Websites:CRIENGLISH.COMI only have praise for this website. CRI gave me my very first introduction to Mandarin Chinese. There are tons of lessons and goodies on this site. The lessons include audio and are at a pace perfect for a beginner. There's also some inspiring interviews from Chinese learners on the site. And best of all, it's all free!
iMANDARINPOD.COMHas interesting content and audio. I like the format as it is easily accessible to jump right into learning. It may be intimidating to the beginner though, as there are no line-by-line english translations. This website is useful in building your recognition of chinese characters as the higher level podcasts may not include the pinyin.
CSLPOD.COMJust another excellent website to practice your Chinese listening and reading abilities.
Has lessons for all levels-elementary, intermediate, advanced. Includes news podcasts. Superb for increasing your vocabulary! The lower level podcasts include english translation. The advanced podcasts have the character mouse-over definition and pinyin function.
CHINESEPOD.COMChinesepod must be the best language learning site in the world! It can take you all the way from your first beginner phrase "洗手间在哪里？" to advanced vocab,idioms, and phrases like "集众家所长."
(I'm not quite sure if 集众家所长 is an advanced phrase).
So yes, this site will teach you things you can never, ever find in a textbook or dictionary. It can teach you the hippest slang words and you learn so much culture along the way! The price is ridiculously cheap for such a vast amount of learning materials. The forum and community are active and friendly. The podcasters are charismatic, full of energy and are very helpful. You will learn so much vocab, grammar and culture before you even know it. The lessons are so fun, it doesnt even feel like work. imosaid that a podcast here is like their cup of morning coffee.
中文播客一定会帮你对中文了如指掌。
(My attempt at using the idiom. Please don't use my bad Chinese as testimony to the powers of this site ! Haha I probably just don't study as hard as I should). Take my word for it, the crew behind ChinesePod are truly miracle workers!
CHINESECLASS101.COM
This site is a relatively new site. After a quick tour, I can tell this site will be just as excellent as ChinesePod. It has podcasts for all levels-from newbie to advanced. Includes an extensive amount of exercises and drills to test your comprehension. This site has everything that ChinesePod offers. If you loved that site, you're gonna love this one too.
Online Dictionaries:MDBG DictionaryAbsolutely the best online dictionary. Hands down.
NCIKU Online English Chinese DictionaryContains a writing character tool. Handy for when you know nothing about a character except how it looks like. Has ample example sentences.
Schaum'
s Outline of Chinese GrammarRating: 7/10
Pros:-contains pinyin, simplified and traditional forms
-exercises include answer key
-easy to open and write in
Cons: this book does not cover all the grammar you will come across. But if you are a beginner to intermediate learner, this book may come of use to you. But beginners beware, you should have at least some background knowledge before attempting this book.
What Character Is That?Rating: 
2/10
Pros:
-Contains 5000 characters
-Both traditional and simplified forms (more emphasis on traditional)
-The listing of characters grouped according to its radical may potentially be interesting to some
Cons: Although this book contains far more characters than a beginner dictionary does, the time and effort required to search for a character outweighs any of this book’s good points. It does not contain any example words related
to the character.
250 Essential Chinese Characters & Chinese In A Flash by Philip Lee
Rating: 9/10
Pros: -gives stroke order
-shows both traditional and simplified forms (but simplified in examples)
-the collection can teach you close to 2000 common characters
-sample sentences and example compound words
-books have grids to practice writing the characters
-flashcards can be carried anywhere and effective in testing memorization with a simple flip of the wrist.
I learned one character a day (sometimes more cause it was so fun)...and before I knew it, I could easily recognize a lot!
Cons: I wish the Chinese in a Flash had more volumes to continue covering more characters.
Far East Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary
Rating: 9/10Pros: -over 4000 characters. Considering this is almost like a pocket dictionary- but a big bigger- I would say this dictionary is rich in characters and phrases
-many idioms
-more advanced vocab than those beginner dictionaries
-organizes the words in a pinyin friendly and organized fashion
-can look up characters through either radical index or stroke count
Cons: only has traditional characters
-difficult to find in stores (I ordered mine through Amazon) since I think its not in print anymore.
Reading & Writing Chinese Rating: 8/10Pros: Comes in both a simplified and traditional edition, but each edition contains both forms.
-serves its purpose in letting you know which characters will appear on the HSK and at what level
-prepares you for elementary-intermediate standard
-is organized in a way where some similar looking characters are pointed out
-example compound words
-stroke order is shown
Cons: there was quite a lot of blank space for some of the main characters. More examples on its usage or interesting tidbits on how to remember the character could have been given.
FUN:CHINESE MUSIC FORUM
If you're looking for a forum to talk about anything and everything Chinese related....or just a general forum to offer your two-cents, CMB is the place for you. There is an active and friendly community. It also has an extensive selection of Chinese songs translated into English. Afterall, learning a language from songs is both an effortless and effective way to increase your vocab.
I've had my iPod for two years now, but I've just discovered the time zone clock function. Now I can quickly check what time it is across the globe.
I don't particularly like Chinese food for a couple of reasons:
