Study Tips

Why Pinyin Just Isn’t Enough

Why Pinyin Just Isn’t Enough

Learning Chinese is hard. I’d be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees.

You have 4 tones and over 3,000 modern Chinese characters. Now, add on the complex question of whether to learn simplified versus traditional characters … or both. It’s enough to make some of us want to give up learning Mandarin altogether. So you might wonder: Why bother learning characters at all? Don’t all Mainland Chinese people know pinyin? If I write down an address in pinyin to a taxi driver, they will surely understand. Why bother at all?

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Jobs Requiring Chinese: So You Want To Work In Chinese?

Jobs Requiring Chinese: So You Want To Work In Chinese?

This is a guest Blog post written by Frances Chan, a language-learning consultant: she helps people learn languages. Her pieces on learning languages have helped thousands of people. She most enjoys teaching language-learners how to sound more like native speakers. If you are interested in more pieces that she has written, check out her blog.

Are you keen to work in Chinese but you’re unsure of where to start looking or which jobs to research that require Chinese?

You’ve been studying Mandarin for a few years, and you want to take your China-savvy to the next level: your career. But what do you do with it? There are few straightforward applications of this language—or any human language for that matter. Learn programming, and you can become a software engineer. Learn languages, and you… ?

What’s more, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students study in Anglophone countries each year, gaining professional fluency in English in addition to their already native grasp on Chinese. Based on language abilities alone, they have an absolute advantage over you. What do you do?

As an avid language-learner keen on applying my hard-earned skills, I was curious myself. So this past month, I interviewed ten early-career professionals who’ve begun building a career out of their Chinese skills.

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Mandarin self-study: Practice with these 2 Apps

Mandarin self-study: Practice with these 2 Apps

This is a guest post from friend of the site, Peter Askelof of  Du Chinese. Visit their site to learn all about their fantastic new Chinese Language App.

Is it possible to practice Mandarin by yourself, without taking classes or living in China? It could very well be, at least if you are to believe the advocates of input ­based language learning. Input ­based language learning consists of listening and reading, with study activities such as watching TV, reading books, listening to podcasts and studying texts. Many experienced language learners swear by an input focused learning style where the bulk of your time is spent on listening and reading material.

Through input ­based activities you are fed a stream of correct language which helps you develop a natural intuition for the language’s grammar and a large passive vocabulary. A possible drawback to focusing mainly on input is that it might take a bit longer before you feel comfortable speaking yourself, but if you keep practicing input­ based activities you will soon reap the rewards of a rich vocabulary and a much better intuition for the language. To make the learning the most effective, the language you input should be just slightly above your comprehension level, so that you can understand most of the material but it still contains some new words and grammar. You should get as much input as possible, so it helps if you also find the material interesting. So where can you find fun, interesting listening and reading material suited for your skill level? Here we recommend two apps that aim to provide you with entertaining content suited to your language level: ChinesePod for listening, and Du Chinese for reading.

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7 Apps That Can Score You a Date in China

7 Apps That Can Score You a Date in China

Dating apps are a huge part of modern dating culture. You have Tinder, Happn, Bumble… the list goes on and on. But if you’re going to China, chances are you’re not going to be finding any dates using the apps you’re used to. Sure, you could go out and meet people to take on a date (read our guide on how to score a date).

However, your best bet is going to be using what the locals use, not just for app availability reasons in that region, but also to increase the number of people you can interact with. Let’s take a look at some of China’s popular dating apps. Read More

3 Ways Going to Karaoke Will Help You Learn Chinese

3 Ways Going to Karaoke Will Help You Learn Chinese

If you’ve been learning Mandarin for a while, then you probably know a thing or two about KTV. You probably know that KTV stands for Karaoke Television and is popular not just in China but in many countries across Asia. You may also know it differs vastly from Western-style karaoke where you are typically invited onstage to sing your favorite songs in front of an audience of strangers. Does that sound intimidating? Well lay your worries to rest: KTV is not designed to test your inner stage-fright limits. Instead, it involves booking your own private room with your best friends or colleagues, and singing to your heart’s content for as long as you desire (with some booze involved, if that’s your thing) whether it’s just for one hour or an all night-long marathon session.

More often than not, Mandarin learners who do not feel confident in their language or singing ability tend to decline offers to go to KTV. By doing so, you are shutting yourself out of a culturally important (and fun!) activity and an excellent opportunity to improve their Mandarin language skills. But have no fear: as the ever popular Taiwanese group May Day （五月天） famously sang “Wǒ bù yuàn ràng nǐ yīgè rén｜我不愿让你一个人” | I won’t leave you on your own any longer when it comes to KTV. Read more for the 3 things you need to know to optimize your next KTV experience. Read More

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