Acquire Chinese from the comfort of your home
Being able to read historical novels with ease is one of the greatest and most inspiring goals for Chinese language learners, but it’s, without a doubt, extremely challenging.
In this post, I’m going to share 4 essential tips to help you tackle this difficult journey into Chinese historical novels right away!
But, before we jump into the tips, let’s first clarify the terms “historical novels”.
《放学等我》 is among the top-rated school setting webnovel in the Chinese fandom, and rightly so!
I’m not usually a fan of stories with a modern-day school setting because I don’t find the lives of school students particularly interesting. Probably also because I don’t want to be reminded of my school life.
Nevertheless, 《放学等我》 is a school-setting web novel that I highly rate and truly enjoyed. The story is well written and well paced, and the characters have great chemistry.
2025 was a busy and stressful year, as I had many things going on in my life, which unfortunately took up much of my time and mental energy.
As a result, the time I could dedicate to reading in Chinese decreased significantly. My motivation to work on this blog was also low due to difficulty focusing for long periods to write.
However, I did compensate for the lack of reading with other means, such as playing games entirely in Chinese (with Chinese audio, subtitles, and UI), watching informative YouTube videos on Chinese history, and engaging with Red Note (a popular Chinese social media platform).
I’ve played Infinity Nikki almost daily since it launched in November 2024, and over the past year, I’ve seen all the drama, the ups, and the downs unfold in both the game and its community.
With so many ups and downs over the year, is Infinity Nikki still worth playing, particularly in Chinese? Well, the short answer is, yes.
Let’s discuss some aspects of Infinity Nikki in more detail, so you can decide for yourself if this is a game you want to try.
Historical setting novels are infamous for being challenging for Chinese second language learners. At the same time, it’s also very popular amongst learners, and many aspire to be able to read them comfortably someday.
So, I’m always on the lookout for suitable materials to help learners reach that goal.
As soon as I discovered that Shin Chan: Shiro of Coal Town has a Cantonese dub, I couldn’t say no to this game and purchased it straight away.
The cast for the Cantonese dub is the original Cantonese cast for the animation, so it’s nostalgia heaven for someone who loved the show as a kid.
Mandarin dub is also available, as well as Standard Written Chinese, in both Simplified and Traditional characters.
Chinese historical setting dramas are challenging for second-language learners due to their rich historical and cultural elements and the use of archaic language and dialogue.
To make your immersion journey easier, I have put together a selection of historical-theme Chinese dramas to help you dive into the genre.
《墨雨云间》 The Double is one of the most highly rated and spoken about Chinese historical costume dramas of 2024, and I’m sad that I missed the chance to join in with the hype for it during the release as it’s such a fantastic show with a unique take on revenge!
Infinity Nikki 《无限暖暖》is a free open-world cosy exploration adventure game with dressing up that’s available on various platforms, including PC, mobile and PS5.
You accompany Nikki and her feline companion, Momo, as they travel across Miraland on a journey to discover its mysteries and uncover the Miracle outfits. Along the way, you’ll discover hidden areas, solve puzzles, complete jumping tasks, play mini-games, find collectables and much more.
As Infinity Nikki 《无限暖暖》 is an extremely popular game, there is plenty of information and reviews online about this game, particularly on YouTube. Therefore, this post won’t focus on my review of the game but instead on what it’s like to play Infinity Nikki 《无限暖暖》in Chinese and my journey with it.
2024 has been a crazy year for my Chinese journey and other aspects of my life. I started this blog, I finished reading 天官赐福 in Chinese, and I finally feel that I’ve reached a comfortable spot in my Chinese journey.
In this post, I’ll talk about my blogging journey, things I’ve learnt from it, where my Chinese is, and some of my favourite media of the year.
Not only is this post for me to recap in the future but also, I hope, as an inspiration for you. I know you all love reading journey posts, so here goes…