Buying a Cell Phone in Chinese Posted by sasha on Aug 11, 2016
Once you land in China, there are two things you’re going to want to make sure you have at all times – toilet paper and a cell phone (手机 – shǒu jī). If you’re heading to China and your phone isn’t unlocked, one of your first orders of business will surely be to buy yourself…
Chinese Vocabulary – Electronics Posted by sasha on Aug 9, 2016
Electronics (电子产品 – diàn zǐ chǎn pǐn) are kind of a big deal in China. In any major city, you’re sure to find at least a couple of absolutely massive electronics markets selling everything imaginable – think Best Buy on steroids. Walking through one is an interesting experience whether or not you’re actually looking to…
两只老虎: The Chinese Frère Jacques Posted by Ayana on Aug 1, 2016
The Chinese version of the well known nursery rhyme Frère Jacques (in English “Brother John”) is fun and catchy. Instead of a sleeping Jacques, the Chinese version features two running tigers. Therefore, unlike the English and the French tunes, the Chinese version’s tempo is a bit faster. Beside the context and the tempo, it is…
Chinese Conjunctions Part Two Posted by sasha on Jul 28, 2016
Have you studied the basic Chinese conjunctions in the first post? If not, go back and brush up on those before moving on. This post introduces some compound conjunctions, which use a few of the words we learned in the first lesson in a more advanced way. Apart from/Except; In addition (除了… 以外 – chú le……
Chinese Conjunctions Part One Posted by sasha on Jul 27, 2016
Once you start to reach a more intermediate level of Chinese, you’ll want to connect your ideas and begin using more complex sentences. To do this, you’ll need to learn some conjunctions. In Chinese, conjunctions do just what they do in English – just think back to “Schoolhouse Rock.” That’s right, “hooking up words, and…
A Weekend at Shi Du Posted by sasha on Jul 25, 2016
Spending the hot summer months trapped in the concrete jungle is no fun, especially in Chinese mega-cities like Beijing. Thankfully, there are plenty of options for excellent day or weekend trips just a few hours away. One such place is Shi Du, where you can go rafting, hike in karst mountains, or even do some…
Beginner’s Guide to Chinese eBook Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 25, 2016
If you’re a fan of this blog, you’ll love our new Beginner’s Guide to Mandarin Chinese. Here on the Chinese blog, we post a variety of content for learners of all levels. For the beginners among us who haven’t combed through our archives, you may be missing some of our older, but extremely useful introductory…