Here are some Chinese resources (普通話) that I use that should be helpful for you. I have Chinese resources for all levels.
In addition to these Chinese resources, you can check out articles on my website.
Grammar & Fundamentals
當代中文課程 (A Course in Contemporary Chinese)
ISBN: 978-9570845693
This is the official textbook series from the Mandarin Training Center at the National Taiwan Normal University. This is probably one of my favorite Chinese resources, at least among written content. I really like this series because it’s very thorough and not so condescending like a lot of other Chinese textbooks; it doesn’t try to avoid grammar terms because it thinks those words are too scary.
This book is kind of hard to get your hands on outside of Taiwan. The Amazon listing says it’s unavailable, so I recommend getting it digitally on Google Play because of (1) the price, (2) the availability, (3) this version incorporates the audio into the e-book so you can just tap to hear the audio instead of fumbling with audio tracks on a CD or random MP3 files.
You can also try this page, which links to other ways to find the book. If you don’t like Google Play, there are other legitimate ways to support the authors.
I also recommend this page, which gives a ton of resources for students of the actual Mandarin Training Center this book was made for. You can download the actual syllabus, PowerPoints, and quizzes (minus the answer key) that the actual students learning with this book would use, which is great to structure your self-study.
If you happen to find a physical copy of this book and don’t have the audios for the textbooks, linkingbooks.com has links to Google Drive downloads of the audios for Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, and Book 6.
Integrated Chinese
Simplified | Traditional
This series is a fantastic place to start if you don’t have a lot of experience self-teaching or you’ve never learned a non-European language before.
This is the actual textbook series I used in my university Chinese class (albeit an earlier version).
I recommend this book for someone who doesn’t self-study much and wants the material thoughtfully pre-planned for them. The textbook has really simple explanations, the supplementary workbook helps you practice the difficult points, and the character book is a good supplement to introduce you to the Chinese characters you will encounter in the textbook.
For me, personally, the weak point of this series is how simple things are. I would prefer grammar explanations use the abstract grammar terms so that I can understand instantly rather than read several examples and a paragraph that’s avoiding a grammatical term that can be too scary for beginners.
HSK.Academy
A collection of HSK words with translations, pinyin, examples, and practice quizzes
Chinese Grammar Wiki All Set Learning
A collection of Chinese grammar with sentences and explanations; fantastic for basic grammar or just giving you some structure to know what you should learn next
Skritter
Learning Chinese characters all thought out for you: introduces stroke order, meaning, creates a curriculum. It’s also available on iOS and Android.
uTalk
(Disclosure: You can get this deal because of my affiliate status)
Get 30% off any purchase from uTalk. This is a good source of basic vocab. If you don’t want to find the critical vocab on your own through trial and error, uTalk can just give you all the vocab for a certain topic with memorization exercises, games, etc.
Glossika
(Disclosure: You can get this deal because of my affiliate status)
Get a 7-day free trial with my link. This is a AI generated language learning platform that can introduce you to sentences that expose you to grammar and vocab.
Sources of Input
Tencent Video (腾讯视频)
Mainland Chinese video platform like YouTube: TV shows, news, and movies
iQiyi (爱奇艺)
Mainland Chinese on-demand video platform like Netflix: TV shows and movies
Youkou (优酷)
Mainland Chinese video platform owned by Alibaba: TV shows, news, movies, clips
BiliBili
Mainland Chinese video platform like YouTube: user generated content like vlogs, gaming, or lifestyle content
Douyin (抖音)
The mainland Chinese side of Tiktok. You need a mainland iOS account to download it on your phone, but the website also lets you browse outside of China.
Kuaishou (快手)
Another mainland Chinese competitor to Tiktok/Douyin. Fast videos meant to keep you scrolling for as long as possible.
PTS.org
News articles from the Taiwanese public broadcaster in native level Chinese
PTS+ (公視+)
A free on-demand video service from the Taiwanese public broadcaster. You can find news, shows, and movies on here. There is an Android app available worldwide, but the iOS app is available only for Taiwanese app store accounts.
A VPN is necessary to see this content outside of Taiwan.
8world
Singaporean Chinese-language news through Channel 8, the Mandarin language subsidiary of the Singapore public broadcaster. Also available on iOS and Android.
meWatch
A free on-demand video service from the Singapore public broadcaster. You’ll find TV shows, dramas, and movies. This app is not dedicated to Chinese like 8world, so, in addition to the Mandarin Chinese, there is actually a lot of content in several Asian languages and English. Also available on iOS and Android.
A VPN is necessary to see this content outside of Singapore.
Surfshark VPN
(Disclosure: You can get this deal because of my affiliate status)
Get 82% off a Surfshark plan plus 2 months free with my link. Very useful for accessing Chinese resources and content on streaming platforms.
Surfshark does not offer access to the mainland of the People’s Republic of China, but it does have Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore, which will be necessary to see the content on PTS+ and meWatch.
YouTube: 说说中文
YouTube channel mainly in English; good for beginners. Tips and grammars.
YouTube: Everyday Chinese
YouTube channel mainly in English; good for beginners. Grammar, listening, and vocab.
YouTube: Chinese For Us
YouTube channel mainly in English; good for beginners. Vocabulary and listening.
YouTube: Grace Mandarin Chinese
YouTube channel mainly in English; good for beginners. Tips, grammar, vocab, culture, and lifestyle content.
BBC Chinese
News in Chinese from the British public broadcaster
Du Chinese
This is an annotated reader service. You can pay for a subscription or try to free lessons. What’s good about this website is there is a text-to-speech voice that can read the text, you can slow it down or speed it up, you can toggle pinyin on or off, you can see the HSK level of a vocab word, and you can see translations of each word as you hover over it.
This is also available on iOS or Android.
Chinese Learning Tools
Pleco
Chinese dictionary on iOS or Android with everything you need: pinyin, translation, example sentences, parts of speech
Reverso
Reverso is another great choice for a Chinese dictionary because it uses context from sentences taken off the internet so you know you are using the right word. This is also available on iOS and Android. The only downside is that it’s not designed with Chinese in mind, so no pinyin.
Purple Culture – Pinyin/Zhuyin Converter
Convert Chinese text into several varieties of pinyin or zhuyin.
Purple Culture – Simplified/Traditional Converter
Convert simplified text into traditional or traditional text to simplified
BCC語料庫
A context search for how a certain word is used in different styles of Chinese (written, formal, etc.)
This website also has an amazing feature where you can search for the most common verb that is combined with a noun. If you don’t know which verb goes with you can write v(insert noun). For example, if I don’t know which verb works with 课, I will search v课, and I will find 教课 or 放课. I can see in natural context which verb can be used with this compound.
Note: this website only works with simplified Chinese, so if you search with traditional, it will not work.
兩岸萌典
Chinese dictionary that can show differences in word choices or tones between Taiwanese and Mainland Mandarin
Yellow Bridge
Dictionary, translator, activities, general Chinese resources, and bare basics of Mandarin
Zhongwen: Chinese-English Dictionary (Chrome Extension)
Extension that lets you hover over a Chinese word and see the dictionary entry
New Tong Wen Tang (Firefox Extension)
Converts simplified web pages to traditional or vice versa
italki
(Disclosure: You can get this deal because of my affiliate status)
Get $10 in italki credits after spending $20. italki is a fantastic platform to find Chinese tutors based on your needs. You can find a professional teacher with a strict curriculum, a casual teacher with whom you can have comfortable conversations, or a non-native teacher that can explain the fundamentals in your native language. I highly recommend this as one of your main Chinese resources if you have a very specific request for the origin and accent of your tutor.