The Chinese language has a reputation for its complex grammar and difficult writing system, not to mention its deep culture background. Only a few brave souls go and attempt to…
No matter how much I love learning Chinese, studying from a textbook can start to get boring after awhile. While the textbook’s explanations are clear, sometimes I just need to…
In this article, we are going to explore some special Chinese idioms or figures of speech that involve numbers. Numbers can be used to express a lot of things, not…
As beginners, almost all Chinese learners are taught the word 有时候 (yǒu shíhou), which means "sometimes". However, as you delve deeper into the language, you'll find that this word cannot…
Being able to speak fluently and interact with native Chinese easily is the ultimate goal of many Chinese learners. However, it can also be seen as a great weakness. Based…
Listening skills are one of the most important elements in learning Chinese. It allows you to be able to actually communicate and make concrete interactions with Chinese people. To help…
Unlike English and some other languages, Chinese doesn’t have a specialized pattern of verb changes to indicate tenses. So how do the Chinese tell the different tenses apart? Well, we…
Chinese characters are complex and difficult to handle for beginners. Many educators choose to avoid them and teach pinyin instead. However, pinyin is only an auxiliary tool for denoting the…
Why do we need to know how to read in Chinese? There are three main reasons: to be immersed in the country’s culture through Chinese books and newspapers; to be…