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 other languages, there are certain approaches that work better when learning Chinese.…
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 that might be confusing when you first encounter them.…
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 the emperor.…
“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, even those parents who are considering having their children start early might be wondering: is it worth starting learning Chinese from such a young age?…
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 Day is a time when they go to the movies for free, eat whatever they want, and play outside.…
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 the ground.…
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. He was a prominent disciple of Confucius, who accompanied Confucius in his travels abroad, and later started his own sect of Confucianism.…
Answer:
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 it true or not?…
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 will officially be implemented as of July 1, 2021.…
“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: God only allows an eight hour working day.…
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 not you really learn something new, we hope you come away with a renewed appreciation for how to approach other people, as well as a few useful Chinese words and phrases!…
“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 you travel without moving your feet.”…
Have you ever marveled at the phenomenon where the more we have of something, the more we take it for granted? Well, we only have one “行星地球 (xíng xīng dì qiú) planet Earth” so it must be “珍惜 (zhēn xī) cherished” and “ 关心 (guān xīn) cared for” above all else.…
Muslim Ramadan Ramadan refers to the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called Ramadan in Arabic. According to Islamic doctrine, Ramadan is a grand, festive, auspicious, and noble month.because it was this month that Allah handed down the Koran to Muslims.
The beginning and end of Ramadan are based on the appearance of the new crescent moon.…
In major cities across China, employees have returned to offices, students are situated in their school desks, and crowds congregate outside of restaurants during the dinner rush. While wearing a surgical mask, although it’s no longer mandated outside of subways and other congested places, has become a habit in many ways, normal life has resumed in China, the country where COVID-19 first appeared one year ago.…
5 Psychological Phenomena You Probably Haven’t Heard About “Psychological phenomena” is often kind of just a fancy way to refer to reasons behind human interactions, and ways to describe the cause-and-effect relationships between actions and reactions. It’s important to keep in mind that this terminology is neither positive nor negative, but often examples ARE interesting.…
Tomb Sweeping Day: The Basics What do people do on Tomb Sweeping Day? Qingming Festival (清明节 qīng míng jié), also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival. Tomb sweeping and ancestor worship, the two main traditional customs of the holiday, have been passed down in China since ancient times.…
“斜杠青年(xiégāng qīngnián),” or, “Slashers”, are people who make multiple income streams simultaneously from different careers. “斜杠(xiégàng)” literally means “slash” in English, and refers to the “/” (particularly the key on the computer keyboard). The term was coined by Marci Alboher, a New York Times columnist, in her book One Person/Multiple Careers, in which she used “slashers” to refer to people with multiple occupations and identities.…
“愚人节(yú rén jié) April Fool’s Day” is an annual custom on April 1st consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting “April Fools!” at the recipient. Nearly anyone and everyone will get involved in creating jokes to deceive and amuse the masses.…
Stop Asian Hate As recent events have unfolded across news outlets and social media platforms, the world has heard of yet another outcry on American soil, pleading “
”. This comes shortly after the Black Lives Matter movement rallied globally and is just as significant and timely.…
