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. …
chinesespeaking
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 …
What does the Chinese name “邓思雅” mean? Is it a beautiful Chinese name for a girl?
It’s a beautiful name until you read it out loud. Because the word 邓思雅 sounds very similar to 等死呀 (waiting for death, ah). So, no, …
Can 火炬 be a Chinese girl’s name?
It is not a word frequently seen in names. If you don’t know, Chinese don’t have words specifically for names. We pick words (that are …
What are the most interesting Chinese characters, in your opinion?
It’s 永. The kanji for “永(ei)”, which means long time, contains all eight techniques necessary for calligraphy. It’s called 永字八法(eiji happou). Eight Principles of Yong …