Learning Chinese is tough for a lot of reasons.
Pinyin doesn’t sound the way you expect it to.
Failure to use accurate tones can derail a conversation at any moment.
And don’t get me started on Chinese characters.…
Learning Chinese can be as entertaining as it is educational.
Keep scrolling down to check out my favorite films for Chinese language learners!
[fluentu-toc]
Best Strategies for Learning Chinese from Movies
Don’t get the popcorn popping just yet. First, …
So you want to learn Chinese.
You’re probably using most of the tools that people use to improve their listening. and you might already be reading most of the popular blogs.
And you might even be watching Chinese …
Chinese fluency is about more than just chengyu, grammar, or even pinyin and tones.
It’s also about learning Chinese culture.
After all, learning Chinese is about establishing a connection.
And there’s no better way to do that …
It’s hard to learn Chinese online by yourself sometimes.
You don’t always have teachers and classmates to talk to and joke with between lessons, so it can get to feeling a little lonely.
I’ve found that blogs make this online …
The conventional wisdom is that Mandarin Chinese grammar is easy.
After all, the hard parts are Chinese tones, characters, and chengyu, right?
If you’re no longer a newbie, you might be cursing that conventional wisdom right now.
Because we …
There’s a secret to learning the four tones in Mandarin Chinese.
They might be the part of the language that learners struggle with the most, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be one of them.
I’m going to …
Do you know that awkward moment that every Chinese learner experiences?
When you realize that “nǐ hǎo” is actually not how Chinese people say hello?
If you don’t, then this post is for you: now you can say hello in …
I vividly remember taking the tingxie quizzes (literally “listen and write”) back in college.
The teacher would pronounce a Mandarin Chinese word and the students had to write out the hanyu pinyin along with the tones.
The quizzes were tough, …
Should learners just generally avoid Chinese idioms, which after all aren’t really necessary for learning Chinese?
No. Not if they really want to be fluent. They say brevity is the soul of wit, and nothing really beats the impact of …
No trip to China is complete without it.
I’m not talking about the Great Wall or the Bund, though you should visit.
I’m not talking about foot massages, though you should definitely give them a shot.
And I’m not talking …
Is Mandarin Chinese as difficult as everyone says?
For beginners whose native language is English, and who haven’t studied a foreign language before, initially it can feel like quite a daunting task.
The challenge lies in the fact that there …
We’re happy to announce that development for our smartphone apps are well under way (finally!).
Our app will continue to deliver more of what you’ve come to expect from FluentU: learning through the web’s best real-world content but …
Chinese people can’t tell that I’m not Chinese.
You might think that if I speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, it must be because I have a natural talent for languages. But if you had been in my first year Chinese language …
Perhaps you know how to say “nǐ hǎo,” but not goodbye.
Or perhaps you already know how to goodbye in Chinese – “zài jiàn” – but you’re looking for a new and interesting way to say it.
Here are 9 …
What if I told you that you can enjoy the leisure activity of watching movies while learning Mandarin Chinese at the same time?
Well, it’s the 21st century—you can!
If you’re tired of going to class or reading a …
As you know, FluentU is the way to learn a language with the web’s best authentic videos.
But until now, we’ve only covered Chinese for English speakers.
This isn’t to say that we won’t do other languages. What works amazingly …
Top language learners swear by it.
It’s scientifically proven to be the best way to memorize anything.
So why hasn’t spaced repetition learning gone mainstream – in language learning and elsewhere?
How come people are still studying words in the …
We’re proud to present our new FluentU demo video!
(If you are having trouble watching the video above, then you can watch it here.)
We made FluentU to improve on traditional tools for language learning, which too often are …
Do you know these 3 ways to say funny: 好笑 ， 可笑， 幽默 ?
How about the differences between them?
They might sound similar but they’re actually different – don’t get them mixed up!
The best place to start is …
“Linsanity!”
“Lincredible!”
“All he does is Lin Lin Lin!”
Jeremy Lin has not only revived the slumping NY Knicks, but he’s also enriching the English language.
And not just the English language, but also Chinese slang.
We’ve picked for you …
Eskimos have hundreds of words for “snow.”
Actually, that’s a widespread misconception.
But what about Chinese words for “fake”? Just off the top of our heads here, you have 7:
山寨 (shān zhài)
假冒 (jiǎ mào)
盗版 (dào bǎn)
高仿 …
A Valentines Day billboard has Shijiazhuang residents talking:
“Don’t get off track on Valentines Day — Let love return home (不要出轨情人节，让爱回家 – bú yào chū guǐ qíng rén jié ，ràng ài huí jiā).”
Apparently, Valentines Day is a special …
You’re probably familiar with Groupon.
But did you know that China also has more than 800 group buying websites, of which Groupon is just one?
In fact, in China group buying is said to be more than just a way …
Are you eating the same things all the time at Chinese restaurants?
Are your Chinese friends not impressed anymore when you order Chinese food?
If so, maybe it’s time you got out of your Chinese food ordering rut.
To that …
Do you know what the dragon symbolizes for Chinese people?
The dragon has been a sacred creature since ancient times. It is the king of beasts and represents strength, wisdom, rule, and unlimited potential. Chinese people still consider themselves descendants …
Are you off to a strong start for 2012?
Then don’t forget to keep pushing for a strong finish.
Because otherwise you’d just end up with 虎头蛇尾 (hǔ tóu shé wěi).
虎头蛇尾 (hǔ tóu shé wěi) literally means a “tiger …
Do you know the 3 nakeds in Chinese slang?
If not, would you like to get to know them?
Chinese Slang’s Naked #1: 裸婚 (luǒ hūn) – “Naked Wedding”
It means getting married with nothing but a wedding certificate …
This Chinese vocabulary word list has everything from “Santa” to “wrapping paper” to “New Year’s resolutions.”
Hope you find it useful this holiday season!
Christmas – People or Tangible Objects
angel —— 天使 —— tiān shǐ
Bethlehem —— 伯利恒 …
Have you ever made an innocent comment…
…only to have someone jump on you because they thought you were talking about them?
Here’s a Chinese idiom you can use to keep them at bay: 对号入座 (duì hào rù zuò).
对号入座 …
If you’re tired of the word “tired” (累 – leì), it’s your lucky day.
We’ve got a chengyu (Chinese idiom) that’s much cooler: 有气无力(yǒu qì wú lì).
有气无力 (yǒu qì wú lì) literally means “to have breath but no strength,” …
The hardest part of Chinese is that it feels arbitrary.
It has its own logic, but it takes trial and error to figure it out.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a shortcut?
A way that you could almost …
Crowds are a fact of life in China.
So what do you say if you’re in a hurry and have to get past people?
Perhaps you’ve been silently bumping into and running past them…
Just in case, here are 5 …
I have a secret to share with you.
It’s embarrassing, but I want the best for our readers.
It’s how I broke through Chinese learning plateaus.
What’s my secret? Hours upon hours of Chinese dating shows and the Chinese version …
Do you want to use Mandarin Chinese professionally?
Then you wouldn’t want to call your boss or client by the wrong title right?
To help you get this sorted out, we’ve put together a business Chinese vocabulary list on job …
Do you ever have those moments when you know your Chinese is on?
When you almost feel like you were born to speak Chinese?
When you feel like a fish in water?
If so, or if you’re …
We couldn’t make this up if we tried.
A new Chinese slang word has emerged in recent years that literally means “leftover girls.” It’s used to describe urban women who enjoy a high level of education, income, IQ, and have …
It seems like everyone is interviewing for a job in China these days. And such interviews are often in Chinese. One word will separate the winners from the not-quite-winners: “experience.” There are two words for it in Chinese – 经验(jīngyàn) …
The original Chinese phrase for “making a fool out of yourself” is 闹笑话 (nào xiào hua). But a Chinese singer unwittingly invented new Chinese slang meaning the same thing – 闹太套(nàotàitào) – when he took the stage at the 2008 …
Did you know there are more Chinese internet users than there are Americans? You can bet that many of them are 宅男 (zháinán).
宅男 (zháinán) is Chinese slang for a male geek or nerd, and it literally means “house male.” …
Do you know how to say “tweet” in Chinese?
How about “email” or “blogger”?
Do you know the Chinese counterparts to Youtube, Google and Facebook?
If you’re curious, our Mandarin Chinese vocabulary list for computers and the internet has you …
If you speak Chinese and have been to China, you probably know that Chinese people love to compliment foreigners on their Chinese. Next time you get complimented, instead of going back to your standard 谢谢 (xiè xiè – “thank you”) …
You’ve probably come across tabloid headlines slamming celebrities as 傻子 (shǎzi) or 呆子 (dāizi), but have you noticed the context in which each expression is used? Both 傻子(shǎzi) and 呆子 (dāizi) describe people who aren’t smart/intelligent and can be …
