Mandarin Essentials
Helping Your Child Introduce Themselves in Chinese
1. Chinese Name Suggestions Of course, if your child is going to introduce themself, they’ll need a name! Chinese names can be a lot of fun to choose, because some parts are chosen because they sound nice, and others because they have deeper meanings. Many …
Are You a Victim of “Late-night Poisoning”?
Have you heard the term “late-night poisoning”?
It’s like this:
Imagine it’s the middle of the night and you get home after a hard day of work.
As you collapse into bed, you flip open your phone to watch something funny before you go to …
Sleepless in Shanghai? Here’s Why
Due to its status as the largest economic center and trade port in China, Shanghai has also become an important hub of science and technology, trade, finance, and information. All these things coming together in one place means that Shanghai is often first on the …
The Best Ways to Encourage Children to Learn Chinese
I had big dreams from my child to be multilingual so I got him started very young. So imagine the wake-up call when my remarkably opinionated toddler told me he no longer wanted to speak Chinese with me. I had hoped to raise him to …
What Should Parents Do If Children Can’t Pay Attention to Their Teacher in Chinese Class?
We often find that when children are in class, they can’t sit still and have the urge to fidget. Teachers get a headache after seeing them. At home, homework is a struggle as the stool seems to grow nails. He doesn’t care if you are …
How Many These 8 Classic Spicy Chinese Dishes Have You Tried?
While there are a few parts of China known even outside the country for their fiery gustatory preferences (New Yorkers may recognize the names ‘Szechuan Mountain House’ or ‘Hunan Bistro’), what many non-Chinese people don’t realize is that people in most parts of China love …
If You Think Teaching Your Kids Chinese Is Scary, Read This First
If you are a parent thinking about having your children learn Mandarin as a second language, you might be wondering if Mandarin Chinese is a difficult language for kids to learn as opposed to a language closer to their mother tongue. You might even think …
Why Are Most Chinese People Used to Bathing at Night Instead of in The Morning?
In China, different regions have different languages, eating habits and lifestyles.
In foreign countries, the difference can be even greater with a wide range of ethnic backgrounds due to immigration histories.
One area in particular, bathing habits, is an interesting area to look at.
Throughout …
Are There Any “Best Practices” for Your Child to Learn Chinese?
Many parents who want their children to learn Chinese are often at a loss. To be fair, the differences between Chinese and languages like English, Spanish, German, etc. are vast, and it can be very difficult to know where to start. Fortunately, just like with …
Clearing Up Confusion Surrounding Some Confusing Phrases
If you were to Google “confusing things about Chinese”, you’d get approximately 39,100,000 results (trust us, we just tried).
Learning the language involves various challenges, from pronunciation to writing characters and diverse ways to say “grandparent”. Today, we’ll have some fun explaining a few phrases …
The Chinese Boat with a Dragon’s Heartbeat
By now, many people are familiar with “赛龙舟 (sài lóng zhōu) dragon boat racing” and how it has origins in a folk activity meant to commemorate Qu Yuan, a famous poet and politician, in the Warring States Period who drowned himself after being banished by …
Is It Actually Helpful to Start Learning Chinese Early?
“Chinese fever” is “spreading” all over the world. It’s all the rage to learn the language with more than 1.3 billion native speakers, but of course it’s not as easy as snapping your fingers—you need to spend time, time, and more time to learn. Still, …
A Day More Exciting Than Your Birthday
What day do children look forward to all year in China? If you think it’s their birthday, think again! Tuesday, June 1st 2021 is when International Children’s Day is this year. If you ask any Child in China, they will often tell you that Children’s …
Other Chinese Expressions for “Embarrassment”
Other Chinese expressions for “embarrassment”
1.社会性死亡现场 (shè huì xìng sǐ wáng xiàn chǎng) social death scene It made her look like a fool in public. She was so humiliated that she didn’t want to see anyone. She just wanted to crawl into a crack on …
Are you a fraud? Don’t Be Like Lord Ye!
All Chinese idioms have an elaborate origin story with an important moral imbedded within the heart of it and “Lord Ye Loves Dragons” is no exception. This Chinese idiom story in particular was told by 颛孙师 Zhuān sūn shī, also known as 子张 Zi Zhɑng. …
Answer to New Chinese levels added
Answer:
jiǎ de .
假 的。
Not real.
nǐ de yá zhēn hǎo kàn ɑ ，shì zhēn de hái shì jiǎ de yɑ ？ 你 的 牙 真 好 看 啊， 是 真 的 还 是 假 的 呀？ Your teeth are so beautiful. Is …
New Chinese levels added
Recently, the Ministry of Education issued the international standard for Chinese education. This was the first standard for foreign Chinese students by the National Committee on language and culture. The levels were divided into level three and level nine. The international standard for Chinese education …
May Day
“We’re going to make a difference in the world. We’re tired of working for nothing. We’ve never had time to think about it just because we’re paid for a living. We want to smell the flowers, we want to bask in the sun, we believe: …
Different Manners (and Mannerisms) from Around the World
It’s a topic covered in textbooks in language classrooms everywhere: “How to great someone from X-country or Y-culture”. Today we’re going to take you through rules and customs of different people, some more tongue-in-cheek in their seriousness and others we hope are informative. Whether or …