Sentence Mining with Mandarin Mosaic

A learner reading a Chinese book and tapping a sentence flashcard on her phone

In this guide we'll cover how to get the most out of Mandarin Mosaic for sentence mining: what it is, why it suits Chinese so well, how the app automates the tedious parts, and a routine you can follow every day.

What is sentence mining?

Sentence mining means learning vocabulary and grammar from whole sentences rather than single words. It has two steps:

  1. Gathering sentences that contain something new to you, from sources such as:
    • TV and films
    • Conversations with native speakers
    • News articles
    • Books and graded readers
    • Websites and social media
  2. Reviewing those sentences regularly, to learn:
    • New words
    • New grammar structures
    • New phrases and idioms

The reviews work best with a spaced repetition schedule, which shows each sentence again at just the right interval to keep it in your memory without wasting time on things you already know.

Why sentence mining works so well for Chinese

One new thing at a time (i+1)

The ideal sentence is one where you understand everything except one word. Linguist Stephen Krashen called input just above your current level "i+1", and sentence miners borrowed the term for sentences with exactly one unknown. Because you understand the rest, the context does most of the work of explaining the new word.

Say you know every word in this sentence except 杯:

我每天早上都喝一杯咖啡。
wǒ měitiān zǎoshang dōu hē yì bēi kāfēi.
I drink a cup of coffee every morning.

You can almost guess that 杯 (bēi) means "cup" before you check. That small moment of working it out is what makes the word stick. A sentence with four unknown words gives you no such foothold, so you end up translating rather than learning.

Context shows you how a word is used

A word list tells you that 决定 (juédìng) means "decision" or "to decide". It doesn't tell you which verb goes with it. A sentence does:

你得自己做决定。
nǐ děi zìjǐ zuò juédìng.
You have to make the decision yourself.

Now you've learned the collocation 做决定 (zuò juédìng, to make a decision) along with the word. Chinese is full of these pairings, and they're what make speech sound natural rather than translated. Learning words in isolation on flashcards often leaves you knowing a word but not how to use it; sentences fix that.

Grammar comes along for free

Every sentence you mine is also a grammar example. You don't need to memorise a rule about the 把 (bǎ) construction if you've met sentences like this one many times:

我把手机忘在家里了。
wǒ bǎ shǒujī wàng zài jiā li le.
I left my phone at home.

After enough examples, the pattern starts to feel right on its own, which is how you learn grammar naturally.

Characters are easier with support

Chinese gives you no spaces between words and no spelling to sound out. Seeing a new word surrounded by characters you already know makes it far easier to recognise where the word begins and ends, and to remember it the next time you see it in a different sentence.

How Mandarin Mosaic automates sentence mining

Sentence mining by hand is slow. You have to find sentences at the right level, check they're correct, make flashcards, and schedule reviews. Mandarin Mosaic does most of this for you.

  • It tracks your vocabulary. When you start, you choose your level (from No Chinese up to HSK 6) and the app marks the words up to that level as known. After that, every word is either Learning or Known, and the app updates this as you go.
  • It picks sentences at your level. In the built-in HSK packs and in review lessons, it only chooses sentences with one or two new words, and prefers one. In your own packs, it picks the sentences with the fewest new words it can find, so a pack full of hard sentences may still give you some with more; the easier your mined sentences, the better this works.
  • It knows which word to learn next. In the HSK packs it works through the words on that level's HSK list, and it gives priority to any focus words you've chosen.
  • It turns each sentence into a cloze test. The new word (or the word due for review) is blanked out for you to fill in, which is active recall rather than passive reading. See how cloze tests work.
  • It reads everything aloud. Every sentence and word has lifelike text-to-speech in the voice you choose.
  • It schedules your reviews. Words you know come back in the Words to review lesson just before you're likely to forget them, in fresh sentences rather than the same card every time.

Every sentence in the built-in packs has been verified by a native speaker, so you can trust what you're learning.

A step-by-step sentence mining routine in the app

  1. Set your level honestly. If your first lessons feel far too easy or too hard, go to Settings, Reset vocabulary and choose again. If you're unsure, pick one level lower than you think.
  2. Clear your reviews. Go to Lessons, Review Lessons, Words to review and work through what's due.
  3. Start a lesson from your pack. The Lesson Preview lists the words that will appear as blanks. Look them over, then tap Continue.
  4. Read the whole sentence before answering. Use Play Audio to hear it, and try to work out the blank from context.
  5. Tap every word you're unsure of. The definition shows pinyin, meaning and audio. Use the Learning / Known switch to keep your vocabulary accurate: a word you already know should be Known, and a word you've forgotten should go back to Learning.
  6. Let the app promote words. Answer a new word correctly enough times (three by default, adjustable in Settings under Guesses to mark as known) and it becomes Known automatically.
  7. Star the tricky ones. Tap ★ in a word's definition to add it to Focus Words, then practise them in the Focus Words lesson.
  8. Add one sentence of your own. When something you read or hear catches your eye, save it to a custom pack (see below).

Choosing what to study

Ink-wash illustration of a hand picking one shell from a beach covered in shells

Mandarin Mosaic comes with a wide range of sentence packs. Which you choose depends on your goal:

  • HSK packs ("HSK1 Examples" to "HSK6 Examples") work through the words on each HSK list. Pick the pack that matches your level; if you're preparing for an exam, these are the obvious choice. Complete beginners can start with "Chinese Beginner Super Basics".
  • Themed packs, such as the Everyday Chinese category, focus on practical vocabulary for daily life.
  • Your own packs hold the sentences you mine yourself. This is the heart of sentence mining: learning the Chinese that's relevant to you.
  • Chinese Articles give you longer reading at your level. Tap any article's three dots and choose Take Focus Lesson for a lesson built from its new words, or use Save Sentence in the reader's menu to copy a sentence into one of your packs.

If you're wondering how far each level will take you, how many words you need to become fluent puts the HSK numbers in context.

Mining your own sentences from outside sources

The built-in packs cover the core vocabulary. Your own sentences cover everything else: the words from your favourite drama, your job or your partner's family.

Where to find good sentences

  • TV shows and films with Chinese subtitles
  • Podcasts and YouTube channels with transcripts
  • News sites and graded readers
  • Messages from Chinese friends and language partners
  • Textbook dialogues you want to know by heart

What makes a good mined sentence

  • One new word, or two at most. If you need a dictionary for half the sentence, save it for later.
  • Short. A sentence you can read in one breath is easier to review than a paragraph.
  • Natural and correct. Take sentences from native sources. Sentences you add yourself haven't been through our native speaker checks, and machine translations can be wrong, so check the English makes sense.
  • Useful to you. A sentence you might actually say is worth more than an obscure one.

How to add them in the app

  1. Go to Lessons, then Your Packs. If you don't have a pack yet, tap Add Pack, then Create new Pack.
  2. Tap the three dots on your pack and choose Add Sentence.
  3. Paste the Chinese into Mandarin. Add the English in Prompt, or use Translate to fill it in.
  4. Optionally tap Set Cloze to choose which word gets blanked, usually the new word you mined the sentence for. If you leave it, the app chooses during the lesson.
  5. If the app has split the Chinese into words wrongly, use Edit Segmentation from the cog button.
  6. Tap Save. You can add another straight away.

You can also save sentences from the Sentence Generator, which writes an example for any word using words you already know. If you've been mining in Anki or a spreadsheet, import your Anki decks, CSV or text files instead of typing them in; our Anki decks list is a good source of ready-made sentences. The free plan allows one custom pack with up to 10 sentences; Premium removes the limits.

Common sentence mining mistakes

  • Not keeping your vocabulary up to date. If words you know are still marked Learning, or forgotten words are still Known, the app can't pick the right sentences for you.
  • Mining sentences that are too hard. Sentences with three or four unknown words feel productive but are slow to learn. Save them until you know more of the words.
  • Letting reviews pile up. Mining new sentences while hundreds of reviews wait is how people burn out. Clear Words to review first, and set a Daily limit in its settings if you need to.
  • Collecting more than you study. A pack of 500 unread sentences doesn't teach you anything. Add sentences at the pace you can review them.
  • Only reading, never listening. Play the audio for every sentence. It links the characters to the sound and gets your ear used to natural speed.

More on sentence mining

For more background, read our comparison of apps for Chinese sentence mining and why level-appropriate sentences matter. For everything else the app can do, see the full Mandarin Mosaic usage guide.

Ready to start? Read more about Mandarin Mosaic on our home page and try an app built specifically for Chinese sentence mining today.

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