China Survival Tips: How to Hail a Shanghai Cab
The subtitle for this article was going to be “why won’t the taxi stop when the light is on and my hand is clearly waving in the air as if…
Top Tips for Learning Chinese through Language Exchange
Imagine if you could have your own private Mandarin Chinese tutor, completely for free. Sounds impossible, right? Actually, there is a way you can have a lesson like this -…
Du Chinese Review – an Excellent Chinese Reading App
If there is an app that can help you improve your Chinese reading, listening and comprehension as effortless as possible, it's the Du Chinese app which is available for both…
Practical Mandarin: Essential Ways to Express Approximate Numbers
When it comes to expressing approximate numbers in Mandarin, whether it's related to time, weight, age, or any other numerical term, there are various ways to convey this concept. In…
Snacking in Beijing
So, let’s go ahead and assume you need a snack. Not a meal, just a small snack. We’re also going to assume that you’re in Beijing, which we have previously…
The Future Tense in Chinese: Describing Upcoming Events Without Verb Conjugation
While Mandarin Chinese grammar is often considered a unique challenge for learners, students of the language can rejoice in one aspect of grammatical simplicity: there is no verb conjugation in…
12 Chinese Proverbs About Work
This time, we are going to study 12 Chinese proverbs about Work. The Chinese people have accumulated many vivid proverbs that are thought-provoking and which reflect the attitude and point-of-view…
Chinese Translator Apps Review: the good, the bad, and the absolutely useless
A little pre-review ramble: I am located in Shanghai behind the Great Firewall, so I was not able to simply take a stroll in the Google Play Store like many…
Mastering Chinese Verb Continuity: How to Use 在, 正, 正在, and 着
When learning a new language, one of the fundamental aspects to grasp is how tense and continuity are expressed. One of the intriguing distinctions between Chinese and English lies in…
10 Chinese Proverbs About Friendship
There is an old saying in Burma that goes: “Friendship, knowledge and food are the three most valuable things in the world.” This saying reminds us of how important friends…