Author: chinesespeaking

When you chat with your Chinese friends on Wechat, after he/she tells a joke or throws a trendy meme into the chats, how do you respond in Chinese? “lol”? Chinese don’t do the abbreviation of the phrase “laugh out loud”, instead, they use words that emulate the sound. “哈哈 haha” is the Chinese corresponding word …

As an exchange student in Beijing, I’m currently preparing for HSK 4 of Chinese proficiency test. I was writing my practice exam when came across this question. What I want to say is LEARNING CHINESE is not HARD, but EXTREMELY HARD. Like learning other languages, you need to practice making sentences and telling stories in …

In Northern China, this surname originated from Henan Province and Shaanxi Province. For instance, on the Wikipedia, you would find that this surname is used by “descendants of Bai Gongsheng, the son of a crown prince of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period.” The place where Bai Gongsheng was granted a …

La Yan Jing (辣眼睛, Là yǎnjīng), literally spicy eyes, is a common internet slang word in China. It generally refers to the symptoms of discomfort to the eyes. La Yan Jing describes a person’s weird appearance and the feeling that we’d want to close eyes when we’d see it. In Internet terms, it is used …

Awsl is an abbreviation. The full form is À Wǒ Sǐ Le (啊我死了). You can understand it this way: 啊我死了 (À Wǒ Sǐ Le): Ah I’m dead/ oh I’m dead Awsl is often used to describe the excitement of seeing something cute. However, awsl can also indicate something too cute (太萌), too scary (太可怕), too distressing (太痛心).

Not really! Chinese grammar seems easy for simple communication. If you want to reach the professional level, the grammar would not be “so easy”. Further, complexity of grammar is just one aspect of the language. There are numerous other issues that make Mandarin learning difficult to the foreigners. A few examples. Characters: there are thousands …

1. Chinese language is most difficult on its tones Tones are most likely the first hurdle foreign learners come across in Chinese learning. Intuitively, it became the most complained element of the Chinese language. People often think that the native speakers spend a lot of energy on dealing with tones when we speak. It’s not …