Author Archive | Ben Sangree

Introducing FluentU!

Since our public beta launch last month, we are excited and humbled to have welcomed thousands of new users to FluentFlix. It has been thrilling watching the feedback and support continue to roll in, and we encourage you to continue …

Lessons in Learning Chinese: Yangyang Cheng

Today we are thrilled to talk with Chinese teacher Yangyang Cheng, founder of Yoyo Chinese, and host of one of the most popular Chinese teaching Youtube channels (with over 4 million views!) If you like learning Chinese with interesting …

No Nonsense Newbie Tips: Four 喜欢 Alternatives

In this installment of No Nonsense Newbie Tips, we want to help our readers escape the 喜欢 (xǐ huan) rut. Found in chapter 1 of all beginner textbooks, 喜欢 is an easy catch all for anything and everything. 中国菜? 喜欢。 …

Lessons in Learning Chinese: Greg Bell

Today we feature Greg Bell.  Originally from New Jersey, he went to college in Michigan, then proceeded half way around the world to  Taiwan, where he is now studying for his Master’s degree in history.  He discusses his adventures …

Top Chengyus to Describe FluentU Launch!

If you are currently reading this, no doubt you have already signed up for FluentU beta (and if not, then stop reading and go!) After months of humbly blogging away while quietly designing and building our buttery-smooth video engine …

FluentU Launching Public Beta in 3 Days!

Since announcing our planned beta launch less than two short weeks ago, we have welcomed hundreds of new users, uploaded dozens of new videos, and been featured on some of our favorite Chinese learning blogs (all the while …

No Nonsense Newbie Tips: 会 vs. 能

After tackling 知道 vs 认识 and 觉得 vs 想, lets continue with a distinction a few readers have written inquiring about: 会 vs. 能. Like “to know” and “to think” before it, “can” or “able” is an English word …

No Nonsense Newbie Tips:想 vs. 觉得

In the next installment of our No Nonsense Newbie Tips, lets examine another important distinction long giving Chinese learners grief. Like “I know“, “I think” is one of the very first phrases learned when studying a foreign language…

No Nonsense Newbie Tips: 知道 vs 认识

For the first in our series No Nonsense Newbie Tips, let’s tackle the particularly thorny issue of 知道 (zhīdào) versus 认识 (rènshi). Both approximately hover around the English “to know”, but there are very important differences between the two…