Why does “Poland” in Chinese (bōlán) mean “waves” (波) and “orchid” (兰)?

March 29, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

波蘭 (Traditional Chin. characters) / 波兰 (Simplified Chin. characters) bōlán / bolan is a syllable by syllable rendition of “Poland”. Nobody pays attention to the meaning of the individual characters: they are

How do you understand “奶奶” and “姥姥” in Chinese?

March 27, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

Here are two screenshots of 奶奶 and 姥姥 from the dictionary, Dictionary of Modern Chinese, or 现代汉语词典 in Chinese, published by the Commercial Press, or 商务印书馆 in Chinese. As you

How can I raise a bilingual baby that speaks both Chinese and English?

March 27, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

I have a young daughter in Kindergarten. I speak English to her. My wife speaks Chinese to her. She speaks fluent Baby-Chinese, and completely understands my English. However, the only

When giving your phone number in Mandarin, why do Chinese say yao instead of yi for the number 1?

March 26, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

“1“ being pronounced as “yao” (幺) is a military number variant. It became popular and used by civilians. It is similar to the military alphabet for English and other languages

How is “good morning” written in Chinese?

March 24, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

Either “早上好” or “早安” is a translation of “good morning”. However, we rarely speak or write like that in daily life. If you would like to know something more “Chinese”,

How can I improve my Mandarin listening capabilities?

March 22, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

I have been learning Mandarin Chinese for 2 years, and although my speaking, reading and writing skills have developed well, my listening ability is still poor and very basic. How

What does “我去” mean in Chinese?

March 21, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

It depends on the context 1.I will go somewhere. The tune like wǒ qù When someone asked : would you like to go to the park? Then if you want

How do you write “LOL” in Mandarin Chinese?

March 20, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

When you chat with your Chinese friends on Wechat, after he/she tells a joke or throws a trendy meme into the chats, how do you respond in Chinese? “lol”? Chinese

What is the ugliest Chinese character?

March 18, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

肏 has always stuck me as a bit disturbing. It means fuck. This is a compound ideograph. The top part 入 means to enter. The bottom part 肉 means flesh. It

How hard is learning Chinese?

March 18, 2023 0 Comments 0 tags

As an exchange student in Beijing, I’m currently preparing for HSK 4 of Chinese proficiency test. I was writing my practice exam when came across this question. What I want