Looking for some inspiring activities to do with your children? What can be more fun to celebrate Chinese festivals with them? Chinese New Year’s Eve falls on Jan. 21st, 2023 and Chinese New Year’s Day on the 22nd of this year. Here are the knowledge and activities we have prepared for your family. Of course, […]
As the world’s oldest surviving civilization, China has very few remnants of its past compared to Europe or India, for example. Throughout the ages, the waves of change have tried to break through all things ancient. However, one thing it could not manage to break was the Chinese language. But having said that, we need […]
Skin color is difficult to talk about in any language, because it’s easy to offend someone. One way is not to talk about it, which in many situations is the right solution, especially when skin color has nothing to do with the topic (e.g. A job interview). But we think in some cases this is […]
The terms Mandarin and Chinese are often used interchangeably but they’re not the same. It’s like saying milk is a dairy product. Yes, milk is dairy, but dairy isn’t always milk. The difference between Mandarin and Chinese is also like that. “Chinese” is a family of languages that includes Mandarin See here in more detail […]
The history of gender inequality left traces everywhere, including daily language. And perhaps we’re extra sensitive to this, because GoEast has three female founders, which probably influenced the way we set up what we think is the ideal Mandarin school. Language should be inclusive, but it’s not always — so we also have listening practice […]
– By 赵丹 Dan In China, celebrating the Chinese New Year (农历新年 nóng lì xīn nián), also called the Spring Festival (春节 chūnjié), is a bigger deal than celebrating the (Gregorian calendar) New Year. The date of the Chinese New Year is different every year, for 2022 it’s Tuesday, 1 February. When we celebrate it, […]
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 […]