In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to waste time thinking about things like how your language exchange partner should behave, because they'd be perfect! If that's the case, then good or you! If, however, you're stuck down here on Earth like the rest of us, then pay attention. This article may save you some headaches, and heartbreaks, lol!
1. Patience
This is super important, because when you first begin speaking a new language, it's very difficult to make yourself coherent, and chances are you are going to have to repeat yourself A LOT in order to get your meaning through. Don't let this discourage you, is part of the learning process! If you have a language exchange partner that is immediately or reacting you, not trying to understand what you are trying to say, or sort of all, laughs at your attempts to peak their language(unless they explain a joke of some sort, maybe a lingual mishap on your part, I've had some!), then you should kick them to the curb, they aren't helping you learn!
2. Equality
This might seem like a no brainer, but make sure that the time spent speaking Chinese is equal to that spent on English. Don't be surprised if your LE partner tries to monopolize on the time, especially if their English is more advanced than your Chinese. It may not be intentional, they may not really know what to teach you if you just started learning and everything is new, but that's no excuse, your time is valuable too!
3. Reliability
Nobody likes arranging to meet with a friend, going out of your way to accommodate them by meeting in a place that's convenient for both of you, just to have them call and say they can't make it, or worse, just not show up! Everyone should have a chance to explain themselves, and life does happen. But if your LE partner makes a habit of it, then you need to let them know that it's not going to work. You need someone to actually show up in order I practice your Chinese with them!
4. Honesty
If you can't trust someone, then how are you going to trust them to teach you? Your LE partner should be a man/woman of his/her word. And so should you! If they say that they will do something(like meet you to practice) then they had better do it, though as I previously mentioned, life can get in the way. If you find them lying to you to protect themselves after ditching you, or constantly making excuses, or even cutting out after you just spent an hour on English, because something "came up", then you should find someone else to practice Chinese with!
5. Passion
Your LE partner should be just as passionate about learning English as you are about learning Chinese. They need to be committed to showing up, week after week, and talking with you until they're blue in the face. That's the only way either of you are really going to learn. If they don't really even like learning English, but just see it as a necessity for furthering their career(the two aren't mutually exclusive, by the way), then they won't keep up with it in the long run, and sooner or later you'll be stuck without a LE partner!
So how does your LE partner stack-up? Tell us in the comments below, let's get a discussion going!
There's no doubt about it, Chinese is the biggest "fad" language around. Everyone wants to learn it(or should!), and for good reason. In today's article, I'm going to break it down for you and give you my top seven reasons to start learning Chinese today!
1. More people speak it than any other language:
China is the most densely populated country in the world. Seriously, there's over a billion people in China. That's around a fifth of the world's population. Granted, not all of them speak Mandarin(there are soon many dialects of Chinese, almost as many as there are people!) but more and more do, and eventually they all will. Take Hong Kong for example. In the past, people from, say Taiwan, would be unable to communicate with Hong Kongers. Now, more and more of them are learning Mandarin(since being reunited with China), enough so that when my wife and I run-into them here in Texas, we can communicate with them. Mandarin is growing like crazy, and there's never been a better time to learn it.
2. Those billion people make up a huge market for any corporation:
Chinese people love everything and anything having to do with the West. Just take a look at how many Taiwanese kids spend their life savings on a pair of Timberlands and you'll start to see, that these people want what you have to sell. Really, anything with ties to America, be it McDonald's, KFC, PizzaHut, Levi's, Nike, Apple is extremely desirable to the Chinese youth, and the list just goes on and on and on.
3. Business opportunities abound:
I mentioned previously that the Chinese present a huge market for international sales. China/Taiwan also presents a lot of opportunities to the business-savy entrepreneur looking to make some money. There are so many Chinese companies that would love to have a presence in the American market, or to otherwise cooperate with American businesses in joint-ventures. Many of the CEOs of these companies will be versed in at least rudimentary English, but learning Chinese will deepen your relationship with them, and enable you to get the most out of your investment.
4. Learning Chinese will make you smarter:
Without a doubt, learning Chinese, especially to read and write it, will make you smarter. Written Chinese consists of characters, each of which can have many different meanings and, more often than not, alternate pronunciations. While this makes learning Chinese difficult for foreigners, it also forges a powerful mind capable of processing logic/puzzle based information much more efficiently than the average mind. Ever hear the stereotype that Chinese people are good at math? Well, not all are, but there is some truth to this statement. Studies have been done linking the ability of Chinese speakers to process mathematical problems, and they have been shown to have an aptitude for it. Learning Chinese also gives you a sharp memory, as you need it to correctly recall all of the characters when reading/writing. Of course, that is assuming that you went about learning it the right way.
5. Two is better than one:
Being able to speak two languages is becoming more and more essential in today's world. Consider the following scenario: Two otherwise equally qualified applicants applied for a job, one was bilingual, the other only spoke their mother tongue. Who do you think got the job?
6. Your own secret language:
No doubt about it, being able to speak Chinese with my wife in "public-privacy" has been extremely useful since we moved back to America. We call Chinese our 秘密語，or "secret language". It allows us to discus things that we'd rather not have other people overhear, whether unintentionally or otherwise. It allows us to say things to eachother that would otherwise be embarrassing in public, such a "your fly is own" etc.
7. It's just plain fun!:
Chinese is a beautiful language, with an unbelievable amount of depth; I myself am "fluent", but I'm still constantly learning(hey, I don't even know every word in English, my native tongue!). Furthermore, learning Chinese will help you to understand Chinese culture, something that is completely impossible to learn otherwise, and will allow you to befriend Chinese people, and really get to know them. I could go on, but I think you get the point!
There you have it, my top 7 reasons for you to start learning Chinese today, NO, immediately! It doesn't matter which reason on this list got you to commit to learning, it just matters that you get to it!
If you liked this article, checkout these related articles HERE and HERE!!!
Also, don't forget to join my mail-list and get started with our free Chinese lessons NOW!
Today I'm going to teach you how to use 一點 in Mandarin. This is useful when talking about how you want something, or how you want it done. Such as bigger, smaller, more, less, etc. follow along with the video and make sure to pay close attention to the sentences below. This one lesson will help you to really make your Chinese sound more complete. Enjoy!
I hope everyone enjoyed last week's post:Interview with a Chinese Learner. Check it out HERE if you haven't already. Today, we are continuing with this segment!
Last week, my interviewee, Oll Linge, lives in Taiwan and has studied Chinese extensively there. However, as a contrast, this week I am interviewing Daniel Scott, from Discovering Chinese Life. His experience differs in that he lives on the mainland, and as such has experienced a different breed of Chinese language and culture. I know what you're thinking, "but Chinese is Chinese, right?". Wrong. Thing about the differences between American English and that spoken in the UK, and you will be on the right track. In fact, this topic deserves an article of its own, but I digress.
Daniel is a teacher in a private Chinese school, and has shared a lot of experiences similar to my own, though I myself have never been to Mainland China. So let's see what he has to say about his time in China, and more importantly for our purposes, his insights into learning Chinese!
Q: What Made you decide to learn Chinese?
I saw learning Chinese as a necessity and opportunity when moving to China. I work at a private Chinese school so I need to know how to read and communicate with the nationals I work with whether they know English or not. It’s also quite humbling knowing I daily interact with my students who know 2-4 languages. When going public, as soon as I step out my apartment’s front door, I’m immersed in a culture where English is becoming more popular but where locals are highly appreciative of foreigners knowing their native tongue. It’s amazing the relationships you can build.
Q:How long have you been a student of Chinese, and how long did it take you to become conversational?
I have studied Chinese for over three years now. The first six months was spent on tones and simple phrases alone. As far as becoming conversational, it would depend on the context. My wife and I both went out quite often the first two years of living here and were able to communicate. It’s not an impossible language. We still go out a lot to practice and pick up new words. Of course, there’s always the internet to help learn what words or phrases are “hot."
Q:What was your biggest challenge learning Chinese? And what came easiest to you?
A challenge that still happens is when I’m with locals and they discuss an issue that I haven’t come across or studied yet. I get a gist of what they’re taking about, but certain vocabulary has me turning to my Pleco occasionally. It’s no biggie since I can turn those words into cards that I’ll study for the future. The easiest thing about Chinese is possibly the grammar. Being an adult, apart from my elementary students, I can pick up the rules and apply them. Now it takes practice obviously to have it become more natural, but it definitely can happen over time. Failure would probably be the top thing though, but it’s one of the most important factors when it comes to learning another language. My students would second that notion.
Q:What advice would you give to our readers who are just embarking on their journey with Chinese?
Practice, fail and apply as much as you can in real life. You can listen to mp3’s all you want, which isn’t at all worthless, but at least here in China you can hear the same phrase or word said in numerous ways. The more exposure you have, the most understanding you will have in the long run. When it comes to writing, in my case, there was a point where I had written and studied so many Chinese characters that when learning a new character, I could look at it 1-2 times and already know how to write it without practice.
Q:Do you have a favorite Chinese phrase? If so, what is it and why?
There was a point at school last year where I really wanted to say to my students, “Get over it.” They weren’t trying to be spoiled. I think just a bunch of little things were adding up in my head so I wanted to say something off-the-cuff. So I asked a co-worker who recommended “拉倒吧” to me. He then said that it probably wasn’t the most polite since “算了” could do just fine. It created a good joke that had me remember the phrase, and I use it with that particular Chinese, culture-bridge friend whenever something petty comes along that we should get over. 拉倒吧！
Q:What's your one biggest "hack" for learning Chinese?
I use two dictionaries, Pleco and Youdao. Pleco is used mainly by foreigners, and it gives a good breakdown of words, meanings, pinyin, etc. Youdao is used by Chinese-speakers for English study, but Youdao has better translating for longer sections of words. If a word doesn’t sound right in Youdao, I simply insert it in Pleco. Both dictionaries have vocabulary card systems that make it easy for practicing so the words can quickly become a part of one's arsenal. They’re what I use when I read posts from my students, co-workers and friends on QQ, WeChat and Weibo. These people don’t know it, but they teach me every time they make a post.
Thank you for your time Daniel! Daniel's attitude towards learning is very proactive, and one that we can all learn from, even long-time Chinese learners like myself. Make sure to practice his tips, because there is pure gold in this article. His advice to use Pleco is spot-on, I myself feel that it has been one of my most powerful learning tools, though I've never heard of Youdao until now…you can rest assured that I will be checking it out ASAP! Until next time, keep learning!
I think that anyone who has found there way to my little corner of the web will agree that command of Chinese is a valuable, desirable skill to have. Though not particularly an easy one to obtain. Granted, it helps a lot when you know the right way to approach your studies, but don't be fooled, you are still in for a lot of work if you want to really take your Chinese to the next level.
One of the best, if not the best ways to do this is to live abroad and completely immerse yourself in a Chinese speaking culture. There is no lack of language programs for foreigners living in Taipei, Taiwan for example. I myself attended one such school for a semester. You could also higher private tutors from amongst the locals to further your studies. These are both great ideas, but they aren't cheap.
In today's article, I'm going to offer you some alternatives: 5 free ways to learn Chinese. I think we can all "afford" free, right? So let's take a look.
1. Live with a Chinese family:
If you decide to live abroad, one way to rapidly improve your Chinese(especially comprehension) is to live with a local family. I did this for around half a year or so when I was living in Taipei and focused on intensely on my Chinese studies at Shida University.I lived with an elderly couple that went by simply "A'gong" and "A'po", Meaning grandfather and grandmother respectively in Taiwanese dialect. They must've been at least in their 70s, and they didn't speak a lick of English. Needless to say, my Chinese improved immensely just chatting g with them…and boy did they love to talk! If you have the opportunity, I definitely recommend living in a household where Chinese is spoken exclusively, it will really help you speed-up your progress.
2. Find a Language Exchange Partner:
If you don't have the opportunity to live with a Chinese family, you can at the very least make friends with a local person and have them become your language exchange partner. Trust me, you will have no lack of people wanting o be your friend just to learn English, so why not take advantage of that and learn Chinese? It's a win-win situation for everyone. Because Chinese people can be shy when they feel their Enlish is not up to par, don't let that stop you. Star conversations, be friendly. And when all else fails, check on Tealit.com for people interested in finding an LE partner(if you're in Taiwan), or make a profile on Italki.com and find a partner to Skype with. The bottom line is: Make it happen!
3. Watch Chinese shows on Youtube:
One of the best ways to improve your listening comprehension and vocabulary in a foreign language is to watch TV shows in that language, and Chinese is no different. Do a Youtube search for 康熙來了, one of my wife's favorite shows. It's a talk show with a lot of funny characters. You should also check out 大學生了沒 while you're at it! Or if you are in the mood for something more serious, check out 痞子英雄, a Taiwanese cop drama. Another good option would be to watch the news. These are just a few examples, but you get the idea, now go veg-out in front of the TV!
4. Listen to Some Music:
Another great way to improve your listening skills is to listen to Chinese music. You can find a lot of music for free on youtube, or on various radio apps. Why not start by searching for these artists' songs on youtube: Lu, zhang, Chen. That will get you off to a good start.
5. Go to your local Chinese restaurant:
Another idea for improving your Chinese without spending any money is to go down to the local Chinese restaurant and try to speak with your waiter in Chinese. Now, they will most likely be from Hong Kong and primarily speak Cantonese, but most will likely speak Mandarin as well. You'll never know if you don't try! My wife and I have started a lot of conversations by just ordering food, since she is Chinese. It always makes for an interesting time. So go on, be adventurous!
I hope that you found something that you could use in this article. It's easy to think that you'll never learn a language due to limitations that you place on yourself, such as being unable to find native speakers to interact with. Just know that there really is a lot that you can do, you just have to have an open mind to see the possibilities. If you want it bad enough, then you'll make it work.
PS
If you found this article useful, then check-out my article 10 tips to reverse engineering the Chinese languagefor more Chinese learning tips! Also, please don't be afraid to comment below and share your thoughts!
PPS
Don't forget to join my mail-list to stay up to date with all of the developments here at EazyChinese.com!!!
Thought I was going to say with a Vampire, right? Alright, that's admittedly a bad joke, even if you get the reference. Moving on…
Hey everyone, today I am bringing you the first article in a series of articles that I will be posting. I'll be interviewing other Chinese learners over the next few weeks, and getting to know a little more about what makes them "tick" as students of Chinese, so to speak. I am a firm believer, that no matter how deep you go into studying a subject, be it martial arts, language, engineering…(you get the point!), there is always something to be learned and some insight to be gained. This is especially true when we share with others, as everyone has a different thought process, and perhaps listening to them for a bit will help you to further your own understanding.
On that note, I have recently interviewed the talented and intelligent Swedish-born Olle Linge, who currently resides in Taipei, Taiwan and like myself, is a Chinese fanatic! I also thought it was really cool that we share another interest besides Chinese language: I myself started my martial arts journey with the study of Taijiquan. Granted, I had already been living in Taiwan for over a year, and had already learned Mandarin to a decent level, but taking Taichi lessons, taught in Chinese no-less, really pushed me off the deep-end with respects to my fascination for Chinese culture. Keep reading below for the full interview. Also, be sure to check out Olle's website Hackingchinese.com for more excelent articles. Enjoy!
Q: What Made you decide to learn Chinese?
It wasn't a decision really, it was more like a gradual change from thinking that Chinese looked interesting to being immersed in a master's program taught entirely in Chinese. The reason I became interested in the first place is also something of a mystery, but it's definitely related to practising Taijiquan and through that becoming interested in Chinese philosophy.
Q:How long have you been a student of Chinese, and how long did it take you to become conversational?
I've studied for about seven years, but language learning should probably be counted in hours. I would say around four of those years were really full-time, the rest of the time I was busy with other things as well. The answer to the second question depends on what you mean by “conversational”, but I didn't speak much Chinese before I moved to Taiwan. That was about one year after I started, so becoming conversational took perhaps a year and a few months.
Q:What was your biggest challenge learning Chinese? And what came easiest to you?
The biggest challenge was (and still is) the seemingly infinite variety of the Chinese language (and I don't specifically mean other dialects than Mandarin or classical Chinese here). There are words for everything, usually several of them, and trying to figure out the differences and understanding them when spoken without clear context is really challenging.
Q:Do you have a favorite Chinese phrase? If so, what is it and why?
I have a penchant for adding fragments of English while still retaining Chinese syntax and/or morphology, so I like phrases like “O不OK” and so on. I also like sentences where Chinese people habitually include incorrectly inflected English words, such as “她很fashion”. Note that if you're learning Chinese, don't take this as a call to pepper your sentences with English, listen to what people actually say and go with that. Don't invent your own hybrid sentences.
Q:What's your one biggest "hack" for learning Chinese?
I've written more than two hundred articles about how to hack Chinese, so it's really hard to pick just one hack. However, if I could choose one particular hack that I could travel back in time and teach myself, it would probably be using phonetic components to hack the pronunciation and writing of Chinese characters. I think most attentive and serious students find this out sooner or later, but way too many students think that meaning in Chinese characters comes from combining pictures of objects with each other, which of course isn't true for a huge majority of characters.
In today's lesson, you will be learning how to answer one very important question: What do you like to do? So next time you're speaking with some of your Chinese friends, try out some of these phrases. Who knows? Maybe you'll share similar interests! Although some of the material in today's lesson has been covered in previous lessons, I still think that it is always great to review, and who knows? You'll most likely learn something new too! Enjoy!
你喜歡做什麼？
nǐ xǐ huān zuò shé me ？
What do you like to do?
1.看電影
kàn diàn yǐng
Watch movies
你喜歡看什麼電影？
nǐ xǐ huān kàn shí me diàn yǐng ？
What kind of movies do you like to watch?
我喜歡看動作片和愛情片。
wǒ xǐ huān kàn dòng zuò piàn hé ài qíng piàn
I like to watch action and romance movies.
2.收集漫畫
shōu jí màn huà
Collect comic books
我聽說小傑收集很多蝙蝠俠的漫畫耶。
wǒ tīng shuō xiǎo jié shōu jí hěn duō biān fú xiá de màn huà yē
I heard that Jie collects a lot of Batman comics.
喔！那我朋友Patrick跟他當朋友。
ō ！nà wǒ péng yǒu Patrick gēn tā dāng péng yǒu
Oh! Then my friend Patrick should be friends with him.
3.做運動
zuò yùn dòng
Exercise
嘿！你喜歡做怎樣的運動呀？
hēi ！nǐ xǐ huān zuò zěn yàng de yùn dòng ya ？
Hey! What kind of exercise do you like to do?
你開玩笑的嗎？我最愛的運動就是舉重。
nǐ kāi wán xiào de ma ？wǒ zuì ài de yùn dòng jiù shì jǔ zhòng
Are you joking? My favorite exercise is lifting weights.
4.畫畫
huà huà
Draw pictures
嘿！Ruby這是你畫的嗎？
hēi ！Ruby zhè shì nǐ huà de ma ？
Hey! Ruby, I'd you draw this?
對呀！因為我很喜歡畫動物。
duì ya ！yīn wéi wǒ hěn xǐ huān huà dòng wù
Right! Because I love to draw animals.
那是斑馬嗎？
nà shì bān mǎ ma ？
Is that a zebra?
是我們家的南瓜。
shì wǒ men jiā de nán guā .
It's our cat, Pumpkin(Note: our cat is named Pumpkin, lol!)
好丟臉呀！
hǎo diū liǎn ya ！
How embarrassing!
5.去ＫＴＶ唱歌
qù ＫＴＶchàng gē
Go to the KTV and sing
Ruby你知道嗎？我住台灣五年，也沒一次去KTV唱歌過。
Ruby nǐ zhī dào ma ？wǒ zhù tái wān wǔ nián ，yě méi yī cì qù KTVchàng gē guò 。
Ruby, do you know? I lived in Taiwan for five years, and I never once went to a KTV to sing.
那太可惜了，那下次我們一定要去。
nà tài kě xī le ，nà xià cì wǒ men yī dìng yào qù
What a shame, then next time we definitely have to go.
對呀！那下次請我去唱歌。
duì ya ！nà xià cì qǐng wǒ qù chàng gē
Yeas! So next time invite me to go singing.
好！沒問題！
hǎo ！méi wèn tí ！
Okay! No problem!
That's it for today! Practice, practice, practice and I'll see you next time!
I know what you're thinking, "how am I possibly going to learn Chinese to a proficient level, that stuff sounds so hard!" Well, that it is. If you go about thinking of it as something foreign and put it of reach. By placing your mastery of Chinese on the proverbial pedestal, you are guaranteeing yourself a long, arduous journey. So let's do it the smart(dare I say lazy?) way. Using the following tips, I have "mastered" the Chinese language (realistically, everyone will always have room to improve, so no matter how good you get, don't go and get a big head!)
Tip #1:
Make associations- When learning new phrases, it is often very easy to apply the structure learned to the rest of the language. Chinese grammar is very simple for the most part. For example, if you learn the phrase " 這是我的…" once you learn your pronouns, you should be able to switch the 我 out for 你, 他, 她, 他們, etc. Trust me, when you approach your learning with intuition you will make a load of progress in a relatively short time, so get cracking!
Tip #2:
Make the language relevant to you- What I mean by this is, instead of memorizing endless lists of vocabulary words to the point of insanity, learn what interests you. Whether it be sports, cars, movies, whatever, everyone has a hobby. Make that hobby work for you. If you are trying to learn how to talk with your Taiwanese friend that you shoot hoops with about what a big Jeremy Lin fan you are, chances are you'll be a lot more motivated and learn faster than you would just memorizing some moldy old wordbank(yuck!).
Tip #3:
Mimic your way to mastery- instead of over analyzing your own Chinese pronunciation, grammar, whatever, make it your goal to focus on really listening and copying a native speaker, through videos, mp3s, in person if you can or any combination of the above. Chances are, when you stop focussing on yourself you'll make a lot of progress. So in other words, monkey-see-monkey-do…err monkey-say?
Tip #4:
Live the Language- By far, the best way I know to learn a language, and what in fact was a huge factor in my own success, is to actually live in a country where people speak it…I know, I'm blowing your mind now, right? Unfortunately, this is now going t be possible for everyone. Most people have jobs, families, pets, mortgages…you know, responsibilities. That's cool. It's part of life. Still, don't let that stop you, you can plan on vacationing in Taiwan or China to "test" your Chinese, or even as an excuse to pick a little up. Still, not everyone has the time or resources for trips around the globe. Don't fret, the answer to your dilemma just may lie down in Tip #5!
Tip #5:
Find a way- While it's true that not everyone has the means to make the "pilgrimage" to the Chinese speaking world, that doesn't mean that they can't bring the world of Chinese to them. It's the twenty-first century people! There's a new invention called the World Wide Web, or hadn't you heard? Chances are, if you're reading this, then you have =) Alright, sorry for being obnoxious, it's getting late and I apologize. But I digress. There are SOOOO many tools at your disposal available various places online. You've already found EazyChinese.com, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. One very useful website is italki.com. Italki is a networking site that allows users to connect with other users all over the world. Hop over there, create a profile and you can find a language exchange partner or a tutor. I'll be writing to you about more Chinese learning resources in the future, so make sure you take advantage of them!
Tip #6:
Get uncomfortable- Just like when you learned how to ride a bike, swim, or pretty much any other skill you may have picked up since being born into this wild world, you have to first suck at Chinese. Now don't freak out! I know we all have an ego, even if we'd like to believe that we don't, and we all hate losing face by allowing people see that we aren't good at something. But step back an look at the big picture for a minute: you don't expect to waltz into a jiu-jitsu class and start beating everyone on the first day, right? Do you see how ridiculous it is to expect otherwise? So now I want you to take that attitude and apply it towards learning Chinese. You'll stumble and fall at first, but all you have to do is get back up and back on that bike. The truth is you won't make much progress in Chinese until you learn to be uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. So step outta' your comfort zone already!
Tip #7:
Dive in deeper- Chinese is a rich, beautiful language, and to truly understand it, one must understand Chinese people, as language and culture are closely intertwined. This can be witnessed in many Chinese phrases and idioms. For example, 吃 means eat and 飯 means rice, but Chinese will say 吃飯 (literally eat rice)to mean eat. This is because rice is a traditional staple of the Chinese diet. This is just one example, as this topic could easily fill a book on its own!
Tip #8:
The pen is mightier than the sword!- This one may seem a little counter-intuitive at first, but hear me out. A great way to improve your Chinese vocabulary is learning to read and write Chinese characters. Doing this serves two purposes. 1. You will have a deeper understanding of Chinese, and knowing the characters will give you insight into the true meanings of Chinese words, which will allow you to pick up vocabulary at an alarming rate. 2. Read books in Chinese(I'm a fan of comics my self!) to learn useful vocabulary and see how they are used in everyday spoken Chinese. I can't emphasize the importance of this enough, so go grab a Chinese book and download Pleco and get started!
Tip #9:
That voice in the back of my head- This is going to one across as cheesy, but it's simple and it works. If you are in a situation where you seldom have someone to speak in Chinese with, then you can carry on Chinese conversations in your head, or why not narrate your life in Chinese! Don't be surprise if you start dreaming in Chinese if you do this often enough!
Tip #10:
It's okay to be a couch potato- Watching movies and TV shows in Chinese is one of the bet ways to improve our listening and comprehension. Pick a good kungfu movie, like Ip Man, and watch it in Mandarin. But turn off the English subtitles! Granted, you aren't going o understand a whole lot at first, but give it time and you will. For an added challenge, turn on the Chinese subtitles and use them to practice your reading!
So there you have it, my top ten tips for hacking the Chinese language. Put one or a few of these tips into practice and your Chinese will start to improve dramatically. Make them ALL a part of your Chinese learning process and I guarantee results. Thanks again for stopping by, and make sure to subscribe to my mail list, and enjoy your next 7 days of free Chinese lessons! And feel free to update us on your progress or ask any questions you may have over here at EazyChinese.com. Talk to you soon, and good luck!
…Okay, fine. I'll share. Today I am introducing a few Mandarin Chinese phrases that will help you to make your Chinese more meaningful and complete. They will also help you with expresssing yourself. And please, remember to share!
Here they are:
1. 這個–這個是我的
zhè gè –zhè gè shì wǒ de
This– This is mine.
2. 那個–那個是姐姐的
nà gè –nà gè shì jiě jiě de
That– That is my big sister's.
3. 哪裡–我的錢包在哪裡？
nǎ lǐ –wǒ de qián bāo zài nǎ lǐ ？
Where?– Where's my wallet?
4. 那裏–你的書包在那裡
nà lǐ –nǐ de shū bāo zài nà lǐ
There– Your backpack is there.
So there you have it. Now you have added some powerful new phrases to your little black book of Chinese. I hope You enjoyed this lesson, and please share it with your friends and comment below! I'll see you guys in a few days with our next lesson.
P.S.
I've been working really hard on a new project that I am very excited about. I can't wait to share it with you! Stay tuned for more news on that over the next few weeks!
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