I don't believe it's a very good idea to start reading "god-mode" texts in a foreign language until you can get to something resembling a smooth reading flow. A

I don't believe it's a very good idea to start reading "god-mode" texts in a foreign language until you can get to something resembling a smooth reading flow. A couple of new words per page is ok, a couple of new words per sentence isn't. One of the keys is to NOT look up every unknown word. You'll figure out which ones you need and which ones you don't. Next important secret: Don't write down the words. Instead, reread the pages a while later, and see if you can remember it from the context. If not, look it up again. Anyway, until that stage flashcard based methods are faster and I find it easier to stick with that. I recommend "Decipher Chinese" for beginning to advanced Chinese learners. Also Duolingo has a nice conversational-based course, though I recommend using something else to get a grasp of the first maybe 400 characters. You need to know how characters work. You really need to write them with your hands, either with pen and paper or on a tablet/phone. My theory is that this is necessary for an efficient "neural encoding" of Chinese characters. They are designed to be written in a certain way, as if you had a wet brush in your right hand.