Flowers and trees are closely related to people’s lives. Because of this, for thousands of years, the Chinese people have coined many plant-related words and expressions. For example, Chinese people often associate “美女”(méi nǚ, a pretty girl) with a “flower”,…
Before we start our topic today on Chinese homophones, let’s first look at the following two sentences: (1)一朵漂亮的花儿。(Yī duǒ piàoliàng de huār. ) (2)他今天花了一百元。(Tā zuátiān huā le yībǎi yuán.) We can see that both of these sentences have“花”, whose meanings…
We’ve all been there. You do research on the language you plan to learn and then stumble across countless studying tips. Or perhaps you’re an intermediate learner getting bored and seeking new ways to keep yourself engaged in studying the…
I`ve been a Chinese teacher for a long time and I’m frequently asked about writing Chinese characters. This article will summarize my thoughts on this issue which I hope will help all Chinese character learners. Here are the top two questions…
With the wealth of internet resources of the modern age, many people are turning to websites designed to help mandarin students, blogs, or even chatrooms for help. The days of reliance on courses and textbooks are behind us and it…
Learning Chinese has been one of the most rewarding and most humbling journeys of my life - and it‘s far from over. It took me a first few months to adapt to learning, but I eventually did. Where at first…
“About me: At the time of writing this piece, I have completed nearly six semesters of formal Chinese language study. The first five semesters were completed at my university in America, and this most recent semester, wrapping up within the…
As with all languages, Chinese has an informal set of slang words which can be quite useful to know and can help one communicate better. Chinese slang usually can’t be learned from formal courses, but you’ll hear it all around…