You don't have to go abroad to learn Chinese. The main difference between staying at home and going abroad is that it requires less effort to learn once you're there (although it still requires qui... Read more.

hackingchinese.com

This is a course offered by Peking University and Coursera. It's free to use, but you need to register (you can preview it before you register, though). There are six units, each taking roughly one... Read more.

coursera.org

This article talks about what it is like to live abroad. Having done just that for about four years, I think this is text truly captures some really important and interesting ideas about life abroa... Read more.

economist.com

This is a comprehensive introduction to the world of digital Chinese, including the following: Script Basics Activate Keyboards for Typing Browser Recommendations Web Developm... Read more.

sites.psu.edu

This is a very in-depth article about how Pinyin is written, focusing mainly on the letters used, the typeface, arrangement on the page, and so on. It probably contains more about this topic than y... Read more.

thetype.com

ChineseMe is the most integrated Mandarin course, designed for motivated learners who have decided to become fluent. It is an interactive textbook that adapts itself to your interests. The course i... Read more.

chinese-me.com

This is a free e-book with a collection of articles about how to learn Chinese, to which I have contributed one chapter about listening ability. This is a good collection overall with contributions... Read more.

livethelanguage.cn

This is a character-by-character beginner course in Chinese, provided free of charge at the Open Languages Project. It teaches you to read (and listen to) Chinese by explaining and introducing one ... Read more.

oplang.org

This site offers basics, self-paced lessons where you can learn basic vocabulary and grammar (usually with audio as well). There are also Skype lessons and other more interactive parts of the site ... Read more.

culturealley.com