Author Archive | Alan Park

Sign Up for Free, Early Access to FluentU for Other Languages

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 …

Presenting… Our New FluentU Demo Video!

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 …

How to Say “Funny” in Chinese: 6 Common Words

There are several ways to say “funny” in Chinese. To start off, you have 好笑, 可笑, 幽默—and more. These actually have important differences, so don’t get them mixed up! In this guide, I’ll go over common words that all mean …

Chinese Words for “Fake”: 山寨 vs 盗版 vs 假冒

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 …

The Ultimate Chinese Food Vocabulary List

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 left your Chinese food ordering rut. We’ve compiled …

7 Awesome Chinese Proverbs About Dragons

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 in China and represents strength, wisdom, rule, and unlimited potential. Chinese people still consider …

“Excuse Me” in Chinese: 9 Phrases to Get You Through the Crowds

Crowds are a fact of life in China—this is important to know if you hope to do any traveling there. So what do you say if you’re in a hurry and have to get past people? Perhaps you’ve been …

67 Must-know Job Titles in Chinese to Improve Your Professional Skills

Do you want to use Mandarin Chinese professionally? Then you wouldn’t want to call your boss or client by the wrong title right? In this blog post, you’ll learn 67 job titles in Chinese to have a business vocabulary for …

Chinese Slang 101: Chinese geeks and nerds – 宅男

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.” …

140+ Technical Terms in Chinese to Sound Like a Tech-savvy Native Speaker

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? Trust me when I say these terms will come in handy. Once I reached a …