Expressions of Affection: Saying ‘I Love You’ in Chinese

For most Chinese learners, you might know “我爱你” (wǒ ài nǐ,I love You). But do you want to know other alternative ways to say I love you in Chinese and surprise your Chinese girlfirend/boyfriend? Here I list several Chinese I love you expressions along with examples. Let’s find out! How to say I love you … Read more

Greetings in Mandarin: Saying ‘Hello’ in Chinese

For most Chinese learners, the first Chinese word that you learned might be “你好” (nǐ hǎo, Hello). But do you know this is a really formal greeting expression, which is weird if you say that to your close friends or your family? You might say “你好” when first meet someone. (Also, it’s better to say … Read more

Gratitude in Mandarin: How to Say ‘Thank You’ in Chinese

No matter what language you learn, how to say “thank you” is a must known if you want to be friendly to others in a polite manner. You might know “thank you” is 谢谢 (xiè xiè) in Chinese. But do you want to know the other ways to say thank you and surprise your Chinese … Read more

Speak Like A Local: Mastering Chinese Pronunciation

There are four key elements of learning a foreign language, they are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Many people who learn Chinese feel that one of the most difficult issues in Chinese is that Chinese characters and pronunciation do not correspond to each other, which is different from English. If you see a word, it … Read more

Cultural Roots: Tracing Common Chinese Surnames

When you meet a new friend, the very first thing might be introducing each other. But when you meet Chinese people, do you feel difficult to memorize Chinese names? Don’t worry. We are here to help you out! The most common Chinese surnames have been listed below. If you would like to know more, the … Read more

Stripping Complexity: An Intro to Chinese Sentence Structure

When you have a conversation with Chinese people, you may find that the structures of the sentences they use are quite flexible. There are many kinds of structural relationships in modern Chinese sentences. A single word can form a sentence, in addition to the sentence composed of a single word, a specific sentence is always … Read more

Chinese Words with Multiple Meanings

Have you found a Chinese word could have different meanings for different contexts? “这个大学很水,硕士学位含金量很低。” Do you know what meanings of “水” and “含金量” in this sentence? Do they simply just refer to water and gold content? Just like some words in English, for example, when is your “date” of birth? My favourite fruit is “date”. … Read more

Chinese Wit: A Compilation of Popular Jokes

You may have come across some Chinese jokes that you do not fully understand. Do you know most of them are related to Chinese traditional customs or Chinese slang words? Here are 8 funny Chinese jokes to give you a brief picture of Chinese society. By the way, you can learn lots of famous Chinese … Read more

The Fun Art of Creating and Using Chinese Nicknames

Want to get a Chinese nickname for yourself? Do you know how Chinese people give a nickname for their kids, colleagues, friends or spouse? What do you need to avoid when getting a Chinese nickname? Some examples of Chinese nicknames (昵称, nì chēng) are shown below. They are categorised by different types of people – … Read more

Stretch Your Chinese: 15 Interesting Tongue Twisters

Note: You may discover an audio version of this blog article on your favorite podcast provider. Struggle with the four tunes in Chinese, ā á ǎ à? You can’t help but pause at the moment you have a Chinese word like “自己” (zì jǐ) or “出租车” (chū zū chē)? Want to speak clearly and fluently … Read more