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 …
Why do some people say that speaking Cantonese is harder than speaking Mandarin, even though they’re both dialects of Chinese?
They are victim to what we call “data imbalance.” Specifically, Cantonese is WAY less prevalent than Putonghua. You’re far more likely to meet somebody who …
Is Chinese good for technical literature? Do the Chinese use English words for technical terms?
Yes, it is. The Chinese language is capable of writing technical things. These technical terms, for instance, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, could be translated into …