Blog
Thoughts on language learning, product design, and the journey of building Hanlyny.
October 8, 2026 · 8 min read
Pinyin for Arabic Speakers: The Sounds Your Alphabet Never Made
Arabic speakers start pinyin with real advantages — a voiced h, emphatic-consonant training for the retroflex posture, an ear that treats length as meaning — and four traps of their own: the missing p, a q that is not qāf, the absent ü, and the -ng ending. A two-minute self-check builds your training list.
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October 1, 2026 · 8 min read
Pinyin for Spanish Speakers: The Sounds That Trick You
Pinyin uses your letters but not your sounds. Six false friends, the aspiration advice that runs backwards for Spanish speakers, the two missing vowels, and a two-minute self-check.
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September 24, 2026 · 8 min read
Chinese Initials and Finals: The Complete Starter Guide
Every Mandarin syllable is one of 23 initials plus one of 36 finals plus a tone. Learn both lists, dodge the five pairs that cause most mistakes, and run a two-minute self-check.
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September 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Best Apps to Practice Chinese Pronunciation | Hanlyny
Five tools, one honest comparison: what each app actually scores when you speak Chinese, what it skips, and how to choose by your native language.
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September 8, 2026 · 8 min read
How to Prepare for HSK 3.0 — A 2026 Study Plan
HSK 3.0 became official in July 2026: nine levels, 11,000 words. Here is what changed, the word counts per level, and a realistic study plan.
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September 8, 2026 · 7 min read
Why Your Third Tone Sounds Wrong — And How to Fix It
Most learners over-pronounce the Mandarin third tone. Learn when it is a full dip, when it is just low, and how the sandhi rule really works.
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September 8, 2026 · 8 min read
Learn Chinese in Your Own Language — Not Through English
Most Chinese courses explain everything through English. See what that detour costs, and the specific sounds Spanish and Arabic speakers must retrain.
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August 2, 2026 · 6 min read
Why I'm Building Hanlyny — A Chinese Learning App That Speaks Your Language
The honest story behind our mission to make Chinese accessible to everyone, in their own words. No English required.
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