Questions tagged [learning]
For questions about the process and techniques used to learn Chinese or its topolects.
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Why "again" is expressed differently in the present and in the past. (又 and 再)
I've been studying for HSK3 and I was very intrigued in the reason why expressing "again" in different moments has to be done with different characters, I mean, I know their differences and ...
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How do you pronounce the word 任?
I'm uncertain about the pronunciation of the word "任." Is it pronounced like "run" or more like "yen"? I've watched several videos, but I'm still unsure about the correct ...
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Difference betwen 讲 的是 and 讲
In this sentence:
这个电影 讲 的是一个人因为被追杀 , 躲 在 少林寺 里边学功夫, 然后为他爸爸 报仇的故事
I do not understand the structure in the bold part. Specifically, what is the difference between using just 讲 and using 讲 的是 as in ...
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Is Duolingo a good place to start if I am a complete beginner?
I'm interested in learning Chinese, and I know right now next to nothing about it, besides some basic words and phrases. I know Duolingo is a very trusted language learning platform, but I'm not ...
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Can anyone help me check if the translation I made is correct?
Guy 1: Good morning, everyone. I’m News Anchor (name), and welcome to Weather Weather Lang. Today is April 6, 7AM and we’ll look at the city weather forecast. Reporter (name), how’s the weather today?
...
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Recommendations of websites or services for saving any audio of Chinese sentence
Can I save an audio of Baidu Translate?
I can save an audio of Google Translate using the following URL.
https://translate.google.com/translate_tts?ie=UTF-8&client=tw-ob&tl=zh-CN&q=...
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How to avoid misunderstanding in conservation?
A first-time job seeker is interviewed by HR.
HR: 小姐貴姓?
Job Seeker: 敝姓魏.
HR: 魏什麼?
Job Seeker: ?? 我爸爸姓魏啊!
Q: What's wrong, and how to avoid?
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Puzzling Chinese conversations
Puzzle 1:
A: 張先生還在人事部上班嗎? - Does Mr. Zhang still work for HR?
B: 不在, 昨天上調了. - No, he was promoted and moved to somewhere else yesterday.
A: 啊, 他死啦!? 我前天還見到他, 怎麼這麼快就走了呢? Ah, he was dead?! I have only ...
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What is the best way to go about beginning to learn mandarin pronunciation?
I have had an interest in trying to learn Mandarin for a long time. However, I am apprehensive about starting this process because I don't want to end up initially learning the pronunciation ...
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How to memorise a Chinese -character/-word that have different meanings?
There are Chinese characters & words that have many and different meanings, my question is how remember their meanings ?
Are there any tips ?
Simple examples:
得 (de, děi, dé): particle, must, ...
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Songs, poems, etc. as learning aids for sequences of words
Given that the names of the dynasties can be sung to the tune of Frère Jacques, I wonder whether there are other songs or poems helping to remember, say, the heavenly stems, the earthly branches, the (...
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Ways to say "I love you" other than 我爱你
Are there any other ways to say "I love you" other than 我爱你?
It can't be that people say "I love you" only to their lovers. How do you say you love your friends or family that you ...
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Is there any proof that the Taishanese language is related to Gan? Is it from a linguistic perspective?
The Taishanese language is known to be a branch of Siyi (Sze Yup or Seiyap) which is part of the Yue subfamily branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, and related to Cantonese. This article that I was ...
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Etymology of 奇 and 怪
I am going through the word 奇. Mandarin Temple had mentioned, learning hint as “a person riding a horse”. Is this only learning hint? Or is it also etymologically correct? What is the exact etymology ...
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Improve reading speed at advanced level
I have actively studied Chinese for about 10 years now, and I can speak, read, and write at the advanced level. However, my reading speed is abysmally slow. It takes me about 7 minutes to get through ...
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How can I answer the question "你什么时候开始学中文的?"
How can I answer the question "你什么时候开始学中文的?"
I cannot answer the "什么时候" questions. Can anybody help me please?
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How many people are learning Chinese as a second language today?
I am currently trying to acquire statistics and studies regarding trends and historic data regarding the total number of people that are learning Chinese as a foreign language globally along with ...
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How are Chinese people taught Chinese Hanzi?
I don't study Chinese at all, nor have any plans to, I just wanted wanted to ask a basic question on how Chinese people learn Hanzi. I study Japanese, so I study Kanji, which is the use of Chinese ...
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Dictating Chinese text on Windows
Is there any program for Microsoft Windows for dictating Chinese text, that is more accurate than the built-in Microsoft Speech Recognition?
I am aware that there exist some online solution, such as ...
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Chinese-characters learning software for Ubuntu (Linux)
I am looking for a software that shows a Chinese alphabet/word on my desktop with its pinyin and meaning in English, and each day it will give a different word.
Since I am using a Linux (Ubuntu 18.04) ...
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What does it mean when there are 2 verbs next to each other in a sentence?
I came across this sentence "我喜欢说话" today and I'm sort of confused as to how this works. I dug around a bit and on all set learning they say that 2 verb phrases can come right after one ...
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What's this sentence 麻烦包两份上次的礼盒 mean?
I've been googled and using translator what I found that 麻烦包两份上次的礼盒 means is "Please pack two copies of the last gift box". but I'm not satisfied so I searched that 麻烦 is similar with Qing = ...
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Learning a Hanzi a day?
Currently Japanese is my sole language focus, and I would consider myself at a rather advanced level (individual Kanji knowledge surely 2000+). But I got thinking, what if I spent some 100 hours or ...
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I have Chinese text in an image, I'm looking for a translation please
I'm trying to figure out what the writing on the sticker means. What type of wood is this? And Name? Thank you!
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Is there an Android app that pressing on words translates them?
I found this popup browser dictionary: Zhongwen: Chinese-English Dictionary. Hovering the mouse over a character, it displays the translation and the pinyin:
Is there an app that gives this easy ...
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五笔字型 practicing Apps?
I've recently gotten into the 五笔86 input method and I am wondering if there are any apps on the computer I can use to practice typing so I can get quick with it. I have a Mac and I've looked for a few ...
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How many non-native speakers of Chinese are there?
I have been reading about the rapid expansion of the Confucius Institute program and am interested in what its 'results' have been in terms of actually producing people who can speak 普通话.
I have found ...
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How to talk about cooking a dish with multiple items
I have been practicing Chinese by writing essays in Chinese. I am starting one on my cooking routines. While I know many food terms, I have never expressed anything beyond basic with respect to food.
...
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Is it common to learn individual characters before two-characters words?
'Characters frequency lists' and 'words frequency lists' are not mutually inclusive.
Most words are composed of two characters. For instance, 我們, 可以, 自己, etc.
Is learning characters individually first ...
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Where can I find word-for-word translation for "Beijing Huan Ying Ni" song?
I'm trying to learn Chinese by listening to music, and I've been listening to the Olympic song "Beijing Huan Ying Ni." But I don't know what the words mean. All the translations online are approximate ...
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Does reading books with pronunciation written above the characters develop one's skills?
I've got some books in Chinese, written both in characters and pinyin. Can reading such a book develop anything when it comes to my Chinese? I started reading it by hiding the pronunciation with a ...
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What if you learn all the stroke orders in the wrong order?
I started learning Chinese a few months back by myself but stopped as soon as I realized that stroke order was important part of learning the Chinese language
I don't want to go for coaching and want ...
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Standard Chinese translation of "I'm not a bad person"
I'm trying to translate "I'm not a bad person" to standard Chinese. I am told the following:
There are also two ways to say "A isn't B". When B is a noun (things, people, places, etc.), use bú shì.
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How do you improve Chinese writing beyond HSK4 or HSK5?
I am learning Chinese (not student, just private interest) and my Chinese is somewhere between HSK4 and HSK5 (half part of HSK5 finished). I am not focussing to improve my vocabulary as when I speak, ...
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How does someone train using 了 correctly?
I'm really bad at 了ing: Nankai students say I'm bad at this. My teacher says I'm bad at this. Even Tang Ho mentioned my abuse of 了. Moreover, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is really bad at 了ing:...
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How to determine if a word occurs more in written or spoken language?
I recently encountered the word 随着, which was translated by my text as a figurative "following", as in "Following X, Y". At first glance, this "following" translation sounds very formal, almost too ...
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Is there a good monolingual learner's dictionary for Chinese?
Something that can be useful for an intermediate language student of a language is a monolingual learner's dictionary, which uses a restricted set of vocabulary to define a much larger set of ...
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Does anyone out there have an old textbook about learning Moiyen Hakka?
I was born in Montreal and my parents are both Hakka from Calcutta. They never taught me the language and now in my thirties, I'm realizing how important it is to me to go back to my roots. I want ...
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How would a person start translating classical stories from the Han dynasty?
Stories like both Confucius's Analects and Ying Shao's Fengsu Tonyi seem to use the characters in different ways than I've encountered so far.
As an example, I'm currently working on translating a ...
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App to learn stroke order and writing chinese characters
As the title says, I am looking for an app to learn stroke order and writing chinese characters. Ideally, the software would eventually teach me to draw a character (with my fingers on the touchscreen)...
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Curious about different ways of swearing in Mandarin
I'm not sure if this is considered an appropriate conversation or question but I've had conversations with Cantonese speakers before who've mentioned that it's so easy to swear in Cantonese, but there ...
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Where can I find a collection of samples of Mandarin spoken words, annotated with pinyin and tones?
I recently built the following app that lets you listen to a Chinese word and asks tests your tone hearing ability:
https://tones.strokes.ovh/
I'd like to extend it, but in order to get there I need ...
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Most popular question and answer and forum sites in Chinese [closed]
What social networks exist on the Chinese internet, that allow people to meet and discuss things on any topic, or ask questions, like on Quora. I am learning Chinese and would like to practice. Any ...
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Does reading Chinese sentences improve my speaking?
If I do not have anyone to practice speaking with, will reading Mandarin help me speak Mandarin?
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Especially at the beginning stage, how can one teach Chinese culture and integrate cultural elements into the language class? [closed]
Especially at the beginning stage, how can one teach Chinese culture and
integrate cultural elements into the language class, in order to promote a
long-term learning process?
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Is that chinese language is easily learn from watching chinese dramas?
Is that chinese language is easily learn from watching chinese dramas and is that language easy?
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Does Taiwan have any website like YouTube?
(Inspired) I want to let learn about Chinese and I want to watch some short video to begin with. Is there any website like Youtube in Taiwan and can be access from USA?
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Does China have any website like Youtube?
I want to let learn about Chinese and I want to watch some short video to begin with. Is there any website like Youtube in China and can be access from USA?
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How do I overcome my inability to think in Chinese? I instead translate what I read into English
I am not sure why, but whenever I read something in Chinese...I don't know how to say this, it just doesn't click, Every word I read is instantly translated to English, If I try to force my self to ...
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if ... then ... in Chinese without any special words
I found the following example on this webpage:
你 高兴，我 也 高兴。
nǐ gāoxìng, wǒ yě gāoxìng.
If you are happy then I am happy.
Somehow, the translation sounds weird to me, as I would rather ...
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