You‘re being TOO polite in Chinese！Say THIS instead！
Too polite Fēi cháng gǎn xiè nín. 非常感谢您。 Thank you so much (too stiff).
Natural Xīn kǔ le! 辛苦了！ Thanks for your hard work!
Too polite Bào qiàn, wǒ shāo hòu lián xì …
Textbook Wǒ hěn máng. 我很忙。 I’m busy.
Real Life Máng sǐ le! 忙死了！ I’m swamped!
Textbook Qǐng jìn. 请进。 Please come in.
Real Life Jìn lai ba. 进来吧。 Come on in.
Textbook Zài jiàn. 再见。 Goodbye.
Real Life Huí tóu jiàn! 回头见！ See you later!…
Textbook Qǐng gěi wǒ shuǐ. 请给我水。 Please give me water.
Real Life Lái bēi shuǐ! 来杯水！ Give me some water!
Textbook Hěn hǎo chī. 很好吃。 Very tasty.
Real Life Tài hǎo chī le! 太好吃了！ So delicious!
Textbook Wǒ hěn gāo xìng. 我很高兴。 I’m very happy.…
Textbook Nǐ xiǎng hē shén me? 你想喝什么？ What would you like to drink?
Real Life Nǐ yào hē shén me ne? 你要喝什么呢？ What do you want to drink?
Textbook Nǐ xiǎng chī shén me? 你想吃什么？ What do you want to eat?
Real Life Chī shén …
Textbook Wǒ míng bai le. 我明白了。 I understand.
Real Life Zhī dào la ! 知道啦! I understand！
Textbook Xiǎo xīn! 小心! Be careful!
Real Life Zhù yì la! 注意啦! Be careful !
Textbook Bù kè qi. 不客气。 you’re welcome.
Real Life Méi shìr. 没事儿。 …
Compliments in Chinese: Sound Genuine, Not Textbook Master how to give real Chinese compliments that feel natural:
✓ Praise looks Nǐ jīn tiān zhēn jīng shén~ 你今天真精神~ You look full of energy today~
✓ Praise skills Nǐ zuò de zhēn bàng~ 你做得真棒~ You did that …
For many Chinese learners, passing HSK feels like a major milestone—and it is. You’ve memorized hundreds, even thousands, of characters. You’ve conquered grammar rules. You can read, write, and translate basic texts. But when you step into a real-life conversation with a native speaker, you …
Let’s get real: You opened your Chinese textbook, full of motivation…
And it taught you how to say:
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ xìng Lǐ, jiào Lǐ Míng. Wǒ shì Yīngguó rén. 你好！我姓李，叫李明。我是英国人。 Hello! My surname is Li. My name is Li Ming. I am British.
Cool. …
When Michael first decided to apply for the prestigious Chinese Government Scholarship, he knew passing HSK4 was essential. Confident in his HSK3 foundation, he began preparing independently. But as the exam date loomed closer – just 30 days away – his mock test results revealed …
Several Chinese books suitable for children to learn.
The《Chinese Made Easy》curriculum consists of five levels: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, and Book 5. Each level includes textbooks accompanied by CDs and workbooks. By completing this comprehensive series, learners …
Cheng & Tsui Online Language Bookstore (By Cheng & Tsui Company) An independent publisher and distributor of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian language learning materials, as well as books about Asian art, history, literature, and culture for people of all ages. If you want …
Hey! Reading month is coming up! All you Chinese learners out there, check out these three kinds of books! Let’s level up our Chinese together!!
If you are new to Chinese, try starting with bilingual versions of classic works! For example, The Little …
As the world celebrates World Book Day, it’s an excellent time to encourage your children to read some books. For non-Chinese children interested in learning Chinese, reading Chinese books can be a fun and engaging way to learn new words and phrases. It can also …
April 23rd is World Book Day. On this day 406 years ago, two of the world’s great literary figures, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and William Shakespeare, passed away. Thus, it was a natural choice for the United Nations General Assembly to pay a worldwide tribute …
“A room without books is like a body without a soul. “ – Marcus Tullius Cicero “Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.” – Hermann Hesse “That’s the thing about books. They let …
Xiaonei.com, widely believed to be the Chinese version of facebook, was set up in December, 2005 and was the earliest Social Networking site for universities in China. 校内(xiào nèi) means “within campuses, within universities.” At Xiaonei.com, only those who have specific university IP addresses could …
Beginner Level / 初级(chūjí)
Hài, Lily, nĭ qù nǎér ya? A: 嗨，莉莉，你 去 哪儿 呀？ Hi, Lily, Where are you going?
Ò, wǒ zhŭnbèi qù túshūguǎn ne , tīngshuō túshūguǎn zuìjìn jìn le yì pī xīnshū, wǒ qù kànkan B: 哦，我 准备 去 图书馆 呢， …
Today is Saturday. Li Hua is visiting Tom at his new house. Upon arrival, Li Hua is very surprised with Tom’s spacious and bright house, but finds something rather interesting. Look at the following conversation.
Nà shì shénme? Li Hua：那 是 什么?
Wǒ de xīn …
In the Internet age, avatars are everywhere. Do you use an avatar on Facebook or your real picture?
Do you know how to say “avatar” in Chinese? A. 头像 (tóuxiàng) B. 照片 (zhàopiàn) C. 图片 (túpiàn)
Look at the picture and choose the correct answer.
Zhè běn shū duōshǎo qián? A: 这 本 书 多少 钱？ B: ______。 A: 十元 (Shí yuán) B: 二十元 (Èrshí yuán) C: 三十元 (Sānshí yuán) D: 一百元 (Yìbǎi yuán)
Take …
