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Chinese

Read all of Speechling's language learning tips and articles on the Chinese language. Improve your pronunciation with Speechling.

Mandarin

How to Describe Locations in Chinese: Transportation Vocabulary and More

In any city, there are places that you need to visit early in your stay, and others that serve as useful navigation points. It could be anything from finding the local hospital to locating the nearest subway station. Learning how to say some of these places in the city in

Mandarin

Chinese Learner's Guide to the Dragon Boat Festival

What is the Dragon Boat Festival? As the heat of summer approaches, so too does this historic Chinese holiday, also known as 端午节 (duānwǔjié - Dragon Boat Festival). In this article, you can learn key Chinese phrases about this holiday. If you're lucky, you can practice them at a real

Mandarin

Chinese Conversation Tips: How to Talk to Strangers

When you're ready to take your Mandarin Chinese skills to the streets for some real life practice, how do you address people you've never met? Make sure you get off on the right foot and read these tips!

Chinese

How to Make Your Online Chinese Learning More Productive

Online education has been prevailing in China since the outbreak of the coronavirus as most of the schools and training centers were closed for several months in order to prevent the further spread of the epidemic. Despite the fact that online tutoring has obvious advantages (such as flexibility and time-saving)

Mandarin

Top 10 Chinese Karaoke Songs to Help You Learn Chinese

As a Mandarin student, you may have heard the phrase "KTV" or "卡拉OK" (kǎlā ok) at some point in your studies. Whether you heard it from your native friends or your teacher, you'll know that KTV, or karaoke, is a big part of Chinese culture. Singing

Language Learning

How to Learn a Language Staying at Home During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

The global pandemic sweeping through communities across the world has propelled a mixture of panic, fear, confusion, and anxiety. With most nations on either lockdown or under strict social distancing measures, most of us are experiencing heightened stress and a colorful range of emotions due to living in an unfamiliar

Mandarin

Top 5 Popular Chinese Tongue Twisters for the Curious Mandarin Learner

As a language learner, it’s important to tackle the language with fun and positivity. Teachers across the world love using tongue twisters to bring a little light to a difficult subject - and with good reason! Tongue twisters not only help with pronunciation, but also help with the inflection

Mandarin

A Simple Guide to Speaking Mandarin Chinese With Perfect Tones

One aspect of Mandarin that learners often find intimidating its four tones. Knowing how to pronounce each one in isolation is just the first step. In this article we’re going to look at how you can avoid this stumbling block and take your Mandarin to the next level with perfect tones!

Mandarin

An Introduction To Measure Words In Mandarin Chinese

One of the unexpected challenges of learning Mandarin Chinese is mastering measure words. As a beginner it is one of the most challenging things to learn because there is no correlate in English. Here's a guide to the most common measure words and how you can best learn them.

Mandarin

The Most Important Business Phrases You Need to Learn in Mandarin Chinese

Assuming that you aren't a beginner at learning Chinese and you want to take your career further by doing business in China, here are some important business phrases and words you need to learn in Mandarin Chinese. Why is it Necessary to Learn Chinese When Doing Business in China? Chinese-speaking

Mandarin

5 Crucial Methods for Memorizing Chinese Characters

Ever felt completely stranded when failed by a translation app? Experienced a jolt of terror when given a Chinese food menu with no pictures? Being able to recognise Chinese characters (hànzì - 汉字) is one of the essential steps you'll take in getting ahead in Mandarin. Pinyin (pīnyīn - 拼音)

Mandarin

The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Food and Dishes for Mandarin Learners

Eating to learn, learning to eat as a Mandarin Chinese learner Chinese food is often the keystone in many people's lives. A solid foundation of food vocabulary will boost your Chinese speaking capabilities and is sure to lubricate many a conversation. Food is paramount in China, and many diverse cultures

Mandarin

Top 10 Best Movies to Learn Chinese

Want to learn Chinese? Learn Mandarin through Chinese movies - action films, martial arts movies, rom coms, animated cartoons or the best fantasy movies!

Mandarin

China Travel: 10 Trials and Tribulations of Trying to Learn Chinese

Love 'em or hate 'em, trials and tribulations are all part of the Chinese language learning journey. From greetings and Chinese names to Chinese food menus and check-in desks, here are 10 ways to use your Mandarin skills during your China travels!

Mandarin

The Mandarin Learner’s Guide to Haggling: 10 Keys to Success

The best ways to save money as a Mandarin learner and haggler? Feign disinterest, be polite and use good Chinese bartering words - the key to success!

Mandarin

Is Top Down or Bottom Up Processing Best When Learning Chinese?

You might have heard of top down or bottom up language learning techniques. If not, don’t worry, by the time you finish this article you’ll know what they are and the advantages and disadvantages of using them. You’ll also know in what ways to use them to

Mandarin

The Best Speech Techniques to Avoid Sounding Like a Foreigner in Chinese

Chinglish. We've all heard it. It's that cross between Chinese and English which just doesn't sound quite right but still tries to be English. Well, it works the other way around as well: it's called Englese. Englese is where Chinese learners will speak in Chinese, but they incorporate elements of

Mandarin

Best Oral Techniques for Showing Politeness in China (Depending on Who You’re Around)

If you don’t already know about the Chinese concept of Face, it’s probably about time you read up on it. In essence, Face relates to dignity and prestige. To lose Face is to look bad in front of others. In Chinese Society, it is vitally important what one

Mandarin

The Best Chinese Novels for Catching Culture

In an age of technology and video, it can sometimes feel as though novels no longer have a reason to exist. Movies are faster, easier to digest, and (for some) a lot more fun. But novels are still important. For every movie out there, there are at least 10 books,

Chinese

A Guide to Chinese Idioms and Chengyu, Not Just a List

Chinese idioms are called chengyu. If you’re learning Chinese, you have probably come across them before. Long lists of them, put together by other learners, or possibly teachers. But if you see one outside of a guide, how do you know something is a Chengyu? How do you know

Mandarin

How to Create a Chinese Language Environment - Even If You’re Not in China

You don’t have to join a Chinese immersion program in China to immerse yourself in the Chinese language. In fact, you don’t even have to join a Chinese immersion program in the US. It’s more than possible to immerse yourself in Chinese from the comfort of your

Mandarin

The Best Chinese Words to Practice as a Beginner: The Definitive List Part 1

When it comes to learning a new language, one thing always comes up almost immediately: vocabulary. Students often wonder which words they should learn and how they can learn them in the best (read: the fastest) way possible. What Chinese words are the easiest? What Chinese words are the most

Mandarin

Chinese Internet Slang 101

Whoever said technology doesn’t affect language? It wasn't us, that's for sure! The fact is that technology and language are about as linked as a painter's canvas is to any artwork he creates. Just because the artist might remain the same, doesn’t mean their canvas always will. It's