your own, and then take the Outlier course when you feel that what you know and understand of the writing system isn’t enough. Both courses are about characters, but they don’t overlap as much as one might think!

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