Speechling's Official Chinese Blog

12 Chinese Proverbs About Love and Life for Chinese Learners

Plenty of people find wisdom where they least expect it. Often times we turn to proverbs and phrases to help us understand or connect with inexplicable feelings. Chinese proverbs, or 諺語 (yàn yŭ), are no different!

Mandarin

How to Learn Chengyu Through Chinese Zodiac Animals

When learning Chinese, the idioms known as "chengyu" can be difficult to learn, memorize, and use correctly. There are hundreds and thousands of them! One of the best ways to master chengyu is to associate them with memorable things, such as the iconic animals of the Chinese zodiac.

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!

Mandarin

How to Improve Your Handwriting for Chinese Characters

As a Mandarin learner, handwriting Chinese characters can be intimidating. Modern technology makes it easy to avoid manually writing out words, but penmanship remains a skill that is important to your learning. Script may not be necessarily useful to your day-to-day, but it helps you develop an understanding of Chinese

Mandarin

Top 10 Different Ways to Say Hello in Chinese for Beginners

You've probably heard the phrase "你好 nǐ hǎo" numerous times whilst traveling in China or Taiwan. This phrase is used as an introductory greeting on the phone, in a letter, or meeting someone for the first time. However, native Mandarin speakers actually have a few different ways to

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

Three Classic Chinese Games to Help You Learn Mandarin

Curious about classic Chinese games? Check the article for details, history and instructions!

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.

Language Learning

Top 5 Language Learning Mistakes and Myths Debunked

Like any other activity that requires time, effort and skill, language learning is saturated with strong theories and opinions about what can or cannot be done. "Move abroad, otherwise you won't learn the language." "Forget your native language, otherwise you won't be successful." "I am

Mandarin

A Complete Guide to Learning Chinese Online for Free

You want to learn Chinese, but you don't have the time or money. Learning Chinese has become popular lately for a variety of reasons. Trying to find quality Chinese courses online has become more and more difficult. The internet is flooded with websites that sell expensive classes without giving you

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

How to Say the Chinese New Year Animals in Mandarin

The twelve Chinese New Year animals represent the Zodiac. Learn what each of them mean and how you can say Zodiac animal you are in Chinese.

Language Learning

3 Steps to Master Pronunciation in Any Language

Pronunciation can take its toll on our self-confidence. The awkward silences and the way our tongues just seem to be against us when it's time to actually talk! And all because of a couple of sounds...how frustrating is that? Well, great news! Pronunciation does not have to be your

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

Learning Mandarin: 6 Steps to Eating Out in Chinese

Learning Mandarin Chinese for eating out? From where to eat, the restaurant menu, table manners and etiquettes to Chinese dishes and how to split the bills.

Language Learning

9 Reasons You Should Take Your Company Abroad

Looking to expand your business to other countries? There are many benefits of taking your business to the international level, specifically in countries like China, Brazil, and Mexico. From tax breaks to new customers, let’s explore some of these advantages so you can start planning your expansion and seeing

Language Learning

The Truth About Why You Can't Learn a New Language

Bored, tired and overwhelmed. Learning a new language can be exhausting. Comparing yourself to that amazingly fluent student in your language course? Feeling so bored you can't even picture yourself writing a simple sentence, let alone conjugating verbs? We've all been there. Language learning is a game of the brain.

Mandarin

Being Polite in Chinese: Watch Out for These 3 Important Things

Here are some things to be aware of when learning to speak Chinese in a setting where politeness counts.

Mandarin

The Ultimate Guide to the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Celebrate Mid Autumn Festival and learn Mandarin! Traditional Chinese praise and worship, Moon Goddess myths and legends, outdoor lanterns and mooncake!