How to Order Bubble Tea in Chinese
Do you love boba tea but lack the vocabulary to order one? Here is the perfect guide for you!
Expressing Gratitude in Chinese
One of the first things any student of Chinese learns to say is “谢谢 (xièxiè)”, i.e. Thank You. This phrase is useful because it can be used to express your gratitude (or 感恩 (gǎn’ēn)) in pretty much any situation. For those wanting to be a little more formal you can say “谢谢你 (xièxiè nǐ)”. However,…
Chinese Graded Readers
The two keys to learning and mastering Chinese come down to input and output. Input in the form of reading and listening and output in the form of speaking and writing. You can’t really start with the output because you can’t say a word that you don’t know. But it’s also inefficient to read or…
5 Reasons Why Chinese Grammar is Easy
When it comes to learning Chinese, it can seem like you’re bombarded with difficult things to figure out like tones or characters. Lucky for you, Grammar is one area where Chinese really shines. Here are 5 reasons why Chinese has the easiest grammar and how you can easily master it. 1. Simple Word Order Chinese…
How to Flirt in Chinese | Asking Someone Out in Chinese
Language barriers can be the most frustrating when you are trying to form a romantic connection. While Valentine’s Day (情人节, Qíng rén jié) is not a Chinese holiday, the month of February still seems to put everyone around the world in the mood for love, so it’s a great time to learn some romantic words/phrases…
Family in Chinese
The traditional Chinese culture is very family oriented with an individual’s family being of the utmost importance. The character for family or home is 家 pinyin: jiā. The construction of this character is quite interesting. Over the top of the character is a roof. The rest of the character is 豕 pinyin:shǐ which is a…
How to Really Understand Chinese
Chinese Pinyin English 我不明白 Wǒ bù míngbái I don’t understand. From the title of this blog you may wonder whether this blog is about understanding the Chinese language or understanding the Chinese people. In English the word Chinese could refer to either. It is unclear. 不清楚 (Bù qīng chǔ). Actually, to really understand the people…
Chinese Tattoo Meanings
Considering getting a Chinese tattoo? 小心 – xiǎo xīn – Be careful Written Chinese can be quite beautiful. In fact, Chinese calligraphy is one of the four great arts that were required anciently of accomplished Chinese scholar-gentlemen. Usually spoken of together they are: 琴棋書畫 – qín qí shū huà Chinese Pinyin Meaning 琴 qín qín…
The Differences between Spoken and Written Chinese
One of the hardest things for non-native Chinese speakers is learning to read, not only because of the need to memorize characters, but because of the differences between spoken and written Chinese. There are only two written forms, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Both are character-based writing. While there is a whole lot we could…
Learning to read Chinese is not difficult
學習閱讀中文並不難 Xué xí yuè dú zhōng wén bìng bù nán Learning to read Chinese is not difficult. I know this statement will strike some as outrageous, but I stand by it. It really is not difficult. (Which is not to say that it is easy). Admittedly, at first glance Chinese writing can be very intimidating….