How I verify what I publish
Methodology
Who reviews this site
Mandarin Steps is reviewed by the Mandarin Steps editorial team. We also make Wordbrush, an iOS spaced-repetition Chinese-vocabulary app, and we maintain the HSK word-list and coverage datasets both projects run on. That first-hand experience, building Chinese-learning tools and keeping the underlying word data current, is the real authority behind this site. We do not claim a teaching credential, a native-speaker background, or any academic degree; the process below, not a credential, is what you can check for yourself.
How data is sourced and maintained
Word counts and level structures are sourced from the official HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0
(2021) outlines. The conversational-coverage figures are computed by matching every HSK
word against an openly-licensed Chinese word-frequency corpus (OpenSubtitles 2018, CC
BY-SA 4.0), never hand-typed; the corpus, its license, and the exact match rate are
published in this site's own coverage.PROVENANCE.md. A word count that goes
stale teaches a wrong answer, so every figure carries a verification date next to it.
Every page carries an updated date, and this site's freshness policy
re-verifies published facts every 90 days. A page that
falls out of that window is queued for re-verification, not left to go stale.
The statistics page is this site's own original data study: a diminishing-returns comparison across every HSK level, computed at build time from the site's own coverage dataset, never hand-typed.
Last full verification
The newest verified fact on this site is dated . This date is computed from the site's own content and coverage dataset, not hardcoded, and moves automatically as pages get re-verified.
My connection to Wordbrush
Mandarin Steps is published by me, and I also make Wordbrush. I built it to solve my own problem, I use it every day, and that is why I recommend it here. So yes, I am biased, and I would rather say so plainly than bury it. You will meet that recommendation in a few contextual asides and on one clearly labelled recommended-app page. The placement test and the word lists are free and always will be, whether or not you ever install anything of mine.
Corrections
Spot something wrong? Tell me what page, what fact, and what it should say instead, and I will fix it. Reach me through the Urban Algorithm contact page. Urban Algorithm LLC is the company I publish Mandarin Steps under.