Chinese

The ‘Mandarin Alphabet’ Myth: What Pinyin Is (and Isn’t)

Stop searching for the 'Mandarin alphabet'—it's a myth. This article demystifies Hanyu Pinyin, the essential romanization system that acts as…

2 weeks ago

Is Mandarin Really That Hard? The Honest Truth

Mandarin Chinese has a reputation for being impossible, but is that the whole story? The truth is a mix of…

2 weeks ago

Mandarin vs. Cantonese: Can They Really Not Understand Each Other?

Mandarin and Cantonese are often mistakenly called "dialects" of the same language, but can their speakers actually understand each other?…

2 weeks ago

The Real Difference Between Chinese and Korean

At a glance, Chinese and Korean can seem related due to their geographic proximity and shared vocabulary. However, these two…

2 weeks ago

Decoding Chinese Net-Speak: From 666 to 886

Ever seen "666" spammed in a Chinese livestream and wondered what's going on? This post decodes the clever numerical puns…

2 weeks ago

The Secret Script of Women: The Story of Nüshu

In the patriarchal world of rural China, women were denied a voice—so they invented their own. Uncover the story of…

2 weeks ago

The Four ‘You’s of Mandarin Chinese

Think "you" is simple? In English, it is, but Mandarin Chinese requires a more nuanced approach. The choice between the…

2 weeks ago

A Thousand Grains of Rice: The World of Classifiers

Why can you say "three dogs" in English, but speakers of Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan languages must use a special…

3 weeks ago

The Chameleon Tone: Unlocking the Musical Logic of Mandarin’s Tone Sandhi

Mandarin is famously a tonal language, but what many learners quickly discover is that the tones they memorize often change…

3 weeks ago

Famous Mistranslations: The “Let Them Eat Cake” of the East

Just as the West has its infamous mistranslation of Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake", the East too has seen…

2 years ago

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