5 PERFECT Gifts for Chinese Language Learners

Do you know someone who is a total language-lover? 

Do you have that one friend or family member who is always talking about visiting China, or love cdramas, or even tai chi or kung fu?

This holiday season give them a gift that will help them take their passion to the next level! Read on for 5 gift recommendations that are PERFECT for the (current or potential) Chinese language enthusiast in your life!

Best Study Companion App:

Pleco Bundles

Pleco bills themselves as the makers of the world's best Chinese dictionaries, and their app is a household name for Chinese language lovers. It's incredibly useful not only for reference, but for learning and practicing with their flashcards.

You can download Pleco for free and purchase individual add-ons like their Flashcard System ($9.99) or Chinese dictionaries, but we recommend going with one of their bundles as a great gift for any student. 

It's only $29.99 (US) and includes all of of the most popular features – full-screen handwriting, OCR, flashcards, stroke order diagrams, document reader, Mandarin Audio, and Kai font add-ons – plus the Oxford Chinese Dictionary.

Best Complete Program:

The Yoyo Chinese 6 Course Bundle

OK - we're clearly plugging our own program here, but hear us out. Or rather, hear our students out. 

If you read actual unsolicited reviews of Yoyo Chinese (like these reviews on the Quora thread "What do you think of Yoyo Chinese?") you'll see that our students love studying with us for many reasons, but one above all: our courses actually work! Over 500,000 students in 140+ countries have found success learning Chinese by following our structured courses right here on YoyoChinese.com. That's a lot of success stories!

Giving someone our 6 Course Bundle gives them a complete path from zero to Upper Intermediate level fluency and literacy in Chinese - at a huge discount (literally a $400+ savings!). 

Best Calligraphy Practice Set: 

Teagas Chinese Calligraphy Set

Practicing Chinese calligraphy isn't just for art lovers - it's great for any Chinese student! Spending time practicing calligraphy helps students master character composition and brings something fun and fresh to their Chinese studies (not to mention deepening their appreciation for this traditional Chinese art form.

Teagas Chinese calligraphy sets are consistently highly rated and have everything you need to start practicing, including both ink and (the more beginner-friendly) water writing options.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S0K5YMG

Best Chinese Practice Readers:

Zhang Ming's Story: Volumes 1-6

We're back! But we think you'll agree with the Amazon reviews that our original, fully-illustrated comic book readers are an AWESOME way to make the jump from memorizing Chinese characters to reading full sentences and stories in Chinese.

In this 6 part paperback series (available on Amazon), intermediate level students can step into the life of Zhang Ming, a typical Chinese office worker, in this Chinese Character Comic Book Reader series made specifically with intermediate Mandarin language learners in mind. The books use primarily vocabulary drawn from the 600 most common Chinese characters (featured in our Chinese Character Courses), with full translations and detailed academic notes. 

https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Practice-Reader-Zhang-Mings/dp/172013426X

Best Gift for Children

Big Chinese Workbook for Little Hands

Designed for children at 'Kindergarten level' (ages 5+), this is a great gift for children in English-speaking countries trying to learn Chinese.

The workbook covers pre-writing skills (6 basic strokes and 19 most commonly used compound strokes), language skills such as colors, shapes, numbers, dates, and sight words (most frequently used characters), and also introduces the unique measure word system in Chinese.

A bonus perk: you can listen to sound recordings on most pages by scanning a QR code. Bonus speaking and listening practice!

https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Workbook-Little-Hands-Kindergarten/dp/1530080681