What is your purpose or motivation for learning Chinese?
Way back when, I saw Chinese characters up close for the first time. This was in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, back in the late 60s, …
New generations of mainland China can’t read traditional Chinese characters, right?
It’s totally wrong.Most of Chinese mainland’s primary school have calligraphy class,the teachers teach kids to learn brush handwriting with traditional Chinese characters.For me,I can read …
Why is Vladivostok translated as 海參崴 in Chinese?
The question itself is wrong “海参崴(Hǎi shēn wǎi )” is not the Chinese translation of Vladivostok. But this place was originally called “海参崴(Hǎi shēn wǎi …
What do you think of Mandarin?
Originally, I hated learning that language. I despised it. I looked down on it. I ridiculed it. And I finally learned it (oh, and when it comes to Chinese, you never master it). To make …
Is the Chinese language not a very accurate language?
You know what’s funny about this question? Because I’ve heard Chinese native speakers who are not very good at English making the Exact, Same, Comment on …
How can I translate 自己人 into English?
Sometimes I see people asking translation of words that can easily be found from a dictionary. 自己人is not one of those words to me. You …
What Chinese words are particularly difficult to translate into English?
I like to read 武侠小说, a category of Chinese novels that does not have an equivalent counterpart in the West. The closest I can think …
Why do some people find Chinese easier than Japanese or Korean for an English speaker to learn?
Chinese grammar is similar to English and much easier. Chinese Characters is hard but if u learn Japanese, you also have to learn those Chinese …
What are your thoughts on having a foreigner name as your Chinese last name?
No, I don’t find it embarrassing or bothersome. I mean, when I look at various ways of romanizations of names of people from the Chinese-speaking …
What is the best thing to know when starting to learn Chinese?
It’s a different ballgame. You didn’t mention your native language, so I don’t know your starting point. But first, with Chinese, there are no verb …