There was a post on Reddit from an English learner who thought she or he was fluent, until reading the verb ‘shrug’ in a book. And then she or he made the point that if you think you’re fluent in a language, that you should try to read a book, because you’ll encounter so many […]
On the new HSK levels, cultural knowledge is now a requirement, and this may raise some eyebrows: “I just want to talk Chinese, not get to learn about Confucius or different dumpling fillings.” But actually, culture and language are two sides of the same coin. So too for the culture in the Chinese language. Here’s […]
Apart from China, Chinese is spoken in other countries too. Which countries speak Chinese? Mandarin versus Cantonese Chinese One thing that’s good to know is the difference between the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects. Both are ‘Chinese language’ but not entirely the same language. Mandarin is the only official language in China, while Cantonese is one […]
Wondering what it’s like to work in China? We interviewed four foreigners who all use Mandarin in their job in China, and one Chinese native who works with foreigners a lot in Shanghai. Learning the language One of the biggest obstacles is speaking the Chinese language, especially in a business context. For this, GoEast Mandarin […]
Speaking of my hometown 吉林Jílín in the Northeast of China, southerners will naturally think of a song called “My home is in the Northeast“, which introduces the approximate location of the northeast, the famous Songhua River, and some authentic crops. For foreign students, all they can think of maybe is Harbin, which is particularly cold, […]
By Andie Ma (马萍 Mǎ Píng) Dialect is a symbol of identity When I was a kid growing up in the city of 日照Rizhao, I was frustrated that everyone around me spoke the Chinese language in dialect. To me, people who spoke Putonghua were so fashionable and modern, they must have returned from studies in […]
The Chinese language is often called Mandarin, but where does the name Mandarin come from? Not from China, as you’ll see. China’s long history and culture attract numerous tourists from both home and abroad. Most foreign friends who come to China hear the name Mandarin a lot. Perhaps some of them are shocked by how […]
Mandarin is no longer confined to just China, as it’s increasingly spoken all across the world. In the ‘Chinese is a World Language’ series, GoEast follows some native as well as foreign Mandarin speakers. Here we have four parts: Part one is about the Chinese language used in the United States Sarah Johnson (江 淼 […]
There are many differences between the Cantonese and Mandarin language. When we talk about the Chinese language, we generally refer to Mandarin (Putonghua), the official language of China. Yet most words in the English language that originate from the Chinese language come from Cantonese, such as dim sum, wok, and lychee? Then, how come words from […]
The Chinese language is the most spoken language in the world, with 1.3 billion native speakers. It’s also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. At GoEast Mandarin, our colleagues also have first-hand experience of speaking Chinese in the Netherlands, Canada, the USA, and Chile. How many languages are spoken in China? […]