The purpose of this article is not, however, to delve into the etymology of each saying. The truth is that each saying has a complicated history that includes dialects unrelated to Mandarin and English.  Today, however, I hope to simply bring your attention to some obvious idiomatic overlaps between these two languages.

1. Kill two birds with one stone

一石二鸟 (yī shí èr niǎo)

The overlap here is quite simple and straightforward. The Mandarin translates to “one stone two birds” and English speakers added the ‘kill’ because they could not leave anything to the imagination, and thought it felt slightly incomplete without some classic colonial violence (joking, geez).

2. Love at first sight

一见钟情(yí jiàn zhōng qíng)

It’s generally used for people, but you can also use it for other physical objects. Here’s an example:

She is my love at first sight.
我对她一见钟情。  
(Wǒ duì tā yíjiànzhōngqíng.)

3. The customer is always right

顾客就是上帝 (gùkèjiù shì shàngdì)

The Chinese version of the English expression takes the concept of customer service even more seriously. Word for word, this translates as “the customer is God,” which is similar to an Indian saying that “the guest is always God”.  No wonder people working in restaurants seem to have lightning hands here. Someday, Shanghai’s taxi drivers might learn this saying but don’t get your hopes up.

4. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

老狗玩不出新把戏 (lǎo gǒu wán bù chū xīn bǎxì)

The translation of this one is almost exactly like it is in English: “Old dogs can’t play new tricks”. It is interesting to notice that in the English versions, we make everything actionable by adding verbs like “teach” and “kill” whereas the Chinese sayings, like photographs, simply attempt to capture the reality of our world (illuminati confirmed).

5. Speak of the devil

说曹操，曹操到 (shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào)

This one literally translates to “say Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrives”. Cáo Cāo (曹操) was a warlord during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. While he was praised as a brilliant strategist and fair ruler, Chinese opera also represented him as cunning and deceitful. This portrayal was made popular by the literary epic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义Sān Guó Yǎn Yì). The idiom arose out of the belief that Cáo Cāo had many eyes and ears everywhere, and moved with unbelievable speed. You had to be careful when speaking badly about him.

Anytime you are enjoying some gossip and the subject of your conversation suddenly texts, calls, or somehow announces her presence, you can verbalize this coincidence by saying, ” shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào”. While the second half of the idiom about the devil showing up is implied in English, no one will ever just leave it at “shuō Cáo Cāo” in Mandarin. So this time, unlike this uninteresting explanation, the English version is shorter. (Boom! take that Mandarin!)

Conclusion

Since there are thousands of idioms in both English and Chinese, This article only managed to expose the tip of the iceberg (冰山一角 bīngshānyījiǎo) concerning idiomatic overlap. Each idiom went through a long etymological journey of its own and there are millions of connections that we did not get to. An obvious one not covered is  ‘long time no see’ which is a literal translation of Mandarin’s “好久不见” (hǎojiǔbújiàn). This one was borrowed (stolen) from Mandarin quite recently and seems to have resulted more from hipsters being hipsters rather than from the depths of human history and culture.

Regardless of where, why and how they came about, the discovery of similarities between two languages that are very drastically different on the surface, insinuates the possibility that our differences are superficial, and we actually have more in common that we like to admit.

Or maybe it just suggests that I love China.  Either way, thanks for reading.

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China is too big to be summarized by the word “China”. This is true about all countries and every place ever. From where you are right now, if you move ten minutes in any direction, you are in a whole new world. This is similar to how your neighbour’s home will look and feel very different from your own. It’s true about appearances, cultures, behaviours and lifestyles. I write this so that you keep in mind how subjective the opinion presented in this article is, and use it as intended – as some guidance on how to think about Teaching in China. Moving here is a big decision that should be based on multiple factors, and immigrating to a new country is not for the feint-hearted. China offers great opportunities for those interested in teaching English in China. The English language market has been growing fast in China, and many new positions are becoming available.

Teaching English in China, is a different experience depending on where you teach. Typically teaching in China will take place at language training schools, public schools, International schools. Teachers entering into these Chinese teaching jobs can expect a competitive salary, which includes a variety of benefits, depending on the type of school and located cites.English teachers, especially native speakers with a TESOL or TEFL certificate, work only a few hours per week and earn quite well in China: about 12,000 RMB/month (about 2000 USD) in second-tier towns and even 16,000 RMB/month in Shanghai or Beijing(with benefits such as living arrangements, VISA and health insurance paid for, and even a flight home every year if you play your cards well). Keep in mind that TESOL or TEFL online certificates are not considered as good as the ones obtained in a classroom. In urban big-city China, your goal is mainly to help the urban elites progress towards applying to the best colleges in the world, and ensuring that they are ready and prepared for the inevitable integration between the West and East.

Teaching English, for me, in my small village in Chaonan was more about providing kids with an environment to practice their English outside the classroom. This was because nothing in their environment gave them this extra exposure apart from the fact that a foreigner had somehow stumbled into their world. You definitely cannot get paid for teaching in a small unknown part of China nearly as much as the bigger cities but if its adventure and experience you seek, then that is the way to go. Just don’t expect any savings, and a variety of friends. Village life is slower, kinder, and gentler but perhaps better suited for retirement than people in their twenties who have grown up in large cities.

As far as the teaching goes, NGO teaching will contain much less guidance while teaching in the big city will contain far too much structure. In Teach For China, I was left with a little bit of training but mostly to my own devices to figure out how to teach. From my discussions with people in training centers in bigger cities, it seems that there is a lot more guidance and training here which isn’t ideal if you prefer a more creative approach to teaching but is ideal if you prefer goal and target oriented work. What I’m presenting here is not the absolute division that creative teaching jobs cannot be found in the city and goal oriented jobs cannot be found in the smaller parts of China. Instead, it is just a general guideline on where to look based on the kind of teaching job you seek.

Even though demand for foreigners is extremely high right now, I recommend being competent in Mandarin to the HSK level 2 and near HSK level 3 standard. This is because otherwise, you might be distracted from your teaching job with some of your focus going into dealing with a different culture, and learning the language. Early exposure to the language will mean a smoother transition to Chinese culture, and hence make you a better and more effective teacher.

Overall, the best part about Teaching English in China is getting to be on the brink of this culture clash, which is so unique to our generation. Everyone today, and especially young people on the Chinese, and Western sides both seem to be excited about engaging. And for me, being Indian makes it even more interesting. I see the immense partnership between the USA and China blossoming and cannot help but wonder, how India fits into this puzzle.

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Many people recommend foreign language learners to watch songs and movies as a less boring alternative to studying from textbooks. However, oftentimes translating the content can be quite tiresome and using subtitles results in people being lazy and reading subtitles without actually absorbing too much new knowledge.

What is FluentU?

FluentU is an innovative way to learn languages through experiencing trending media content in that language. It allows you to access the best foreign language content on the web such as movie trailers, movies, music videos, songs and inspiring talks.

How does FluentU work?

FluentU works by allowing you to pause the videos and songs and focus on specific words and sentences creating an experience that you don’t get from the regular subtitling of videos. It’s pretty much watching foreign language media content but with tools that enable you to slow it down and learn exactly what is happening in each song lyric, or frame of the video.

Assessment

Pros

• You can pause at ANY frame to hear the pronunciation, see the pinyin and characters of the word that peaks your curiosity.
• You can learn all the vocabulary before watching the video, but even this learning section has interactive videos from Chinese Media to go with each word/grammar point.
• All vocabulary and dialogue from the video and audio files are catalogued with pinyin, characters and pronunciations – great attention to detail.
• You can download the transcripts if you want to save it to your system.
• You can browse the video and audio libraries by different topics, different formats or by the difficulty of the content.
• Extensive library with over 2,300 video files and almost 500 audio files.
• You have the option to favorite media files as they browse and these are saved under the “My Content” tab to be much more easily found later on.
• Much more fun, interactive and appealing than learning from a textbook.
• Lots of content is accessible even without a VPN.
• Website design is done in a manner that makes it very simple to navigate.
• Also contains the more traditional methods of flashcard-based learning if one requires it.

Cons

• Lacks the structure of a classroom approach where new knowledge builds upon old knowledge.
• In this model, despite each video having a difficulty rating, the learning process is quite random and up to the individual’s mood/preference of videos.
• The Plus mode, which showcases the best attributes about this product costs $18 per month. Even you just want unlimited access to videos and songs, you must pay $8 per month. The free mode doesn’t seem worth it and that’s the biggest con for all you frugal readers out there.

Verdict

Overall, I’m a great supporter of this platform because it is much more appropriate for the modern learner. These days, we have all the equipment to make learning interactive rather than the rote methods of textbooks and standardized testing and FluentU capitalizes on this idea. They have also done a complete job by cataloguing all the vocab and dialogue on every video for you to be able to study it line by line. The only problem is that there is a substantial cost to get the best out of this product. If you paid the amounts they require, would you be disciplined enough to use the product without external pressure from teachers and learning programs to consistently use it?

Learn more at FluentU.

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Here Are My Tips For Travel In China:

1. Be confident, focused and do your research

Maybe, you do not know that many characters. At least take the time to learn the destination, write it down in 汉字, and approach people confidently with the little bit of Mandarin that you do know. Do not be distracted when they ask many questions, or if you do not understand something. Keep your focus on your destination, and use your Mandarin confidently. Being impressed by your ability to try, people will be more willing to help you.

Useful Sentences:

1) Hello, Where is _______?

你好，______ 在哪里？

nǐ hǎo ，______ zài nǎ lǐ ？

2) Thank you.

谢谢你。

xiè xie nǐ.

2. Ask for Recommendations about food/places to visit

The greatest lesson that comes from operating in another culture is humility. Approach people extremely humbly. Asking people for recommendations based on what you want is a wonderful way to connect, build relationships, learn and practice Chinese. I often simply ask what I yearn for rather than waste valuable travel time endlessly forcing myself through oceans of 汉字 that I can’t always understand. Again, the goal here is to leverage what you know and practice it confidently. You can ask for recommendations of food in restaurants and if you stay in a hostel/hotel, you can ask the staff about places they recommend for you to visit.

For Example:

1）I like spicy things, and beef. What can I eat?

我喜欢吃辣的, 也喜欢牛肉.可以吃什么？

wǒ xǐ huān chī là de , yě xǐ huān niú ròu .kě yǐ chī shí me ？

2)  In your opinion, which place is the most fun?

你觉得，哪个地方是最好玩的？

nǐ jué dé ，nǎ gè dì fāng shì zuì hǎo wán de ？

3) In your opinion, which place is interesting？

你觉得，哪个地方有意思？

nǐ jué dé ，nǎ gè dì fāng yǒu yì si？

3. Use all your resources and stick to basics

C’mon, it’s not that hard to travel in this modern age. Not only do you have smartphones, laptops and all kinds of crazy technology to help you but also within your body, you have hands, fingers, and the ability to look absolutely desperate. Pull out your hand-phone that already has many Chinese dictionary apps. Often, the most basic Chinese will be your greatest rescuer. Just point confidently to the picture of the food you want on the menu. Shout “here” when you need the bus driver to stop based on Google Maps.

Useful Sentences:

1) Here

这里。

zhè lǐ

2) This

这个。

zhè ge

4. Be courteous, polite, and see it as a learning opportunity

When travelling, remember all the manners your mother taught you. Just because you are a foreigner that is outside of their home country does not mean it is ok to be impolite. When travelling, you are representing your family, your country and most importantly yourself. Learn humility from things that fail to meet your expectations. Learn more Mandarin whenever you get a chance. Try things you never thought you would try before. Make sure you learn and have fun. After all, why would we travel otherwise?

5. Admit defeat and flash a smile

Lastly, when everything else fails, just swallow that pride and admit defeat. Accept that you are a foreigner in a different country, and smile and let the other person know that you are lost and confused. Adding what I call a “defeated smile” also helps draw out the humanity within people. Of course, do not do this in a forced or calculated way but my point is that you cannot bulldoze and force your way through everything. Be prepared to lose. Be prepared to ask for help. You can even use your humor to make fun of yourself being a clueless foreigner.

Useful Sentences:

1) Sorry, I don’t understand. Please help me.

对不起，我听不懂。请帮助我。

bù qǐ , wǒ tīng bù dǒng. qǐng bang zhù wǒ.

2) Sorry, I’m lost. Please help me.

对不起，我迷路了。请帮助我。

duì bù qǐ ，wǒ mí lù le. qǐng bāng zhù wǒ.

Extra Dramatically with humor:

3) I’m a foreigner. I don’t understand. What do I do??

我是外国的，我听不懂!!!! 怎么办？

wǒ shì wài guó de , wǒ tīng bù dǒng !!!! zěn me bàn ？

So there you have my five simple tips for travelling in China. Whether you are searching for a large adventure or just some time to relax, I hope you find exactly what you are looking for.

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Structure

The program implements a story-based approach that monitors the lives of six college students and their daily lives. The scenarios are carefully designed so that students will have context-specific vocabulary that they will actually use when they speak. Students can then test their understanding of the situations and vocabulary through online, and hard-copy workbooks.

How It Works

Basically, Modern Chinese will provide you with all materials including the workbooks, supplementary materials, textbooks and curriculum, as a package. To tailor the program specifically to the needs of your institution, the makers allow interested customers to participate in training webinars that inform educators about how the products can benefit their Chinese program.

Review

Thumbs Up

• Designed specifically for adult learners.
• Scenarios presented were created through huge amount of research into what the target age group actually wants to learn.
• Website is easy to follow, and there are many resources, textbooks and workbooks available to supplement learning.
• You are allowed to set up a free-consultation to ask more questions, and cater the program for your school’s needs.
• The website, the materials and the people behind Modern Chinese are all extremely professional.
• Resources are also available exclusively for teachers who want to adopt the program.

Thumbs Down

• All the hard-copy materials can be pricey for those on a budget.
• Needs to be facilitated by a professional, not designed for self-study.
• Online workbook assignments and practice can take quite a while to load.

Verdict

I would highly recommend Modern Chinese due to its understanding of everything ranging from the students needs to the intricacies of textbook-design. The website contains a 34 slide sampler which exemplifies the amount of research put into every detail of coming up with this series. They extensively researched what the age group wanted to learn, and what would be the best stylistic approaches to maximize gains from the Chinese learning experience.

The students, and learning process were constantly in the minds of the Modern Chinese program when it was created. Not only did they keep the big picture in mind, but the creators of this series also focused on how the little things like book design, and how much pinyin to use would affect their students.

For these reasons, and specifically to course facilitators and Chinese education professionals, I strongly recommend at least fixing up a meeting with the makers of Modern Chinese to discuss its compatibility with your Mandarin program. Modern Chinese sees itself as a future leader in the adult Chinese-earning industry, and with such a customer-friendly, and detailed product, it has a strong case behind its claim.

The post Modern Chinese Review appeared first on .

Here are Ten Nuggets of Wisdom from Confucius

1. 里仁为美,择不处仁,焉得知?

(Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.)

Even in the unpleasant things of life, one can find pleasantries. Not everything about everything can be wholly good or bad. Each person, place, situation and problem has things about it that are beautiful. Confucius wants to remind us that we should strive to look for this beauty rather than dismissing things too quickly.

2. 君子之过也，如日月之食焉：过也，人皆见之；更也，人皆仰之。

(Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we fall.)

Most people have heard some variation of this phrase but the key point is quite clear. Failure is inevitable. Failure is a fact. Accept it, and develop resilience.

3. 学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。

(Learning without thought is labor lost, thought without learning is perilous.)

This is a tricky one to interpret so I’d like to preface my interpretation by warning that it might be highly subjective. If you disagree, please write some notes for me in the comments. Basically, I believe that he is saying that we can’t just learn things without soaking them in, grappling with them and really figuring out what they mean. This would be the equivalent of memorizing a textbook, or knowing something only within theoretical, superficial confines.

Conversely, to deeply ponder a topic you haven’t even learned theoretically or at a basic level is a never-ending task because you have skipped a step in a situation where skipping a step is impossible. In summary, neither is useful on its own. First learn, and then engage with what you learned deeply.

4. 知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。

(When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it. This is true knowledge.)

True knowledge is being certain about things that you do know, and being humble and accepting of what you do not. No one knows everything so accept what you do not know and be willing to learn it. At the same time, own the things that you do know confidently.

5. 不聞不若聞之，聞之不若見之，見之不若知之，知之不若行之；學至于行之而止矣。

( I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.)

Experience will be your greatest teacher in life. Theoretical knowledge and what society tells you will only get you so far.

6. 三人行，必有我师焉；择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之。

(If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good parts of one and imitate them, and the bad parts of the other and correct them in myself.)

Most of this is quite straightforward. However, a hidden message there is that there is something to learn from everyone you encounter in your life.

7. 学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？

The Master said: “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? “Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? “Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?”

8. 譬如為山，未成一簣，止，吾止也！譬如平地，雖覆一簣，進，吾往也！

（It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.）
We’ve all heard different variations of this one. The main point is to keep going, and putting one step in front of the other without focusing on the finish line.

9. 射有似乎君子，失诸正鹄，反求诸其身。

（When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.）

Once again, instead of giving up, one should change their approach. In today’s modern mindset, I interpret that to mean you should either work smarter or work harder.

10. 既来之，则安之。

(Wherever you go, go with all your heart.)

This one most clearly means that one should give everything they choose in life their best. You only have one life so don’t hold anything back.

There you have it: Ten nuggets of wisdom from the great ascended master Confucius, himself. For a better quality of life, start working on these things instantly!

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Chinese hacks is a compelling and easy-to-use blog that not only allows you to read about other people’s experiences with learning Chinese but also provides you with valuable resources, phrases, idioms, vocabulary, fun and many more elements essential to learning the language. The website is designed in a way that is very inviting to prospective learners, allowing you to focus on different things based on your mood. It has an easy-to-follow list format for each tab and covers a vast range of materials, from articles for those who want to take a break to much more intensive looks at phrases and typography.

The website is designed in a way that is very inviting to prospective learners allowing you to focus on different things based on your mood. It has an easy-to- follow list format for each tab and covers a vast range of materials from articles for those who want to take break to much more intensive details on phrases and typography.

East Asia Student Blog

East Asia Student is a blog started by Hugh Grigg – an East Asian Studies student from the University of Cambridge. This website covers class notes, translations of texts, explanations of many things like grammar and Chinese software, and lastly– for those who love current events– commentary and debates concerning the latest from the news. This is the site of choice for real East Asian culture enthusiasts who prefer a more personal flavor. The writer is charmingly honest but clearly dedicated to soaking up and documenting everything they can about East Asia.

Hacking Chinese

Hacking Chinese “focuses on how to learn Chinese, something which is neglected by most teachers and courses that simply focus on what to learn. By putting the process in focus, (they) strive to unveil the mysteries of language learning and thereby help you improve the way you learn.” The website suggests that its approach is more wholesome when it comes to learning Chinese as it allows for the user to learn in their own way.

The website delivers on these bold claims with an introductory level for learners of each skill level who may want to use the website (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). While the website does have a vast number of resources covering all language learning areas (writing, reading, speaking and listening), this is a website more geared towards academically inclined learners, rather than a collection of stories or blog-like material. This is a complex but comprehensive website for those who take their desire to learn Chinese very seriously.

Yoyo Chinese

Yoyo Chinese is perhaps the most professional-looking Chinese learning blog out there. The dedication and commitment of their staff shines through with the quality of the articles. They also provide comprehensively well-made tutorial videos for academically inclined serious learners of Chinese, as well as key insights into culture, life and modern issues in daily China. Thanks to the vast variety of contributors and perspectives, the professional tutorial videos, and the easy design, this website deserves nothing less than a five-star rating.

Culture Yard

Culture Yard is dedicated to helping serious students master the Chinese language. Their blog is a varied resource for learners of all levels who want to know more about the Chinese language and culture. You can find explanations of topics such as Chinese culture, useful Chinese phrases, Chinese characters and idioms, and reviews of Chinese-learning apps and websites, just to name a few. The part I like most is the idioms section, which provides the most classical idioms’ stories and uses as well as examples.  

Since all of Culture Yard’s writers are long-time China enthusiasts with real experience living in China and learning Chinese, each article breaks down China and Chinese from a learner’s perspective with clear and concise explanations and insights.

Sinosplice

Sinosplice is different from other blogs above. Blogger John Pasden, who is also a Chinese expert, records his life living in China, from his city’s recent news to new discoveries like a milk tea shop or mistranslations from Chinese to English. No matter whether you live in China or other areas, it’s a quite unique view of Chinese and a foreigner’s life in China. It also presents Chinese people’s lifestyles so that you have a way to understand them better. Besides the little stories about his personal life, much of the content also contains his language observations, including word construction and cross-cultural knowledge.

The post Blogs Blogs Blogs! A Comprehensive Review of the Hottest Mandarin Blogs for Learners appeared first on .

Thumbs Up:

• The apps have a comprehensive list of topics for each level.
• The apps cover all questions types as well as key phrases.
• The app interface is extremely easy to understand and navigate
• There is practice for all test sections – listening, reading and writing.
• The apps are completely free to use so far.
• The practice questions are in the same format for each section as they would be on the real test.
• Practice sections are appropriately adapted so that you can complete even reading and writing parts on the phone.

Thumbs Down:

• There is little to criticize about the layout and completeness of this app but one should be careful not to become too over-reliant on it because of its good qualities. It is important to study through other mediums too since studying on your phone, or ipad will make you tired quicker than studying in a course, or from a book.

Review:

‘Hello HSK’ is a wonderful supplement to your HSK study. The interface is very convenient to navigate allowing you to choose firstly which type of practice you want (listening, reading and writing) and then following this up with practice that comes straight from the test. On top of that, the app also provides an overview of each practice section, and what it means to be successful in that section.

Recommendation:

• ‘Hello HSK’ gets a strong recommendation because of its completeness, and user-friendliness. The app is simple enough to navigate but also complicated enough that it covers every possible kind of question you can encounter, with the listening sections covering many possible topics to ensure you get a lot of exposure to different material.
• While the app is near perfect on its completeness and user-friendliness, HSK students should not take this review to mean that they should be wholly reliant on this app too. It would be best used as a strong supplement to the course/book that you are learning from.
• However in situations where you have no access to those things, and especially in situations where you would normally choose to do unproductive things on your ipad, and iphone, this app is the perfect alternative as it manages to teach you Chinese and prepare you for that test at the same time. To be honest, while I do not plan to take the HSK myself, I will be using these apps simply to learn Chinese.

Here is the interview about the series APP. The producer will introduce more details about “Hello HSK”.

Q1: How can someone best use your HSK series?

Many HSK examinees could only improve their testing skills through training institutions and books in the past. But now, you can open the apps of Hello HSK on your smart phone on the subway. We have listed the latest classification framework and have sorted the testing points clearly. Each category was separated into different topics, and each topic contains comprehensive content summary, key words and useful expressions. After reading through all the content, you can do a set of exercises to consolidate the content you have learned (each exercise contains an accurate and detailed analysis). As a professional training platform, Hello HSK adopts cloud storage server, and is comprised of websites and mobile applications and it supports computer, mobile phone, and tablet. In order to improve HSK learners’ learning and training, Hello HSK has achieved all-around online functions including new HSK learning classification outline, electronic question types, intelligent question correcting process, detailed explanation of key, capability evaluation, error collection, notes, adding to favorite, etc.

Specification of the main functions of Hello HSK:

Hello HSK application contains three parts, listening, reading and writing. Each part is comprehensively and detailedly classified into answering techniques, key words, useful expressions and lots of exercises which keep highly consistent with the past exam paper of HSK. It supports local language identification and four languages, including Chinese, Japanese, English and Korean.

Q2: What are your strengths comparing with other Chinese learning APPs?

Hello HSK’s comparative advantages in technical performance

Compared with other competitors’ products, Hello HSK has its unique advantages:
Hello HSK is the world’s only all-terminal HSK exam training platform.

1) Speed and content are constantly and rapidly updated.
Since Hello HSK came online in December, 2013, the content has been updated with one level a month. Besides, new updated versions of website are being launched continuously, and various practical online learning tools are coming online rapidly.

2) Pay more attention to the user’s experience
Hello HSK always lays great emphasis on the user’s comfortable experience. On one hand, the adoption of cloud server can guarantee people from different countries of the world achieve the same quick access rate. On the other hand, Hello HSK has changed the current version of online mock examination training of HSK. The interface, one question covers one page, has already been changed. All questions have been divided into three parts according to the requirements of examination, and all the content has been integrated into one piece of examination paper. Furthermore, the answer sheet function will also bring you a real experience of answering questions on paper.

3) This product can provide users with a comfortable and convenient platform experience, together with online customer service and automatic language recognition functions including Chinese, Japanese, English and Korean at a very reasonable price. As for the design of learning content, we start with the easiest part and let students finish the whole learning process step by step. In order to let students learn Chinese effectively, each question also comes with an analysis which is accurate and easy to understand.
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4) Unique service
Apart from online customer service, the four language versions of Hello HSK have all been equipped with its corresponding social platform services which can let users reach the product customer service through multiple channels, so as to deal with the problems they face during their using and learning processes.

5) Let customers feel happy
Since HSK is a kind of exam-oriented examination and the learners work very hard, Hello HSK has added many humanized features such as considerate reminders of handing in papers, paying attention to rest, and a good variety of learning plans, etc.

6) Hello HSK platform provides learners with learning materials and massive amounts of classified training exercises specifically for listening, reading and writing, as well as past exam papers and dozens of mock tests. The difficulty, types and requirements of these test questions are all highly consistent with that of HSK. Users can conveniently do HSK exercises and find the largest selection of HSK materials through our one-stop service. After all, efficiency means saving users more time and energy.

7) Price advantage:
The quantity of items provided by each level of Hello HSK is equal to over 50 question sets. Each question set is worth twenty yuan according to the current market price. If calculated this way; each level needs you to spend at least one thousand yuan. But now, you can use all the content on the website and applications of six levels simultaneously for just 20 yuan a month. Through comparison, the price advantage of Hello HSK is extremely obvious.

Q3: What do you hope it will become in the future?

We hope to tweet personalized Chinese learning content according to the user’s Chinese proficiency and using situation, so as to help users improve their Chinese systematically and effectively, truly experiencing the aim of promoting training and learning through testing.

Q4: I hear that you are running a new site called Yep!Chinese. Can you tell us something about it?

Sure. Here at Yep! Chinese you can really enjoy learning Chinese through our unmatched variety of lesson topics. We’re always updating to bring you the latest, easiest-to-use and practical features.
There are three general types of channel at Yep! Chinese: Learn, Discover and Explore. And we provide lessons and resources for all levels of Chinese learner. Our levels are in part determined by the proficiency descriptors of the CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and the HSK Chinese Proficiency Test.
Whether you’re working out, on the way to work, or even travelling in China, with Yep! Chinese you can learn simply at the click of a button! Our ten-minute lessons are bite-size chunks of all you need to know about Chinese language and culture!

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On top of that, there are numerous articles that cover a diverse range of topics varying from comparing cultures to application reviews. On this website, you can also read the blogs of other mandarin users, or even just find videos to watch for those of you who prefer to learn through immersion. Additionally, the website offers information about where to meet fellow Chinese learners near you.

Thumbs Up:

• The website has a large variety of features including forums, blogs, videos, music, ways to connect Chinese learners, articles, tips and more.
• The diversity of activity means that there is something that most learners can gain from the website.
• The idea of a social network is awesome for those who want to find people equally invested in learning Chinese and those who want to make new friends based on this interest.
• The website is attractive, well organized and easy to navigate.

Thumbs Down:

• While there is nothing to criticize about such a well laid-out and well-intentioned venture, personally I feel like having so many different things may be overwhelming.
• However, the website can still be useful as it covers almost everything you can think of, and each individual can find what they are looking for despite their different goals.

Review:

‘Study More Chinese’ is a creative and idealistic venture that can definitely call itself unique in comparison to other websites dedicated to learning Chinese. Not only does this website provide a large amount of information, but it also allows individuals to connect, help each other solve problems and even express themselves.

Recommendation:

• ‘Study More Chinese’ gets a strong recommendation because of its unique way of getting people more invested in Chinese, as well as its ability to cover copious amounts of resource while still maintaining a simple and easy-to-navigate platform. The blog, forum and meet up features are all quite easy to use after signing up, and add a personal touch to this process that other projects are often unconcerned about.
• That said, this website is better for long-term students who want to slowly immerse themselves into Chinese culture and language. For more short-term learners, the large amount of activity can be overwhelming and not suit their needs, which are much more focused, and specific.

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Thumbs Up:

• All of the videos are short and focused on specific, practical needs of people living in China. Chris really focuses on conversations that actually occur when living in China.
• The course is very thorough ensuring that each topic sticks to its main point, and striving to cover everything you could possible need within the stated objective.
• While he guides the viewer through the videos, the actual speaking and demonstration is done by a native Chinese speaker, which helps the viewer with listening.
• The course asks questions in a way that allows viewers to put things together for themselves without directly giving us the answers.
• Timely pauses to allow the viewer to practice along with the video.
• Character translations of everything covered in the video. These are also duplicated below so that viewers can take notes later.
• The course practices reading, speaking and listening skills giving you all the characters you need to practice writing as well if you wish.
• Electronic flashcards available for extra practice after watching the videos.

Thumbs Down:

• The package is not free, so if you are on a budget, you will still be able to learn many of the same things from the huge amount of resources available online.
• Requires VPN inside of Mainland China, and therefore it can only be studied prior to arriving here.
• After the payment, there is a chance that only some of the lessons are relevant to your specific experiences in China. However, you are required to buy the complete package.

Review:

The best attributes of ‘Survive in Chinese’ are that it allows you to practice all your Chinese skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) as well as the fact that it focuses on very practical Chinese. For the vacationing foreigner, as well as the determined student, this course provides a natural and easy progression into Chinese. It is much more dynamic, detailed and multi-faceted than learning straight from a textbook.

Recommendation:

‘Survive in Chinese’ gets a strong recommendation from me simply because it wholly delivers on what its primary focus is – to give a linguistic foundation for people to survive here. The only minor concern is that it cannot be used in Mainland China without a VPN, and therefore if you cannot make that investment, it is best to complete this course before you arrive in China.

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