Did you know you can learn Chinese more effectively
by using some useful tools while watching Youtube videos?
Let’s find out more in today’s video!
哈囉，大家好！ 哈啰，大家好！
I’m Grace
In today’s video, I will help you maximize
the effectiveness of learning Chinese on Youtube
You’ll get to know how to choose the right content
and I will introduce you to some tools
that you can use to help you learn faster
Now let’s get started!
Just a heads up, the method I’m going to talk about today
is more suitable for those who have already learned Chinese for a while
and know certain amounts of vocabulary and basic grammar
So, I’d like to first talk about how to choose the right content for you
there are two things to consider.
#1: difficulty of the content
and #2: your interest
The difficulty of the content you choose should be one
where you can understand around 80% or above
so that you can learn new words from context
and you should also pick the content that interests you
so that you’re motivated to watch it
If your goal is to use Chinese to communicate in daily life
I highly recommend watching reality shows or vlogs
because compared to movies and TV dramas
reality shows and vlogs aren’t scripted before filming
and even though they might have some planned storyline
the people in the show speak like how they would in real life
so that would be very helpful for you to observe
and learn how native Chinese speakers naturally talk
Here are some reality shows that are on Youtube for your reference
If you’re learning Taiwanese Mandarin
全明星觀察中 (Watching All-Star) is a good one you can start with
It’s a reality show that features 7 Taiwanese celebrities
and observes their lives for 14 days
They go grocery shopping together
and do other activities together
so you’ll be sure to hear a lot of daily Chinese conversations
Another show that is famous among Taiwanese people is
木曜4超玩
they have a series called 一日系列 where they experience
different kinds of jobs and get to know different industries
but many of the words they use are quite advanced
so this show is more suited for advanced learners
If you’re learning Chinese Mandarin (as opposed to Taiwanese Mandarin)
here are some options for you:
同一屋簷下 (Share life)
This show documents the life of three men and women
living together and the things that happen between them
If you like to watch the Korean show Running Man
there is a Chinese version of this show called
奔跑吧兄弟 (Keep Running), it’s also on Youtube
For those of you who want to learn business Chinese
I recommend 初入職場的我們 (Workplace Newcomers)
You can even learn how to give a presentation through this show
And if you want to find some Chinese vlogs
feel free to check out my playlist
of all of my own Mandarin vlogs
And if you’d like to watch other vlogs
refer to this video I made that includes my recommendations
You can find all the reality shows and vlogs I mentioned
through the links in the description below
Once you’ve picked the content that interests you
now let’s talk about some useful tools
that can be used on Youtube
to make your Chinese learning more effective
If the video provides closed captioning of Chinese subtitles
then there are two practical add-ons for the Chrome browser
The first one is “Zhongwen: Chinese-English Dictionary” Chrome extension
First, download this Chrome extension
and make sure it’s activated
then go to the video, click on the three-dots icon
and click “Show transcript”
Then, when you’re watching the video
and encounter a word you don’t know
you can just move your cursor onto it
and its Pinyin and meaning will appear
One advantage of having the script by the side of the video
is that, if you’d like to repeatedly listen to a sentence
you can just click on it
Also, remember that you can always adjust the speed of the video
by changing it in the setting
Another add-on is “Language Reactor” Chrome extension
After installing it
make sure to turn it on
and adjust the settings to your preferences
You can choose what language you want it to translate to
and after, you will see Chinese characters, Pinyin
and the translation for the subtitles
If you don’t want to have the translation on
just turn it off in the settings
If there are some words you don’t understand
you can click on them and its meaning
and example sentences will show up
If you prefer studying on paper
and taking notes while you’re watching the videos
you can download the subtitles and print them out
And whenever you encounter new words, you can use this tool
Youdao dictionary pen 3
to look up the words or phrases effortlessly
so you don’t have to open up a dictionary on your phone or computer
It will save you a ton of time
You can even save the words to review for later
This pen works on scanning both
simplified and traditional Chinese characters
but the examples it gives are in simplified characters
I’ve got some great news for you
now you can get the pen with 25% off
with my discount code “GRACE25” at their official website
I’ve included the link in the description below
The tools and additions I’ve mentioned are good
for videos that have closed captioning
but what about videos that only provide subtitles on screen?
Unfortunately, the tools and add-ons can’t be applied to them
and instead you can download the Google translate app on your phone
and use the camera function to directly see the translation
But if you’d like to check the meaning of a word
it’s better to set both languages into Chinese
and after taking a picture of the screen
you can click on the word, and then “Send to Translate Home”
and change the language to English or any other language
and you’ll see its translation
If you’d like to see how to use this word
and some of its example sentences
I recommend that, after you take a picture of the screen
and click on the word, you just click “Copy text”
and paste it into a Chinese dictionary app like “Pleco”
then you can learn more about this word
Okay, now you have the material and tools on Youtube
to learn Chinese effectively
If you’d like to learn even more efficient methods of study
I’ve made many videos that integrate linguistic knowledge
for a better understanding of the mechanics of Chinese
If you’re new to my channel, here are some videos you can start with
I’ve included the links of all the videos I referenced today
in the description below
Remember to check them out!
Alright, that’s it for today!
I hope you found today’s video helpful
And if you have some other tips and tricks to learn Chinese on Youtube
you’re welcome to share it in the comments below
還有如果你喜歡今天的影片， 还有如果你喜欢今天的影片，
別忘記按讚、訂閱和分享哦！ 别忘记按赞、订阅和分享哦！
And if you’d like to learn some daily Mandarin expressions
check out my instagram @gracemandarin
那我們就下次見囉！拜拜！ 那我们就下次再见！拜拜！ I’ll see you next time! Bye!