Mandarin Chinese is a really interesting and funny ideographic language. Many combinations of language units (Hanzi + pronunciation) often create many interesting language expressions. So with the purpose of making Chinese learning more interesting, here are some funny Mandarin Chinese words and phrases. Interesting words in Chinese As we all know, every morpheme in Mandarin […]
Many people might find it difficult to politely withdraw themselves from a conversation that is tediously boring or has dragged on for too long, even in their mother tongue. For those of you who are learning the Mandarin Chinese language and find themselves in such situations, this will be a useful piece of reading, on […]
It’s never too hard to get a drink in big cities in China such as Shanghai or Beijing for a newcomer – bartenders usually understand the English names pretty well and the drink lists are mostly in both languages. However, ordering a drink in Chinese never fails to impress your friends or a romantic interest. […]
Here we share the names of Star Wars characters & planets in Mandarin Chinese. Because like many, I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Actually, my first memories of Star Wars was not on the big screen. Instead, I read a Chinese comic book version of the movies when I was little. (If you’re interested, Nick […]
When you start learning Chinese, it’s likely that you’ve been told that the Chinese phrase ‘Have you eaten?’ (你吃了吗? chī le ma?) is a common Chinese greeting. You’ve likely been told that the reason Chinese people used “吃了吗?” as a greeting was mainly because food is the most important thing. However, after a bit of […]
When Chinese people travel abroad — for instance to Vietnam — most of the locals can’t speak English or Chinese. It might not be too different than the experience of English-speaking foreigners coming to China, who cannot speak Chinese. For this we developed this list of basic Chinese words to be used in travel or […]
One of the most important things during 春节chūnjié (Chinese New Year) is to say nice greetings in Chinese to each other. So here are some Chinese Greetings for Chinese New Year! General New Years Greetings The following three greetings you can use in every Spring Festival. 春节快乐！ Chūnjié kuàilè! Happy Spring Festival! And: 过年好！ Guònián […]
Get all cheesy with your lover, or mourn about being a 单身狗dānshēngǒu. Whichever way you celebrate 情人节Qíngrén jié, our romantic words & phrases in Chinese are here to help. No guarantees all this smooth-talking will get you anywhere, but at least your Mandarin will be correct. Learn them from the cards beneath. Romantic phrases in […]
In English you know ‘dude’, ‘Sir’, ‘Miss’, ‘Madam’, but how do you address people in the Chinese language? Don’t ever address Chinese people with ‘pretty girl’ or ‘handsome guy’ Sometimes, beginning students (often male) step into the classroom and call their female teacher “měi nǚ”(美女: beautiful girl), and expected them to react by being flattered. […]
Supercharge Your Chinese Vocabulary With Pleco? Yay or nay? Here’s our Pleco review, one of the most famous apps for learning Chinese. Chinese can be an awkward language to learn. It’s mono-syllabic, and tonal and to add a final layer of complexity the script is pictographic. One of the best ways to expand your Chinese […]