Fans of Chinese and Mandarin
chinesespeaking This is very difficult to answer in a general, catch-all way as it depends on many variables Where you live: I lived in Shanghai when I first arrived in China. I didn’t have zero Chinese, but pretty close. I could recognise the obvious everyday characters, such as those for entrance and exit (入口，出口）and some place … Read more
This Chinese character 虚 has multiple meanings. It could mean empty and unoccupied, for instance, 座无虚席, which literally means a banquet with no empty seats and is usually used to mean full house. It could also mean humble and modest, for instance, 虚怀若谷, which means modest and open-minded. It could also mean weak in health, … Read more
No, it can’t. I mean, although some might argue that Ti could be seen as Wade-Giles version of a Chinese surname 狄, then how do we see Dao, since there are not Chinese characters which could be spelled as Dao in the Wade-Giles romanization? So, Ti Dao looks like a Pinyin version of two Chinese … Read more
I did. I was really interested in Chinese (still am) and worked like a demon. I had the advantage that I was in Taiwan, surrounded by the language. When I came to Taiwan, I didn’t know much more than 我、你、他、好、不好, but I saw people who had been here for three or four years still struggling … Read more
Yes, Chenxu Shiwen, or 陈徐诗汶 in Chinese, is a good Chinese name. Nowadays, there are Chinese people choosing to use a combination of surnames of a kid’s parents as the surname of a kid. So, when Chinese people read your name, they could infer that the surnames of your father and mother are 陈 and … Read more
Yes, you can. Move to China so you’re in the Chinese language environment. Get a tutor so they can help you learn the characters by pronouncing them for you. Pinyin is a phonetic notation system. It was invented to help with public education, where 30–40 students learn together in a classroom. They have access to … Read more
Yes. Here is my perspective as a Hàn (Chinese) Character-topic enthusiast Korean individual. Korean reading for each Hanja character: 金 Translation: Hun’dok: 1. soé [“iron”, “metal (alloy)”] 2. sŏng sshi [姓氏 = “family surname”] Ŭm’dok: 1. gŭm 2. gim Radical: (gold) 8 strokes Stroke Order: 8 strokes 姸 Translation: Hun’dok: gop da [“to be beautiful”, “to be pretty”, “to be lovely”, “to … Read more
WiFi => 无线，无线网 (no wire, wireless, wireless network) Computers => 电脑，计算机 (Electronic Brain, Computating Machine) But those aren’t new words, they’ve been around for a some time. What’s something new in the realm of physics? Physics News How do you say Nanoparticles for Artificial Photosynthesis in Chinese? 以人工光合作用为目的的纳米粒子 Nano- 纳米, it’s a sound-alike, it’s also … Read more
To be honest? It’s one of the worst names I’ve seen suggested on Quora. The moment I saw it, I immediately thought 挪用公款移法辦 embezzling and indicted (indicted for embezzling). 乾坤大挪移 comes from a novel by 金庸 Jin Yung. In other words, it’s recent, not a historical term, a term with any history behind it. I’m … Read more
Well, in the Chinese culture, we have a term generational name, or 字辈 in Chinese, which could be seen in some Chinese people’s names. And the notion full name in the Chinese culture could refer to a name comprised of a surname, a generational name and a given name, or a name comprised of a … Read more