I previously wrote about the top ten tools for watching Japanese videos online, but in this post, I’d like to give the same treatment to Mandarin. Video is an especially powerful medium for language immersion given the clear visual context, interesting plot lines, and the inclusion of both listening and reading input for videos with subtitles. I don’t want to encourage people to spend even more time with their butts on the couch, but given the power of video in foreign language acquisition, I think this mode of language learning is well worth the sitting and snacking. I suppose you could always watch at a standing desk while eating broccoli instead of sitting and inhaling Cheetos. Okay, without further ado, here are my five favorite sites and tools for watching Mandarin Chinese videos online:
FluentU
Words fail to express how much I like FluentU. It is exactly the product I would have created if I built a video-based language learning site/app from scratch. Their amazing interactive subtitles allow learners of all levels to work their way through authentic content intended for native speakers (FluentU uses real music videos, movie trailers, short films, talks, commercials, etc. from China and Taiwan). As you go through the subtitles, you can save new words on the fly and review them later in context using short video clips, fill in the blank exercises, etc. Highly recommended.
Tudou
Literally meaning “Potato Net” in Mandarin Chinese, Tǔdòu Wǎng (土豆網・土豆网), or just Tudou for short, is a massive video hosting/sharing site based out of Shanghai, China. Interestingly, Tudou serves up even more minutes of video each day than YouTube; 15 billion minutes versus YouTube’s 3 billion! The site is a great place to find Mandarin language videos, movies, cartoons, music videos, and more.
Youku
Despite still being a separate website, Youku (優酷・优酷, pronounced yōukù) actually acquired Tudou in 2012. In the beginning, Youku differentiated itself by focusing on user generated content, but now includes a wide range of professionally created content. One of the advantages over other similar sites is Youku’s lack of video length restrictions, meaning that you can watch many full-length films, tv shows, etc. on the site.
TED Talks with Chinese Subtitles
While the talks themselves are in English, hundreds of TED Talks can be viewed with Chinese subtitles! You can then re-watch amazing talks like Sir Ken Robinson’s “Do Schools Kill Creativity” (肯尼•羅賓森問，學校扼殺了創意嗎?) while building your vocabulary and reinforcing your Chinese character knowledge.
Goldenfrog’s Vypr VPN
There are a fair number of VPN (virtual private network) providers out there that can provide you with a foreign IP address, but Goldenfrog is 0ne of the few that offers a China-based server (in addition to their their 45+ other server locations), which is required if you want to stream content from abroad that is usually only available within the country. I especially like that Goldenfrog has created slick apps for Mac, PC, iOS, and Android that let you quickly change your server location with just a few clicks/taps. But such convenience isn’t cheap: the basic VyprVPN plan is $14.99 for PPTP protocol with 128-bit encryption, while their VyprVPN Pro plan is $19.99 a month for PPTP, OpenVPN SSL, and L2TP/IPsec protocols with either 128-bit or 256-bit encryption.
Become an Insider
Get 12 free PDF guides, including my Quick Start Guide, 1-pagers for Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and more. No spam. No BS. Just useful language learning goodness.
