Tips and Tricks to Successfully Learn Chinese
Background: Andrea learned Chinese as an adult and is now a non-native Chinese teacher with five years’ experience in high school teaching. She is a native English speaker with a…
The Extended Usages of “起来”(qǐlái ) and “下去”(xiàqu)
The Chinese language is rich with a variety of directional verbs that add depth and nuance to everyday conversations. Among these, 起来 (qǐlái) and 下去 (xiàqu) are two commonly used…
Can the Chinese Actually Understand the Japanese and Korean languages?
What are the differences between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (collectively called CJK, for short)? Are Chinese characters (hànzì) the same as Japanese kanji and Korean hanja? You are not alone…
How to Choose Your very Own Chinese Name
One of the first things that might surprise you when you meet a Chinese native speaker for the first time is that the name they use to introduce themselves to…
总是 VS 一直: “Always” is not always the same in Chinese
If you're learning Chinese, you might have come across two words that both mean "always": "总是(zǒngshì)" and "一直(yīzhí)". While these two words share a similar meaning, they are not interchangeable…
14 “Wild Chinese Phrases” You Won’t Find in Your Textbooks
Chances are, students who have been studying Mandarin Chinese will not find the following words/phrases in regular books. You might encounter these words when watching Chinese TV series or the…
Learning Chinese as an Adult VS as a Child
When I first came to China, I knew all of two words, “nǐ hǎo” (你好, “hello”), and “xièxie” (谢谢, “thanks”). It took me over three years to get from there…
How To Start Speaking Mandarin Chinese Very Quickly – An unconventional fast-track model to cut your time to fluency by 50%
About 13% of the world’s population speaks Mandarin Chinese. Have you ever wished you could speak fluent Chinese with a native speaker? You might be thinking, “I’ll memorize some Chinese…
Mastering Chinese Prepositions: When to Use 从, 离, 向 and 往
If you've been learning Mandarin for over a year, you've probably come across a situation where you have to choose between using 从(cóng) or 离(lí), or 向(xiàng) or 往(wǎng) when…