How would you describe yourself?
It depends on the context, doesn’t it?
Are you filling out a social media profile? Meeting someone face-to-face for …
Author Archive | Daniel Lal
Traditional vs. Simplified Chinese: What They Are and Where to Use Them
Note: Chinese words in this article will be written in simplified characters, then traditional characters, then accompanied by the pinyin and meaning, e.g., …
3 Chinese Conversation Scripts to Prepare You for Real-world Dialogues
Beginner Chinese conversation scripts are the worst.
No, that’s not a typo.
Imagine you look up a scripted example dialogue in Mandarin and read …
The Half-hour Guide to Learning Basic Mandarin Writing
Real-world Mandarin writing is a beautiful mess.
Like with any written language, there are various styles.
There are tons of fonts.
There’s unfathomably bad …
The Mandarin Learner’s Guide to (All 214!) Chinese Radicals
“The characters are so complicated!”
“There are soooo many characters!”
“There’s no alphabet!”
These are three of the most common reasons people don’t want …
Learning Chinese Grammar? Own It with These YouTube Videos!
Navigating the seas of Chinese grammar isn’t easy.
That can often mean “not fun.”
It’s enough to drive you to an existential crisis.
Unfortunately, …
How to Learn Chinese by Reading It, Even If You “Can’t”
Some friends of mine recently organized a hike that ended up being a steep, arduous, bruising climb.
When they got to the top, they …
