Learn Hardcore Chinese: xué zhōngwén shì wǒ de quánlì, yě shì wǒ de àihào. - Learning Chinese is my right and also my hobby.

Here, 学中文 (to learn / learning Chinese) is functioning like an English gerund (“Learning Chinese is my right”). This pattern is very common:

喝咖啡是我的习惯。 – Drinking coffee is my habit.
早起对身体好。 – Getting up early is good for your health.

So it’s completely normal and natural to put 学中文 at the beginning as the subject of the sentence.

What is the role of 是 (shì) in this sentence, and why is it used twice?

是 is the basic “to be” verb used to link two noun phrases (or a noun and a pronoun):

A 是 B → A is B

In your sentence:

学中文是我的权利 – Learning Chinese is my right.
（学中文）也是我的爱好 – (Learning Chinese) is also my hobby.

The subject in the second part (学中文) is understood from context and not repeated, so:

Full version (more explicit): 学中文是我的权利，也是我的爱好。
Actual sentence: 学中文是我的权利，也是我的爱好。 (same in writing; we just don’t say “学中文” twice aloud if it sounds repetitive)

Using 是 in both parts clearly links 学中文 with both “my right” and “my hobby.”

Why do we need 的 (de) between 我 and 权利 / 爱好?

的 (de) is a possessive marker, similar to English ’s or “of”.

我 – I / me
的 – (possessive particle)
权利 – right(s)
爱好 – hobby / hobbies

So:

我的权利 – my right(s)
我的爱好 – my hobby / hobbies

The pattern is:

X 的 Y → Y that belongs to X / X’s Y

Examples:

她的书 – her book
我们的老师 – our teacher
中国的文化 – China’s culture

In this sentence, you cannot normally drop 的:

✗ 学中文是我权利 – unnatural / ungrammatical
✓ 学中文是我的权利 – correct

What does 也 (yě) mean here, and where does it have to go in the sentence?

也 means “also / too” and it typically comes before the verb or adjective it modifies.

In the sentence:

学中文是我的权利，也是我的爱好。

Here 也 is modifying 是:

是我的权利 – is my right
也是我的爱好 – is also my hobby.

This tells us that the same subject (学中文, learning Chinese) has another property: it’s also a hobby.

Position rules (simplified):

Subject + 也
- Verb + (Object)

Examples:

我也学中文。 – I also learn Chinese.
他也很忙。 – He is also very busy.

In your sentence, 也 naturally sits right before 是.

Why is it 学中文 and not 学习中文? What’s the difference?

学 (xué) and 学习 (xuéxí) both mean “to study / to learn.” The difference is mainly in style and emphasis:

学中文 – more casual, shorter, very common in speech and writing.
学习中文 – a bit more formal or “full,” often used in writing, in school contexts, or when sounding more serious.

Both are correct in this sentence:

学中文是我的权利，也是我的爱好。
学习中文是我的权利，也是我的爱好。

They mean essentially the same here. A lot of native speakers would naturally say 学中文 in everyday conversation.

Why do we use 中文 (zhōngwén) here and not 汉语 (hànyǔ) or 普通话 (pǔtōnghuà)?

These three words are related but not identical:

中文 – “Chinese language” in a broad sense, often emphasizing written Chinese or “Chinese as a subject” (can include reading, writing, etc.). Very common in everyday speech:
- 学中文 – study Chinese (language).
汉语 – “the Chinese language” more in a linguistic / ethnic sense (“the language of the Han people”). Used a lot in textbooks and formal contexts:
- 汉语语法 – Chinese grammar.
普通话 – Mandarin Chinese, the standard spoken language used in mainland China.

In your sentence, 学中文 is natural and idiomatic, especially from a learner’s perspective: you’re just saying “I’m studying Chinese.”
You could say 学汉语, but it feels a bit more textbook-y.
学普通话 would emphasize specifically Mandarin (as opposed to a dialect).

What exactly does 权利 (quánlì) mean, and how is it different from 权力 (quánlì)?

These two look very similar but are quite different:

权利 – right(s) (entitlements, things you are allowed or deserve to do/have):
- 受教育的权利 – the right to receive education
- 人权 (人权利) – human rights
权力 – power / authority (the ability or legal power to control or decide):
- 政府的权力 – the power of the government
- 他有很大的权力。 – He has a lot of power.

In your sentence:

学中文是我的权利 – Learning Chinese is my right (something I am entitled to),
so 权利 is the correct word.
Using 权力 here would be wrong in meaning.

What does 爱好 (àihào) mean here, and how is it different from 兴趣 (xìngqù)?

Both relate to things you like, but they’re used slightly differently:

爱好 – hobby / pastime (usually something you actively do)
- 我的爱好是听音乐。 – My hobby is listening to music.
- 他有很多爱好。 – He has many hobbies.
兴趣 – interest (a feeling of interest; may or may not be a regular activity)
- 我对中文很有兴趣。 – I’m very interested in Chinese.
- 孩子们对科学没有兴趣。 – The children have no interest in science.

So in this sentence:

也是我的爱好。 – (it) is also my hobby.

You could express a similar idea with 兴趣, but you’d need a different structure:

学中文是我的权利，我也对中文很有兴趣。 – Learning Chinese is my right, and I’m also very interested in Chinese.

爱好 fits perfectly for “hobby” as a noun here.

Could I say “我的权利是学中文” instead? How does that change the nuance?

Yes, you can say:

我的权利是学中文。

This is grammatically correct, but the focus is slightly different:

学中文是我的权利。
Focus: 学中文 (learning Chinese) is being presented as something that belongs to me as a right.
我的权利是学中文。
Focus: “My right” is being defined as learning Chinese (as if explaining what that right consists of).

In most real-life contexts, the original word order 学中文是我的权利 sounds more natural, because we’re usually talking about the activity (learning Chinese) and then describing it as a right.

In English we’d say “It is my right to learn Chinese.” Why is there no “it” in the Chinese sentence?

Chinese doesn’t usually need a dummy subject like English “it”.

English pattern:

It is my right to learn Chinese.
(“It” doesn’t refer to anything specific; it’s just required by English grammar.)

Chinese pattern:

学中文是我的权利。
Literally: “Learning Chinese is my right.”

Here, 学中文 directly takes the role that the “to learn Chinese” infinitive phrase has in English. No placeholder “it” is needed.

Chinese generally avoids meaningless dummy subjects; the real subject (here, the verb phrase 学中文) goes straight to the front.

Is the comma ， in the middle like a full stop? Is this one sentence or two?

The comma（，） here connects two closely related clauses within one sentence:

学中文是我的权利，
也是我的爱好。

You could think of it like:

“Learning Chinese is my right, and (it) is also my hobby.”

In Chinese, it’s very common to have:

Clause 1，Clause 2 – where Clause 2 shares the same subject and continues the idea.

You would not use a full stop here unless you rewrote it as two fuller sentences:

学中文是我的权利。学中文也是我的爱好。

That’s grammatically okay but feels more repetitive and less smooth than the original.

Can I drop the second 是, and just say “也是我的爱好” or “也我的爱好”?

You must keep the second 是 in this structure.

Correct:

（学中文）也是我的爱好。 – (Learning Chinese) is also my hobby.

Incorrect:

✗ 也我的爱好。

Why? Because 爱好 by itself is a noun, and you need 是 to link the (understood) subject 学中文 to this noun:

(subject) + 是
- noun phrase

Without 是, it would be missing the verb “to be.”
So the pattern “也是 + 我的爱好” is required here.

You can omit the subject (学中文) in the second clause because it’s obvious from context, but you cannot omit 是.