My Method of Learning Hakka as a BBC

Hello all! I have learnt Hakka Chinese from scratch as an adult. This blog post will go over how I did it and what methods I used.

These methods only work currently with the following pre-requisite:

Ability to read / write Traditional Chinese and to use a Traditional Chinese input keyboard method i.e. Cangjie

Knowledge of Cantonese, Mandarin or both languages.

If you’re unable to read / write / type Chinese and / or do not speak another Chinese language, it’s highly recommended to learn to do so before following this guide. And to get to at least an B1 / B2 level before you proceed.

I used methods I have discovered by myself learning 2 other Chinese languages as well as methods used by looking at other polyglots / a language coaching course from here:

https://www.languagementoring.com

Absolute beginner (1 week – 1 month):

From day 1 I looked for a resource that went through the fundamentals of the Huizhou Hakka language. What fitted this description is a playlist on Hakka studies YouTube channel starting with video 1 (link in resources at the end of this blog post):

I went through video 1-6 and wrote down all phrases / sentences and make back-translations from English back to Hakka. So I could test myself. All new words were added into my vocabulary system – which at this present time is a popular flashcard app called Anki.

After learning the basics I moved onto the next phase of my learning:

Beginner to conversational and / or fluency:

I split up the Hakka language into its components and tried to improve each one. For any language this is always the following:

Input: Listening, reading

Building Blocks: Vocabulary & grammar

Output: Speaking, writing & pronunciation

I will go over each skill in order and try to explain how I practiced and got better at each one. Please note that each skill will indirectly help you speak better.

Input:

Listening:

I practiced mainly extensive listening by listening and and watching to Fuizhou Hakka YouTubers, Bilibili channels and Youku broadcasts. This just means I listened to and watched as many videos as possible in Hakka.

Once I had a foundation in Huiyang Hakka, I got more extensive listening by watching the Taiwan’s Hakka TV.

This is not the same as the Huiyang Hakka, but it has a similar rhythm and intonation which is good to be exposed to.

Reading:

Once I had a solid grasp of a few hundred most common Hakka words I started reading the Hakka book of short stories and the Mandarin companion graded reader series.

This allowed me to ease myself into reading in Hakka and allowed me to get used to thinking of each word with Hakka pronunciation.

I then moved onto more simple novels such as non-fiction, and then fiction books applying the principles of intensive and extensive reading.

Listening & Reading

By using the Hakka TTS it was possible to listen and read Hakka together simultaneously. It is also possible to record the TTS, and play it back when you have time to listen.

Building Blocks:

Vocabulary:

I used a app here called Anki, this allowed me to make Hakka flashcards with the standard Chinese character on the front and the Hakka character / associated pronunciation (Hakka Pinyin) on the back.

I mainly used the Fuizhou Hakka pronunciation dictionary in order to check the Hakka pronunciation of unknown words, then I would add them to anki. In order to find words I didn’t know I used the Hakka textbook, general Chinese books and the Hakka Studies YouTube channel.

I find that this app greatly assisted my ability to recall and use Hakka words due to its very good spaced repetition system (SRS).

Alongside this, Hydramus has made a great program that allows people to put Hakka TTS on the anki flashcards (see below):

Grammar:

There is a big PDF Grammar & Lexicon file that I found on the internet that the Basel mission used. This helped me with basic grammar but what I found is that most of the grammar patterns etc was picked up within the other Chinese languages such as Cantonese or Mandarin and isn’t a problem to use these grammar patterns with Hakka.

Output:

Speaking:

To speak well you need to speak a lot. I used two main sources of speaking practice:

Source one: iTalki: this source enabled me to book different Hakka tutors for speaking sessions on a regular basis greatly assisting my ability to speak Hakka.

Source two: Self-talk; often using ESL / EFL discussion topics.

Writing:

I generally started writing basic things such as diary entries etc, but once I was able I started doing creative writing and writing blog posts in Hakka.

Pronunciation:

For this I did shadowing on Linziufat’s YouTube channel’s videos. However, his book has particular rules on Hakka pronunciation which I have not yet investigated.

For each 1-2 month block: I choose 1 input activity, either grammar / vocabulary and one output activity mainly. The goal is with time the 7 skills would develop together.

After a while I discovered that I could hold better and better conversations in Hakka.

I am still learning about Tone Sandhi in Hakka, to find out more look at the HK Hakka Research book below.

Here’s a sample week of me studying 1 hour of Hakka a day:

Priorities:	Reading / Listening	Vocabulary	Writing	Write Chinese Characters / Textbook study
Methods:	Extensive reading	Anki	Short texts	Write Chinese Characters / Textbook study
Resources:	Hakka book & Graded readers	Anki	Short texts	Write Chinese Characters / Textbook study
Time Plan:	1 x 40 mins, 5 x 20 mins, 3 x 10 mins	Flashcards 1 x 40 mins & 1 x 30 mins / 7 x 15 mins	2 x 20 mins	7 x 5 mins / 1 x 10 mins
Total time (per week)	170 mins	175 mins	40 mins	35 mins
Total time	420 mins