Fans of Chinese and Mandarin
Xiao jie, I suppose you mean 小姐， was a honorific title like “miss” or “my lady” during the Republic of China in the first half of the 20th century. After the Communist takeover and the elimination of the classes, the term ceased to exist in mainland China, until it was reintroduced by overseas Chinese and … Read more
Before I explain the reason to you, please allow me to show you some fun facts. China the word was originated from Qin dynasty. Cin → Cine → Cina → China Qin dynasty was the first Chinese dynasty which left deep influence to ancient Indians. But in Russian language, China is called Kitay. Why’s that? … Read more
The literal translation of Chinatown in Mandarin is 中国城. Another commonly used name, 唐人街, literally means Tang People Street. However, the term Chinatown itself may not be politically correct, as it suggests a “country within a country”, or a “colony of China”. In the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I live, there is a … Read more
Mandarin Chinese is the most frequently spoken Chinese language or dialect with more than 900 million native speakers. The Chinese characters are more or less the same all over China, apart from the fact that there are traditional and simplified characters and that Cantonese or Hokkein for example have some characters of their own. There … Read more
It is extremely difficult, its not a matter of just what you put into it like with other languages. Somewhere, I read an article from a linguistics major student, saying how he felt that with the same time of 5 years, He compared his 5 years learning Arabic, French, and Chinese. He concluded that you’d … Read more
Definitely not. I am sure Cantonese isn’t that big in China (everything is bigger in China), so I consulted Wiki for a quick look. According to English Wikipedia citing a 2004 study: Mandarin: 798.6 million (66.2%) Min (“Fujianese”): 75 million (6.2%) — incl. Hainan, Hokkien, Teochew Wu (“Jiangnanese”): 73.8 million (6.1%) Jin (“Shanxinese”): 63 million (5.2%) — … Read more
Not the best person to answer this question but since you requested to me, here’s how I memorize Mandarin pronunciation (spelling) of Chinese Characters. For Chinese Characters and their meaning, Visual images effectively help a lot… For Mandarin, Cantonese, and any Chinese dialect pronunciation, If you know the topic of “Syllable Structures”, then here it … Read more