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.…
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.…
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.…
“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.”…
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.…
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.…
Chinese tea culture refers to both making tea and drinking the tea in China. It is thought that Chinese people discovered tea in the Shennong era (~2400 B.C.), meaning that they’ve been drinking it for nearly 4500 years! This has allowed for many different traditions, expectations, and ideas about tea to evolve over time.…
“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.…
“Poverty Limits My Imagination” Whenever people see others flaunting their wealth on social media, or interact briefly with the rich and famous, a common refrain is often heard: “贫穷限制了我的想象! (pín qióng xiàn zhì le wǒ de xiǎng xiàng) Poverty limits my imagination!”
This self-effacing sentence is saying that those with money can live lifestyles that the rest of us can’t even imagine, not because we’re not creative, but because we don’t have access to the resources that would let us experience the world in a totally different way.…
The Different Meanings Behind “What do you mean?” in Chinese (pt. 1)
As with English, there are a few different ways you could express this phrase, depending on the situation, your intention, how familiar/formal you want to be, etc.
Here are some common ways, most of which are variations on a common theme.…
Leveling Up Your Chinese Through Video Game Phrases
wǒ yuán yǐ wéi shì gè qīng tóng , méi xiǎng dào shì gè wáng zhě 我原以为是个青铜，没想到是个王者
“I thought it was a bronzer, but I didn’t expect a challenger”
The Bronze and the Challenger are the lowest and highest levels in MOBA games (Multiplayer online battle arena) such as League of Legends, Arena of Alor, etc.…
人家 and 别人: Are these just two ways to say “other people”?
Both “人家(rénjiā) ” and “别人(biérén) ” can refer to other people besides the speaker and the listener.
Examples:
xiǎo diǎn shēng, búyào yǐngxiǎng rénjiā xiūxi. 小点声，不要影响人家休息。 Keep your voice down, don’t disturb (other) people’s rest.…
Xia Yuan Festival is a traditional festival on October 15th in the lunar calendar and November 29th in the solar calendar this year. Its origin is derived from Taoism and this is the birthday of the celestial emperor also known as the Official/God of Water. As one of the oldest gods in Taoism, the Water God has two brothers, the gods of Heaven and Earth.…
“愿意(yuànyì)” and “肯(kěn)” are both auxiliary verbs, both of which indicate the general compliance with demands or willingness to do something. “愿意(yuànyì)” is used to express how someone feels, particularly a feeling of acceptance or desire to do something without feeling unhappy. It can also be modified by placing adverbs of degree, like “非常(fēicháng)” or “很(hěn)”, in front of it.…
I have talked with you about a lot of common Chinese vocabulary expressions and how Chinese people use them. Today, let’s talk about something different: let’s talk about a recent popular cultural phenomenon in China. Recently, a phrase suddenly became popular on the Internet: ”凡尔赛文学(fán’ěrsài wénxué) Versailles Literature”.…
If someone asks how to say, “OMG” in Chinese, are they really asking about the literal translation of “Oh my god”? Of course not; they’re asking how to express and evoke the same emotion when speaking Chinese.
The English emotion and version of this expression is actually not a foreign one to Chinese people – the popular online salesman/influencer/live streamer/”lipstick brother” Li Jiaqi often says, “Oh my god!”…
Great Snow, also know as Major Snow 大雪 (dàxuě), is the 21st solar term of the 24 solar terms and 3rd term of the winter season. It begins on December 7th, 2020, and ends on December 20th which is when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 255° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 270°.…
Come Practice Your Chinese With Break Diving’s Chinese Fluency Project!
If you’re an eChineseLearning student, you know that studying at eChineseLearning is an incredible tool to help you learn to speak, read, write, and understand Chinese.
But is it enough?
Even your teachers will tell you, “不够了!”…
1.Apple launches new products Every fall, the tech community holds its collective breath in anticipation of Apple releasing its new line of products and gadgets. Will smartphones keep getting larger? Is there a new type of wearable device to keep track of your busy life? Will batteries last for longer than 4 hours?…
As in English, in Chinese there are different ways to talk about understanding something. In English you might say, “I get it,” or, “Can you comprehend this?” or, “She understands that,” etc.
In Chinese, “理解(lǐjiě)” and “了解(liǎojiě)” are two verbs, both of which mean, “to know and understand”.…
