Chinese Speaking

Conversational scenarios, expression techniques, and pronunciation correction exercises—focused on practical Chinese speaking skills

What is the reason for the large number of characters in the Chinese language? Is there a way to simplify them without losing their meaning?

by

Like most other forms of written language, Chinese script started out as a pictographic script where the characters looked like what they represented. You can even see this in the modern Latin alphabet, which is simply a stylized version of the Phoenician alphabet where every character looked like something physical but came to represent not … Read more

My English name is Paris im a girl my Chinese name is 范逸瑶. Does it have a meaning, does it go with my name and is it pretty?

by

If what you wanted to ask is whether Paris Fan is a suitable name for your Chinese name 范逸瑶, which is spell as Fan Yiyao in Pinyin, then I suggest you replace Paris with Elaine, which sounds more similar with Yiyao. And in my humble opinion, Elaine could evoke a different vibe than Paris. After … Read more

Will 個/个 eventually replace the majority of measure words in Chinese?

by

As Xie Wei mentioned, the term “measure word” / 量词 is actually obscuring a bit of complexity here. The quick and dirty version is that there are 量词 that are “count-classifiers” — say something like 条 in 一条鱼 or 一条狗, 只 In 一只貓, 一只狗, etc., or whatever. These tell you what category of thing the … Read more

Can you help translate my name Cao Mỹ Thanh to Chinese?

by

This is difficult to translate, mainly because modern Vietnamese uses a phonetic writing system based on the Latin alphabet. I suggest you go back and look through your ancestors’ genealogical records. Otherwise, if “Cao” is translated as “曹” or “操,” it could be embarrassing. If you can find your great-grandfather’s tombstone, you should be able … Read more

Can Chinese speakers distinguish between tones? What is the right tone in a word?

by

Yes, I think so. I mean, there are Chinese characters or expressions sharing same spellings in alphabet letters, but their tones are different. Let’s use two examples to illustrate this point. 围棋 is more known in the English language as Go, a board game invented in ancient China. And it’s pronounced in Pinyin as wéi … Read more

If Mandarin is Northern China’s dialect, then what is the dialect of Southern China?

by

There are multiple dialects in South China. Strictly speaking, Mandarin is not a dialect. It is a language with multiple dialects. The national language of China, called Putonghua, is based on the Mandarin dialect of Beijing. Mandarin dialects are roughly distributed over the northern, central and southwestern parts of China, corresponding more or less to the … Read more

When did China switch traditional Chinese to simplify Chinese and who invented it?

by

The official standardized simplified word now appeared in 1955 and was implemented in 1956. The purpose is to increase the rate of literacy. Simplified characters actually simplify the most commonly used words. In fact, simplified characters appeared in ancient China; In ancient times, simplified characters were called “俗体” or “通体”. This is written by Chu … Read more