Chinese culture is truly remarkable. It’s different from anything you may have seen in Europe or the US. It’s one of the world’s oldest and most interesting cultures. This is because China is one of the oldest ancient civilizations, and their history is rich. That’s why we strongly suggest you explore the interesting facts about…
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…
Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival (春节; pinyin: Chūn Jié), is the most important Chinese holiday. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the festival is the longest holiday of the year. Festivities can go on for as long as sixteen days, and the first seven days are public…
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…
中文与日文 (zhōng wén yú rì wén) Achieving fluency in a foreign language is no easy task. Achieving fluency in an Asian language is particularly difficult if you are a westerner. If you have decided to study an Asian language, strong arguments can be made for studying Chinese and/or Japanese. Since the time investment required to…
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…
While an app like Du Chinese is great for when you need to learn to read Chinese, there are not as many apps available for those who want to learn to write. Chinese characters can be very difficult to write even if you know how to read them because one small mistake can make your…
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…
Fall and Winter means that a lot of big holidays are coming up in Western countries, and in this global day and age, a lot of those holidays are also celebrated in Chinese-speaking countries now as well. The first big holiday coming up in November is Thanksgiving. You may be wondering, why is there a…
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…
