Is Tsang widely used as a romanization for the surname Zang in Mainland China?
No, it is not. Tsang is the Cantonese romanization of the surname 曾, whose Pinyin version is Zeng. When Zang is seen as a surname …
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Do Chinese have the concept of “ghost story”? What do they call that genre in the Chinese language?
Instead of frightening readers with implacable monsters, Chinese ghost stories tend to use the spirit world (the very concept of “ghost” is rather fluid) to …
What is the worst simplified Chinese character ever made?
Friends who know me well are aware that I have a bee in my bonnet over a large number of Simplified Chinese Characters that have …
What are the biggest slums in China?
If this is the kind of slum you are talking about, unfortunately, there are none in China. What is associated with slums in China are …
Is Chinese writing in China inferior to English since English is easier to read and write?
No, English is not necessarily easier to read and write. It only feels that way because you can only read and write English. If you …
What would a “typo” mean in Chinese, and would a native speaker know what was meant and how the “typo” occurred?
A typo is called 错别字 (cuò bié zì) in Chinese. 错 means “incorrect; wrong” and 别 means “another”. So putting together, a typo in Chinese refers to …
Is there any language that is harder than Mandarin Chinese, excluding Cantonese?
For adult learners, most languages in the world are harder than Mandarin. The only real challenge when learning Mandarin is tone, and you can get …
How many Chinese characters am I required to know in order to speak in a sophisticated way?
Characters are for writing, not speaking. I have an acquaintance who is functionally illiterate in Chinese but, according to the Chinese people I’ve asked, he …
Are new Chinese characters still being invented?
Very very rarely. One big problem of inventing new characters nowadays is you cannot type it easily. Different from new English words, which a just …
In Eastern Guangdong, do some Chaoshan people understand some Cantonese language?
The Chaoshan (潮汕) region has its own language, Teochew (or Chiuchow) – which isn’t mutually intelligible with Mandarin or Cantonese, actually I find it closer …