Why did the Chinese never adopt word spacing?
People who ask this question don’t seem to know that word spacing is quite a recent invention, and very few ancient scripts had spacing. Some …
What does “wo qu” mean in Chinese?
As a native speaker, I wouldn’t misuse this phrase, but explaining it clearly is not straightforward. “我去” (wǒ qù) is a phrase favored by people …
How does it feel like to live in China when you barely speak Chinese?
When I first came to China I was 17 years old and ready to embark on the journey of college life. In the beginning, it …
Mandarin Chinese (language): How are 帅哥 (shuaige) and 美女 (meinü) used in mainland China today?
I think the word “帅哥” (Handsome guy) and “美女” (pretty girl) are similar to American people using “honey” and “sweetie” to address strangers. They’re socially …
How did you successfully learn Chinese being a non-Chinese speaker?
Yesterday I was waiting for the elevator in the office building with my manager and a few other managers. My manager was excitedly telling me …
Why was the pinyin form of the Chinese language adopted in 1979 replacing the Wade-Giles system?
China adopted the Pinyin system in 1958 as the system for representation of pronunciation tone for Putonghua, which is Mandarin. Prior to this, Mandarin pronunciation …
Why is the Chinese language gaining global appeal?
Yes, you are right. I live in Johannesburg and can see more and more people around me learn Chinese language. They have different purposes. Some …
What are some easy-to-remember Chinese characters?
Build upon the basic elements that people already taught you. Almost everything can be understood as a combination of elements. 林 – two trees = …
Do Chinese people’s names really have a meaning?
The answer is yes. Chinese, unlike many other language, doesn’t have some names so you can choose. When parents in China named the babies, they …
Is Chinese (Mandarin) very difficult to learn?
In my experience, no. At least, not compared to learning other languages as a second or other language. Mandarin has no gender, no case, no …