Why did the ancient Chinese create such a beautiful but difficult writing system?
Chinese writing evolved. It started out as pictures. Sometimes they used images to represent ideas; even in today’s writing, you can see that 大 is …
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Why do the Chinese use so many words with the letter “X” pronunciation?
Because of Zhou Youguang and his team. Chinese, of course, has its own script distinct from the Roman alphabet. And like many languages, it uses …
Is Chinese language written one way, and read and spoken in two completely different ways?
Linguists divide Chinese into about ten varieties that are not mutually intelligible, although some count with fewer and some with many more. They are not “dialects”, they …
Do you speak Cantonese? If so, when did you start speaking it and why?
Unfortunately, I do not. I’ve had over three years of Mandarin lessons because I assumed it would enable me to better communicate with Chinese people. …
What would a good Chinese girl name be that’s not too old fashioned that includes either the character 莲 or 雨?
Well, in my humble opinion, these two Chinese characters don’t sound too old-fashioned. 莲 means lotus and its Pinyin is lián. And in a metaphorical …
Why is the name “Confucius” unlike other Chinese names?
The real name of Confucius is Kong Qiu (孔丘, kǒng qiū), with surname Kong (孔), and the given name (丘). In Chinese culture, it has …
Why do Westerners in China create a Chinese name instead of transliterating their Western name into Chinese?
Probably for the same reasons that when a fictional Mr. Xǔ Zhì Qiáng (許志強) settles down in beautiful America, he goes by the name “George”: …
How hard will it be for a 9-year-old native English speaker to learn Mandarin fluently at junior high school if I first hire a private tutor to teach her Cantonese?
Why learn Cantonese when Putonghua is used all over China? If you have a family connection for learning Cantonese then, by all means, learn Cantonese. …
Is Tran a Chinese name?
As far as I know, Tran is the Viet Namese transliteration of 陳 Ch’en/Chen, a very common Chinese surname. It’s properly written Trần. When I …
When are you going to start learning Chinese?
The same time I started learning English – as a young kid? For English, I remember my parents getting me a stack of Peter and …