When you’re learning Chinese, discovering 流行用语, aka Chinese slang expressions (liú xíng yòng yǔ) is a fun and interesting way to get a deeper understanding of the language and culture. However, before diving in, it’s important to know which phrases are appropriate to use in different situations. In this article, we’ll be exploring some of the most interesting, quirky, and downright wacky slang expressions in Chinese to know in 2023, along with their meanings and how to use them in context. Prepare to spice up your Chinese vocabulary with some seriously meowy slang!

1. Chinese slang: 蒟蒻 (jǔ ruò)

First up in your collection of popular words to know is 蒟蒻, a self-deprecating slang term used to refer to oneself as a noob or a newbie.

You’ll see it often used in online gaming communities and online. If you’re a new player to a game, for instance, you might say:
我是蒟蒻，还请多多关照
Wǒ shì jǔ ruò, hái qǐng duō duō guān zhào
I’m a noob, please take care of me.

Here’s how to use this slang expression in context:
A: 你打得好烂啊，是不是蒟蒻啊？
Nǐ dǎ de hǎo làn a，shì bù shì jǔruò a?
You play so poorly, are you a newbie?

B: 没错，我才刚开始学呢。
Méi cuò，wǒ cái gāng kāi shǐ xué ne
B: Yes, I’m just getting started.

Fun fact: Look up 蒟蒻 and you’ll see pictures of konjac, that calorie-free plant that was a popular noodle substitute a while back.
How did we get to “noob” from there? Konjac in Chinese (蒟蒻 (jǔ ruò) sounds like 巨[jù] 弱[ruò], which means very weak. From there, it’s easy to picture how online, especially, this came to mean “noob”.

2. 酱紫 (jiàng zǐ)

Next up is another great buzzword to know is 酱紫.

Because it sounds very similar to 这样子, it also means “like this” or “in this way”. The difference is that you will often use it playfully or sarcastically.

For example, if someone says “你怎么不去问问他呢? (nǐ zěn me bù qù wèn wèn tā ne?) which means “Why don’t you go ask him?”, you could sarcastically respond with “酱紫啊，太感谢你的好建议了” (jiàng zǐ a, tài gǎn xiè nǐ de hǎo jiàn yì le), which means “Oh, great idea, thanks so much!”

A: 今天要开会，你怎么穿得这么随便？
Jīntiān yào kāihuì，nǐ zěn me chuān dé zhè me suí biàn？
We have a meeting today, why are you dressed so casually?

B: 酱紫不行吗？
Jiàng zǐ bù xíng ma?
What’s wrong with that?

3. Chinese slang expression: 吃瓜 (chī guā)

Meaning “to eat watermelon seeds,” you’ll find 吃瓜 (chī guā) is a meowvelous slang expression to use to describe someone who is watching a situation from the sidelines without directly getting involved. It’s often used to describe people who are gossiping or watching drama unfold without participating in it themselves.

It’s purrfect to talk about bystanders or gawkers. For example, you can say:
他们两个人吵架了，我们都在一旁吃瓜看戏。
Tāmen liǎng gè rén chǎojià le，wǒmen dōu zài yī páng chī guā kàn xì
The two of them were arguing, and we were all standing by watching and waiting to see what would happen

Or
吃瓜群众看热闹。
Chī guā qúnzhòng kàn rènao.
The crowd watches the excitement with interest.

Curious to see 吃瓜 (chī guā) used in context? Here are two dialogues using it:

A: 这个新闻真扯。
Zhège xīnwén zhēn chě.
This news is sensationalized.

B: 别说了，我们只是吃瓜群众。
Bié shuō le, wǒmen zhǐshì chīguā qúnzhòng.
Let’s not say anything, we’re just bystanders watching the drama.

Here’s another way to use this Chinese slang expression:
A: 你听说了吗？ 王老师辞职了。
Nǐ tīngshuō le ma？ Wáng lǎoshī cízhí le.
Have you heard? Teacher Wang resigned.

B: 没有，怎么回事？
Méi yǒu，zěn me huí shì ？
No, what happened?

A: 不知道，我也是刚刚在微博上看到的，咱们吃瓜看热闹吧！
Bù zhīdào，wǒ yě shì gāng gang zài Wēibó shàng kàn dào de，zánmen chīguā kàn rènao ba ！
I don’t know. I just saw it on Weibo. Let’s just watch and see what happens.

4. 搞笑 (gǎo xiào)

搞笑 means “funny” or “humorous” and is often used to describe comedic content. For example, if you watch a funny video on Chinese social media, you might say “这个视频真的太搞笑了” (zhè ge shì pín zhēn de tài gǎo xiào le), which means “This video is really funny.”

A: 这个视频好搞笑啊！
Zhè ge shìpín hǎo  gǎoxiào le
This video is so funny!

B: 我也觉得，笑得我肚子疼。
Wǒ yě jué de xiào de wǒ dùzi téngI think so too, I laughed until my stomach hurt.

Think about who you’re talking to when using this Chinese-language expression: 搞笑 gǎo xiào could be considered somewhat informal and may not be appropriate in certain professional or formal settings.

5. The popular expression: 神犇 (shén bēn)

You use the slang term 神犇 (shén bēn) to describe someone extremely talented or skilled in a particular area. Imagine, if you know someone who is a talented musician, you might say to brag about them to your friends “他真是一个音乐神犇” (tā zhēn shì yī gè yīn yuè shén bēn). That means “He’s a real musical genius.”

Here’s how you can use this slang expression in context:

A: 他真的是个神犇，什么都会。
Tā zhēn de shì gè shénbēn，shénme dōu huì
He’s really a genius, he can do anything.

B: 是啊，我都有点佩服他了。
Shì a， wǒ dōu yǒu diǎn pèi fú tā le。
Yeah, I’m starting to admire him.

Fun fact: 神 means “god”. And because the character 犇 contains three times the character “牛” (cow”), and something “牛” is awesome in Chinese, this expression 神犇 took on the meaning of “十分牛”, that is to say, “extremely good”, to the point of being “god-like”.

6. Celebrate with the buzzword 撒花 (sā huā)

Want to celebrate something? Then, 撒花 (sā huā) is the expression you’ll want to use. It’s similar to saying “hooray” or “yay” in English.

So, for instance, if you’re told your friend won the lottery or another piece of good news, you might respond with 撒花 (sā huā!), which means “Hooray!”

A: 我通过了考试，撒花！
Wǒ tōngguò le kǎoshì，sāhuā！
I passed the exam, celebrate with me!

B: 恭喜恭喜，要好好庆祝一下！
Gōng xǐ gōng xǐ ， yào hǎo hǎo qìng zhù yī xià
Congratulations, we should definitely celebrate!

7. 摸鱼 (mō yú)

摸鱼 (mō yú) is a slang term you use to describe someone who is slacking off or goofing off. You’ll find it particularly handy to describe a situation where someone is not working hard or as diligently as they should be.

For example, if your colleague at work in China is taking a long break and not doing their work, you might say:
他今天一直在摸鱼
Tā jīntiān yīzhí zài mōyú
He’s been slacking off all day.

Here’s how you can use this popular expression in context:
A: 你最近在忙什么呢?
Nǐ zuì jìn zài máng shén me ne?
What have you been busy with lately?

B: 最近上班太累了，经常摸鱼。
Zuì jìn shàng bān tài lèi le, jīng cháng mō yú
I’ve been really tired at work lately, so I’ve been slacking off a lot.

8.双倍奉还 (shuāng bèi fèng huán)

双倍奉还 is an idiom in Chinese that means “to pay back twice as much” or “to retaliate with double the force.” It’s often used to describe situations where someone has been wronged or hurt and is seeking justice or revenge. For example, if someone steals from you, you might say “我一定让他双倍奉还” (wǒ yī dìng ràng tā shuāng bèi fèng huán), which means “I will make him pay back twice as much.”

This expression can also be used in a playful way, such as when someone gives you a gift or does something nice for you. In this case, you might say “谢谢你的礼物，我会双倍奉还的” (xiè xiè nǐ de lǐwù, wǒ huì shuāng bèi fèng huán de), which means “Thank you for your gift, I will repay you doubly.”

Here’s another dialogue showing you how to use this expression:

A: 你欠我的钱，什么时候还？
Nǐ qiàn wǒ de qián，shén me shí hou huán
A: You owe me money, when will you pay me back?

B: 不用急，我会尽快还你，双倍奉还。
Bù yòng jí，wǒ huì jǐn kuài hái nǐ，shuāng bèi fèng huán.
Don’t worry, I’ll repay you as soon as possible, with double the amount.

A cultural note on slang expressions in Chinese

Slang expressions are an important part of the Chinese language and culture. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, using slang is a great way to connect with native speakers, add some personality to your language skills, and maybe even score a few laughs along the way.

Just remember, these phrases can be playful and interesting, as long as you use them appropriately and stay aware of their nuances and connotations. While these phrases can be tons of fun, it’s important to be aware of their connotations and usage contexts so that you can use them with confidence and respect. When in doubt, for instance, exercise discretion, and check what setting you’re in. In professional and formal settings, particularly, it’s advisable to err on the side of caution and use more neutral language.

And once you have that in mind, especially when you’re with friends you trust, purrfect! Give these slang expressions a try in a safe space, with your friends, so they can tell you without being shocked if you screwed up using a word! Go ahead and start using these phrases in your daily life, impress your friends with your cool Chinese slang, and don’t forget to have fun with it!

On that note, there you have it, folks! We hope you’ve enjoyed this wild ride through some of the most popular and fun slang expressions in Chinese to know in 2023.

And one more thing…

If you want to continue learning Chinese with authentic and entertaining content, then you’ll love Ninchanese.

With Ninchanese, you get a complete method to learn Chinese, which has you speaking, reading, writing, and more in Chinese. What’s more, whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, there’s content your level on Ninchanese and plenty more!

Start using Ninchanese on the web, with your computer or tablet, or on your phone with the Android app.

Enjoy!

Sarah &

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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The post 8 Fun Chinese Slang Expressions to Impress Your Friends in 2023 appeared first on Ninchanese.

七夕快乐! Qī xī jié kuài lè! Happy Chinese Valentine’s!

Today is the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, and that’s a special day in China! It’s the Chinese’s Valentine’s Day! 七夕 (qī xī) is a day that’s been celebrated possibly since the Han Dynasty.

QiXi is also the double seven festival.

Also called the Double Seven festival (ah, that love for double numbers), 七夕 is a day reserved for love in the Middle Kingdom, making it the most romantic festival in China. First, celebrations and gifts are exchanged. Then, that day remains to be a day of love and friendships. So the perfect way to spend the 7th day of the 7th month — especially for couples in love is to spend time together are enjoy gifts.

What is the origin of the Qixi festival?

The origin of the Qixi Festival is a touching love story between Zhinü (织女), the weaver girl, a fairy from heaven, and Niulang (牛郎), the cowherd from Earth. As you can imagine, they fell in love but were not allowed to love each other freely. They couldn’t live without each other. Therefore, they decided to stay separated, though each was waiting for the other to be reborn and have a second chance at love. However, they loved each other so much that they were unwilling to let go. So they decided to live a happy ever after in the same place.

Qi Xi, the myth the legends

The legend said that the Goddess Mother Earth was extremely angry at them as they were not getting married. In preparation for their reunion, a two-day festival was to be held. The goddess Mother Earth explicitly forbade the first day for the two lovers to attend. The second was the actual wedding. The problem was that once they tried to get married, they would be together forever, but only if they were together during the festival’s first day. Their separation was obliviated from their minds, but the Goddess Mother Earth ensured that the festival’s first day would be painful if they were to attend. The goddess placed heavy curses on them to ensure they did not go.

Chinese legends explain the milky way.

Wikipedia says this about Qixi: thus, they were banished to opposite sides of the heavenly river (symbolizing the Milky Way). Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for a single day.

Love is a compromise.

So, as a compromise, they were allowed to meet once a year, on the 7th of the 7th lunar month… And thus, the 七夕 festival was born to commemorate their meeting (七 means 7 and 夕 dusk) and strong feelings of love.

Very cute, right? Have a wonderful Double Seven Festival!

The post Qixi festival: the Chinese Valentine’s day appeared first on Ninchanese.

What’s Wordle?

First things first, maybe you’re not familiar with Wordle yet, and that’s 100% okay.  If you are, keep scrolling, you’ll learn about Chinese Wordle faster that way.

Wordle is an English-language word game, where you need to guess a word.

Your clues: it’s a 5 letter word. You get 6 tries.

• Each try, you’re shown:
• GREEN: which letters are correct.
• YELLOW: which letters are in the word, but not in the right spot.
• GRAY: which of the letters you entered are NOT in the word you’re trying to find.

Then you get to try again.
If you run out of tries before having guessed the word, that’s it. You’re done.

And if you find the word before that, congrats!

Guessed the word, with one try to go! Woot

What makes Wordle fun and super popular is the fact you only get one word per day.
And everyone gets the same word to guess.
Ah, competition. The drive to do better than your counterparts.  It never gets old.

Anyways! As a Chinese language learner, perhaps you too were wondering: how can I play Wordle but in Chinese? So, we went searching for a Chinese version of Wordle. And we found one here!

Why play Wordle in Chinese?

Why go looking for a Chinese Wordle?  Well, why not?

First of all, It’s great language practice.
Trying to play a game in your target language, i.e. the langue you’re learning, is a wonderful idea. It makes you actually use the language you’re learning, which is an excellent way to strengthen your learning and maximize retention.

Second, it’s fun to try to guess things in Chinese. And to play in Chinese!

How do you play Wordle with Chinese Characters?

Before you start wondering how it would work with the thousands of Chinese characters out there, let’s set something straight. Pinyin is key here.  Just like in English, pinyin offers a set number of letters, which makes the entire game, well, easily playable.

You’re not guessing Chinese Character Strokes. You play Chinese Wordle with pinyin. UPDATE: for a Chinese character based Wordle, scroll down. 

How Wordle in Chinese works

Now that’s out of the way, how does Wordle in Chinese work?

Same basic principles:

• One game per day
• 6 tries
• GREEN for letters you get right (该字母在正确的位置)
• ORANGE for almost right ((该字母不在正确的位置)
• GREY for those that aren’t in what you’re trying to guess. (当前成语的拼音中没有该字母).
• Everyone gets the same (UPDATE: or so we thought. In the Ninchanese Discord Server, we discovered you don’t always get the same. It changes per region, perhaps?)

The rules for Chinese Wordle are the same

Speaking of which, perhaps you’re wondering: What do you guess? Is it a word like in English Wordle? Nope!

Guess the 成语

In Chinese Worlde, you’re trying to guess … 成语 Chengyus!
That’s right, 4 character Chinese idioms and sayings.

In fact, Wordle in Chinese is called 拼音猜成语 – which literally means Pinyin Guess Chengyu. It’s made by Limboy. Thanks for making this fun puzzle game!

So, in 拼音猜成语 (aka Chinese Wordle), you have to guess the pinyin for 4 Chinese characters, which compose the chengyu. The number of letters for each Chinese character ranges from 2 to 5.  It’s no easy feat, but that’s what makes it fun!

Knowing which letters aren’t in the chengyu and which you haven’t tried yet is very helpful

Gaaah, so close!

The goal of the puzzle game is to get it right before you run of tries!  In both cases, whether you win or lose, you get to see the chengyu in Chinese characters at the end.

Success!

What else is cool about this game?

It’s good pinyin practice. You work on how familiar you are with Chinese sounds, think about syllables in Chinese, common word endings, and common words. This game makes you think about the words you know and recall pinyin sounds you’ve heard before. Excellent training.

Fun fact: if you try to enter a sound that doesn’t exist in Chinese, you get told: this sound doesn’t exist in Chinese.

In addition, all the instructions and comments you get are in Chinese, which immerses you nicely in the Mandarin language, without making it daunting. In context, you always know what they’re telling you.

Lastly, by playing this game, you’re guessing and discovering new 成语, chengyus. 成语 are an essential part of speaking Chinese.

The higher you get in your Chinese learning, the more you realize how important knowing Chengyus is. They are what allows you to show off your intelligence and education, and more importantly, you hear them a lot. In Chinese Dramas, in everyday conversations, in books… They’re also an integral part of the HSK 5 and above exams!  So learn 成语!

Starting at the HSK 5 world on Ninchanese, you’ll be learning 成语 in context. You’ll also be learning stories about what 成语 mean and how they came to be. Sign up to start learning now!

Learn the Chengyus you discover for good

Once you’ve discovered a new Chengyu in the puzzle game, don’t just quit there!
You can…
Look it up on Ninchanese in the dictionary.

For instance, this is a chengyu discovered above:

Look up the chengyus in Ninchanese’s free dictionary!

Simplified Chinese: 方兴未艾 Traditional: 方興未艾
Pinyin: fāng xīng wèi ài

Then you can create a special deck of 成语s in the Nincha Decks

That way, you’re having fun and maximizing what you can learn from the game at the same time!

Happy Wordling and Chinese learning!

Come join the Discord and post your 拼音猜成语 results in the  #游戏-games channel! You’ll find other motivated players there!

Looking for a non-pinyin-based Chinese Wordle? We got you. Here are some based on Bopofomo and on Chinese characters!

New find! Wordle with Chinese Characters and more

Looking for a  Chinese character-based Chinese Wordle? The meowsome community on Discord got you and discovered this other Wordle-like game:  汉字Wordle

The basic principle is the same: guess the 成语. The Twist? Guess it using Chinese characters this time! Using an IME, each time you enter characters, you’re told whether:
– the Chinese character you entered is correct, and if it’s in the right place;
– there are correct letters in the pinyin of that Chinese character and if the’yre in the right spot;
– the tones are correct or not.

Needless to say, this is a more hardcore version of Chinese Wordle. It keeps you on your toes. It makes you think about the chengyus you know, the Chinese characters you’re familiar with, the tones… Give it a whirl, too!

Yeah, it’s not going too well…

This Chinese Wordle is available in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

The nice thing is they give hints!

Here are a few more Chinese Character-based Wordles to explore:

https://bryony.dev/chengyu/chengyu.html
https://allanchain.github.io/chinese-wordle/
https://cheeaun.github.io/chengyu-wordle/
http://samuello.io/jndle/

Chinese Wordle with Bopomofo

Bopomofo is used in Taiwan and is a lot more widespread there than pinyin. It comes therefore as no surprise that a Chinese Worlde using Bopofomo was invented!
Play it here: Bopofomo Chinese Wordle

Poems and Chinese Wordle?

That exists too: you can guess the poem line in Chinese with  https://peotik.com.

Have fun exploring! In my case: I think I’ll stick with pinyin Chinese Wordle though!

And one more thing…

If you want to continue learning Chinese with authentic and entertaining content, then you’ll love Ninchanese.

With Ninchanese, you get a complete method to learn Chinese which has you speaking, reading, writing, and more in Chinese. What’s more, whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, there’s content your level on Ninchanese and plenty more!

Start using Ninchanese on the web, with your computer or tablet,

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
Ninchanese is free to use!

Sign up now

The post Chinese Wordle: Play and Learn Chinese (chengyus)! appeared first on Ninchanese.

Best wishes for the Mid-Autumn Festival

中秋节快乐! 
Zhōng qiū jié kuài lè!
Happy mid-autumn festival!

Why is the festival called the “Mid-autumn” Festival?

First things first. If you break down the Chinese name 中秋节 (Zhōng qiū jié), you get 中[zhōng] (middle) + 秋[qiū] (autumn) + 节[jié] (holiday). Why is that?

To us, the name of this festival, which is “Mid-autumn Festival,” begs the question: Why is this festival called the Mid-Autumn festival held on the first day of Autumn?

This year, the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival happens to fall on September 21st, the beginning of Fall. But that’s not what one should focus on. What’s important to know is that this festival, like all Chinese festivals, follows the lunar calendar. 中秋节 is celebrated each year on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Because that’s the day the Autumn harvest ends. Incidentally, 秋  also means “Harvest time.”  The 15th is also the middle of the month, and the 8th lunar month is the middle of autumn. Hence the name, Mid-Autumn.
In our western calendar, its date changes slightly every year and ranges from mid-September to early October.

A magical way to celebrate the full moon

Okay, now that’s out of the way, what is this Chinese festival? What magical mid-autumn festival traditions are there? What do we do during it? This traditional Chinese festival is all about the full moon.

When the moon shines the brightest, Chinese people worldwide celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival.

Mid-autumn Festival Traditions

Gaze at the moon and make wishes

On this day, in China, the moon shines at its brightest. The Chinese believe it’s the purrfect time to send prayers for good luck. In ancient times, they would wish for a great next harvest next year, and now, they wish each other luck in life and business. That’s why the festival is sometimes called the Moon festival. Lanterns are often lit and sent out into the starry sky, carrying with them our wishes.

Join in the fun with mooncakes

What else? Ah yes, you’re going to like this next part. The mooncake festival is all about eating, and everyone should partake in at least one of the delicious Mid-Autumn festival food traditions. Yes, to celebrate the moon, we eat delicious mooncakes filled with all sorts of things. The fillings may be traditional lotus seed paste, egg yolk, red bean paste, or more innovative. That’s why this festival is also sometimes called the Mooncake festival.

The mooncakes are elaborately decorated, with patterns usually depicting the festival’s legends. Mooncakes now range from the traditional kind, rich and dense, with usually a duck egg in the center,

to modern takes on them, with a more delicate flavor and made with rice flour, such as the snowflake skin mooncakes. You’ll even find some iced, filled with ice cream. Luckily for us, stores and pastry shops usually sell mooncakes in small sizes, sometimes even bite-sized, which allows you to sample several.

Kick off October with some quality family time

The full moon also represents a family reunion. Due to that, the festival is also a big family moment, and getting together is a crucial Mid-Autumn festival tradition. Everyone gets three days off for it! If you’re in China or with a Chinese family, you’ll typically have a big celebratory meal with your family. You’ll eat, talk and sit together and enjoy the glorious moon. You can also have this experience with your Nincha family on the Ninchanese app in a special Mid-Autumn-themed world! In the Dialogue, you’ll be learning with Yocha a quote from a famous Mid-Autumn poem and will chat about the Mid-Autumn Festival.

When did the Mid-Autumn festival really begin?

No one knows for sure, but we do know this festival is thousands of years old!

Over 2000 years ago

The earliest records of the Mid-Autumn festival found are over 2000 years old, during the Han Dynasty.

In the 10th century AD, the festival date became fixed.

From there, the celebration steadily grew in popularity. As early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the festival began being celebrated all over China, with much of the Mid-Autumn festival traditions appearing then. At the time, the date for the Mid-Autumn festival still varied. In the Song dynasty (960 – 1279 AD),  the festival’s date became officially fixed. It has become a yearly custom every since and is still a festival that means a lot to Chinese people worldwide. Did you know, however, that this festival only became a public holiday in 2008?

The Legends of the Autumn Full Moon Festival

Many have written poems and stories about the moon festival, and there are many legends around the Mid-Autumn festival. Among those, Chang’e Flying to the Moon is the most widely known.

Chang’e, Goddess of Heaven

It goes like this:
Once upon a time, Chang’e was married to Hou Yi, a real hotshot at the time (what?! he literally was! He was a heroic archer who shot down nine of the ten suns believed to have existed in ancient times).

Chang’e bringing mooncakes on a platter for the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival

Tasked with protecting an elixir that would allow Houyi to ascend directly to Heaven, Chang’e found herself forced to drink it. Then, desperate to stay close to her love, she managed to fly to the moon, the nearest place to Earth in heaven. There, she eventually adopted an immortal pet rabbit (that’s a different story), and that’s why ever since she’s been represented this way.

Chang’e and her rabbit

It is believed that Hou Yi, who sorely missed Chang’e, would serve the food she liked best when the full moon shone the brightest. Awwww. And that’s how, according to the legend, the Mid-Autumn festival began.

Mooncakes to fight the Mongols

There is another Mid-Autumn folktale so meowsome it sounds like a legend, except it actually happened.
In the late Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368 AD), people were unhappy with their rulers, the Mongols, and so, the resistance wanted to plot an uprising. To keep their messages hidden, a counselor had the brilliant idea of hiding notes inside the mooncakes, indicating when the uprising should occur. The revolt was very successful, and so, from then on, each year, the new ruler rewarded his subjects with mooncakes to commemorate that fateful day.

Since then, eating mooncakes took on a different meaning and has become even more of a tradition.

Talk about the Mid-Autumn festival in Chinese

Want to discover more about this festival? Then the new content on Ninchanese is precisely what you need. So check it out now; it’s available for free, this week only!

Three Special Event Stages for you on Ninchanese

A unique themed world to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival, this week only!

There’s a new pop-up advanced world for you to discover for the occasion! Join in the Mid-Autumn festival celebrations with this themed exclusive world. In it, you can:

• Learn vocabulary to understand and discuss the Mid-Autumn festival
• Build sentences to talk and wish someone a happy Mid-Autumn festival in Mandarin
• Express yourself in Chinese: Learn to speak about the Mid-Autumn festival in the new dialogue
• Train your ear: Listening practice to be ready to talk about the festival in Chinese

The best part? It’s free all this week! So hurry! It’ll soon be gone.

Best paired with a yummy mooncake to keep your brain juices flowing. Enjoy and happy Chinese learning!

The Nincha Team

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The post Marvelous Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions and Stories appeared first on Ninchanese.

While Chinese radicals have interesting use, Chinese components bring more benefits to your learning. Let’s explore so we can prove that to you!

What are Chinese components?

First, a little refresher on what Chinese components are. Components are like atoms that form a chemical element, but instead, they make up a Chinese character. It’s a natural law, almost. Every Chinese character is made of components that are the building blocks of any character.

Three types of character components

Experts have identified three forms of components with different attributes. These attributes are where the magic truly happens. They give you clues about the whole character, the big picture.

The three categories of components are:

• Meaning component, which indicates the general meaning of a character. (形旁)
• The phonetic / Sound component shows the sound, but the tone can differ. (声旁)
• The graphic/empty component helps you visually recognize and write a character.

Spot a meaning component in a character? You’ll have a pretty good idea of what the character could mean, or at the very least, in what semantic field this character is. A sound component will help discover and remember character pronunciations. A graphic component is a powerful hint to writing a character. Excellent tools to approach a character, I’d say.

How many Chinese components?

Do you think every Chinese remembers all the Chinese characters that exist? Of course, they recognize many of them, but not all of them. They have other solutions, much more practical. For instance, they use character components to help them identify more characters than they know. No wonder. You’ll have trouble believing me if I tell you the sheer amount to learn to almost understand all Chinese characters.

There are only about 200 key components! From over 50,000 Chinese characters, that’s a tremendous narrowing down. However, I believe you understand now why Chinese components are essential to learn. You’ll save a huge amount of time in your character learning by learning these key components. Moreover, even the most complicated characters are easy to approach when you can break them down into components.

Transform the way you read Chinese characters

When you know these components well, you will read Chinese characters entirely differently. As a result, you’ll first see the big picture and the overall character and then look for components (almost immediately and unconsciously). As a result, you’ll have changed how you read Chinese characters. And from there, you’ll learn Chinese characters faster and will be able to identify their meaning or pronunciation or close.

Chinese components sound great! Where can you learn them?

Why, right here, of course!
Explore and learn more about Chinese components here: https://ninchanese.com/blog/2020/03/12/chinese-components-radicals-chinese-characters. In addition, you will find a list of the key Chinese components to know here.

Practice and Learn components: You’ll find an entire world dedicated to Chinese components on Ninchanese. It’ll exactly suit your Chinese character component needs.

Okay, I’m sold, but what about radicals? Aren’t those a great way to learn characters too? What’s the difference between Chinese components and Chinese radicals?

Radical VS Components

What are Chinese radicals?

Radicals are tremendously well-known. They started as a research project to categorize Chinese characters as early as the 2nd century AD. That was such a revolution that everyone in China then adopted them. Now, the use of radicals has evolved.

Use Chinese radicals to look up words in a dictionary.

Chinese radicals are still used to finding characters in the Chinese dictionary on paper. They are the graphical component you use to look up a Chinese character in a paper dictionary. That’s because radicals traditionally group characters in these dictionaries. It’s a great and practical invention.

But the radical list was made by hand, or I would say by mental force, so that’s too much to process. At the time, what they did was incredible and worked for a dictionary, but the list is also incomplete and not the best to learn the Chinese characters.

As we’ve seen, character components work differently. Nevertheless, they are essential to understand how characters are made, and now the list is well defined. We can definitively call radicals the grandfathers of the components.

If radicals are so limited, how come everyone seems to talk about them and use them to teach Chinese?

The answer is simple; in the ’80s and before, you needed to learn the radicals to use a Chinese dictionary. It was the only tool available at this time. So radicals are taught early in Chinese learning, as it is a great tool. Later, when we learn components, people are often confused. Because radicals share some similarities with components, they mix things up. They think components are radicals, and as sometimes radicals are components, all radicals are components. But components are not Chinese radicals.

Firstly, radicals were primarily selected for their visual aspect. They are only graphic components of Chinese characters, and that’s it. These graphic elements are used as the head of sections to categorize characters visually. Components are much more.  As you saw, they bring you information on a Chinese character’s meaning or pronunciation. They can also be graphic components.

Secondly, there can be more than one component in a Chinese character. There usually is. But not so with radicals. A great example is when you hear someone say, this character has two radicals! But that is impossible; radicals are unique in a character to categorize them. So they would have been correct if they said there’s two components and one radical.  That’s why focusing on Chinese components is a lot more effective.

So, as you can see, in the match Components vs. Radicals, Components win hands-down!

Are you excited to learn them? There’s a whole course dedicated to Chinese components awaiting you on Ninchanese! 

What about strokes? Mnemonics? How useful are they for learning Chinese?

Chinese Character Strokes vs. Components

When people start learning Chinese, they are often interested in learning how to write them. It’s a pretty nice way to get accustomed to characters. It also helps to see them differently and learn to decompose them. Characters are not scribbles anymore but start to make sense as you see all the strokes that compose a character. However, from a learning point of view, the details are too great. You can’t remember how many strokes all 50 000 Chinese characters have or the 5,000 to 8,000 you need to reach fluency. It’s nearly impossible.

If you’ve followed our logical demonstration, it makes sense to learn to write the strokes of the 200 key components. After that, it’s only a matter of building the character and drawing the components in the right place and in the correct size.
Curious to see the strokes in Chinese characters?
You can view stroke animations for every character on Ninchanese. Just look up a word in our dictionary. They’ll show you all the strokes and which stroke order you should write the Chinese character. You’ll also see the character broken down by components!

Mnemonics VS Component

Mnemonics are an excellent technique for remembering things. They work pretty well but require making a story with concrete things. These are great for simple characters, but it’s hard to make a story for each character as the strokes become more complicated.

But let’s suppose you know the components already (and soon, you will, thanks to this course on Ninchanese). Then, if you start making a story using components interacting with each other fused with the meaning of the character, it’s golden. You’ll never forget them.
One of my favorite mnemonics is remembering how to write the character cat: 猫. It contains three parts.
A cat is an animal, so on the left of the character 猫, you’ll find the meaning component for animals (犭).
Then comes storytime, as the other two on the right are empty components. Let’s imagine we’re talking about an outdoor cat. A cat needs grass 艹) and a field (田) in which to roam.  Meowsome way to remember how to write 猫.

As a result, the match can be considered null. That’s because combined, mnemonics and components are pretty helpful together! So use mnemonics if you want, and mainly use them to make up stories about character components! An excellent place to start building your mnemonics is this list of the key components. Click on any component, and you’ll get a detailed description of it, how it’s used and in which Chinese characters you can find it.

Components win the match!

So, in conclusion, we hope you now understand the difference between radicals and components more clearly. By now, you should see the benefits Chinese components can bring to your Chinese learning. They are hands-on and the best way to boost your Chinese characters. There are only about 200 to learn, and they bring you great clues to understand Chinese characters!

– They help you understand a character’s meaning.
– They help you determine a character’s pronunciation.
– They’re a great visual aid to recognize and handwrite a character.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn them with us. Our exclusive course has a complete list of components to learn. We categorize all the components based on their feature (phonetics, meanings…), and they are topologically sorted, so you know the most useful first. So what are you waiting for? It’s here already. Have fun :D!

The Nincha Team

The post Components vs Radicals: Which are best for your Chinese learning? appeared first on Ninchanese.

Are you intrigued already? Go right in, the new world’s waiting for you: https://ninchanese.com/chinese-character-components/! Or read on, there are loads more cool things to learn about Chinese components!

The Rad Chinese Component world is a very important step on your way to understanding Chinese characters: in it, you’ll learn the most important Chinese components and radicals to know.  There are the building blocks of Chinese characters and this new world will take you up, close and personal with them. That’s a mighty powerful paw to help you advance in your Chinese character comprehension. It’ll unlock many, many doors in your Mandarin Chinese learning.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

By learning Chinese components, you’ll unlock doors like:

• Faster character recognition
• Increased and easier character acquisition
• Greatly improved odds at guessing a character’s pronunciation
• Ability to find out characters’ meanings in a snap

Hang on, what’s a component? What do they have to do with characters?

A Chinese character is actually a set of components combined together. So, by studying the most important Chinese components in the Chinese language and by looking at how they combine, guess what you’re doing? You’re learning Chinese characters! 

Once you’re familiar with character components, you’ll be able to break down, recognize, learn, and remember each Chinese character a lot better. So if you seek to understand better the Chinese language, and particularly its written form, this world is for you!

What’s even cooler about them? There are only 200+ components to learn: with these 200+ components, you’ll cover 80% of the 8000+ Chinese characters to know to speak Chinese. Magic.

What’s in this rad new world? 250 essential Chinese components, hand-picked for you.

The RadNew Components turbo reading new world is composed of a careful selection of the very best, most useful, constructive character components you can learn in Chinese.

You can be sure the focus is 100% the Chinese character components that bring you the most value in your Chinese learning. We handpicked all of them and found 250 essential Chinese components for you to learn.

To do so, we compiled a list of the most commonly found components and the world is all about those that are the most useful to learn first in your learning. It was tremendous work to look for them and categorize them all, but we stop at nothing for you, dear little dragons, and we hope you know that!

Excited? Join Lupishu and Nincha in learning these 250 carefully selected character components. You’ll love improving your knowledge of Chinese characters through these quick, bite-sized stages of 10 glorious Chinese components each!

Chinese components also have a secret: There are 3 secret powers they can hold, and use on the characters they’re inside.

Three kinds of components to learn

In the new Rad Component world, you’ll learn three types of Chinese components:

• Meaning
• Phonetic
• Graphic

By learning all three types, you’ll acquire a meowsome foundation in the three major elements of characters: form, meaning, and sound! You’ll know the essential building blocks of Chinese characters, and it’s a very useful skill to have.

Ready? Let’s explore what each type of component is like. First up, meaning components.

Semantic components, aka meaning components.

In addition to being frequent, meaning components are very useful elements in a Chinese character: they will help you determine what the character is going to be about.

Here’s a meowsome meaning component to see how it works:

Chinese meaning component 口

口 kou3, mouth

Mouths are the gateway to lots of things, and the Chinese know that better than anyone else: 600+ characters contain the component 口 and have meanings around the mouth, talking openings, and entrances. Boyah, talk about a gold nugget of knowledge to have!

口 Is found in characters related to mouths, openings, and entrances. Characters like:

• 说 to speak
• 吃 to eat
• 吧 because it’s an oral interjection

See 口’s meaning component page: https://ninchanese.com/chinese-character-components/chinese-character-component-%e5%8f%a3-mouth/

See what we mean? Isn’t it cool to know 口, to spot it in a new character, and to immediately be able to start picturing in your head what the character is going to be about? It’s like you acquired a superpower.

You’ll be learning plenty of super cool meaning characters in the new Component world. One more for the road, we can’t resist showing you how practical it is to know meaning components in Chinese!

Chinese meaning component 艹

Did you know over 500 words contain this component 艹? Talk about a major component to know about.  艹 derives from the character 草 and means grass. As such, because it’s such a cool dude, you’ll find it in characters related to plants, grass, and herbs,

Characters such as:

• 草, grass (艹 is its variant form)
• 花 flower
• 菜 vegetable
• 茶 tea
• 药 medicine, because initially, all drugs were made out of plants.
• 猫  cat, also contains the component grass, because we all know cats dig catnip and grass.
  

Explore this component in more detail: https://ninchanese.com/chinese-character-components/chinese-radical-%e8%89%b9-grass/

If you see a meaning component in a character, it’ll generally give you an indication of the character’s meaning.

Sound components, aka phonetic components

Phonetic components will often help you to know how to pronounce the character. Since characters evolved, sometimes the pronunciation of the character won’t be quite the same as the components, but it’ll still be very close to the phonetic component’s sound, or perhaps the tones will have changed. Thanks to that, they are often an excellent clue to know.

Here’s the super 马 phonetic component you’ll love knowing:

You’ll find 马 in characters that sound like ma. Easy enough to remember, don’t you think?

Characters like:

• 吗 question word
• 妈 mother
• 蚂 dragonfly
  

https://ninchanese.com/chinese-character-components/chinese-character-component-%e9%a9%ac-ma/

Let’s explore another great phonetic component.

The phonetic component 中 

中, as a character, is pronounced zhōng. The 15+ characters with 中 “zhōng” as their sound component are usually pronounced zhōng, zhòng, zhǒng, chōng, chòng, or chóng. As you can see, they all sound extremely close.
Based on this fact, can you guess how to pronounce 种, 冲 and 钟, or get a close idea of what they sound like?
Yeah?
Bam! You learned how to pronounce:

• 种 (series, kind, type -zhǒng),
• 冲 (to dash against – chōng),
• 钟 (clock, hour – zhōng).

Just like that!

See? Phonetic components are very handy to guess the pronunciation of a character.

Last but not least, we have:

Visual components, aka Graphic components

Graphic components are components commonly found in characters. They don’t bring a specific meaning or sound. But by learning to recognize them visually in characters, you’ll find yourself spotting them a lot in characters, and that’ll help you remember these characters better and faster.

小, for example, is a graphic component you’ll find in over 20 characters, so you’ll be seeing it around a lot!

Ready to turbocharge your character learning and learn all three types of components? They’re all right here: https://app.ninchanese.com/world/learn-chinese-radicals-components

How effective is it to learn the different types of components? Very!

Very! Here’s a fact you’ll like knowing: about 80% of all Chinese characters are composed of a meaning component and a phonetic component. So, once you learn the most important ones, wham! That 80% are suddenly a lot more within reach. 

Let’s look at 蚂 again:

You saw it was pronounced ma, thanks to the presence of the phonetic component ma. Does the other half help you guess what this character is going to mean? Yes! 虫 is a very useful meaning component you find in characters related to insects.

So by studying both halves of 蚂, 虫 and 马, you now know this is probably an insect, pronounced ma. Pretty darn close! 蚂 means dragonfly. 

Image

If you change the tone, it can also mean ant – 蚂 mǎ and grasshopper –  蚂 mà
Three new insects to add to your collection in Chinese, and you only learned two components!

Amazing! What else makes components so cool?

Learning Chinese characters is a lot about studying how components combine to form words. Once you’re familiar with character components, you’ll be able to break down, learn, and remember each Chinese character a lot better. Knowing Chinese components will help you in multiple ways:

Visual, meaning and phonetic components give all sorts of clues:

• Visual components allow you to recognize characters much faster
• With Meaning components, understand a character’s meaning at a glance, or guesstimate what this character is about
• Phonetic components are clues to guess how a character is pronounced.

Chinese components boost your reading ability

Thanks to them, you’ll recognize characters at a glance, and since characters are very often composed of one, two, or three components, that’s way easier than breaking them down by strokes. You’ll decipher faster what the characters mean, and get very useful hints to sound them out.

Soon you’ll be able to read and learn Chinese characters that much more easily!

They challenge your conception of characters.

Learning character components also make you take your knowledge further. Exploring one particular component takes you down a super interesting path of how characters evolved and took on new meanings over time. Checking out each component’s page in the dictionary will show you all the characters that contain it, for starters.

How about you look up the component 心 here?

You can also explore these visual explorations of Chinese components.  In these pages, you’ll find pages dedicated to some of the main meaning and phonetic components to know. You’ll explore what each component is about, characters it’s found in, and what it does to characters, and these pages are a great visual aid. It’s all right here: https://ninchanese.com/chinese-character-components/ 

Sounds great, right?

Your super quick shortcut to the key components you need to know to boost your Chinese character knowledge to stratospheric levels is right here: https://app.ninchanese.com/world/learn-chinese-radicals-components.

The Nincha Team
Be Meowsome as always

The post Chinese components & Chinese radicals World: Up, close and personal with Chinese characters appeared first on Ninchanese.

I was only at the beginning of my journey into the world of Chinese language and Ninchanese. I was discovering new words and characters every day, I was trying to memorize them. Water, happy, big… get ready, topic, fruit juice… go to work… Zhou Jie Lun. What? Zhou Jie Lun showed up on my screen. I think it was right after “加油” jiā yóu. I was happy with 加油, I needed 加油. I needed to be 加油’d because Chinese is challenging, and learning words is demanding, you need the motivation, you need the 加油. And all the words I met before made sense.

I already got a little nervous with 雪碧 Xuě bì before, but I accepted it as a companion to 可口可乐 kě kǒu kě lè which, in my opinion, was just as important to learn as 果汁 guǒ zhī or even 水 shuǐ. But I immediately felt there was something wrong going on with this 周杰伦 Zhōu Jié lún thing. So I clicked, looked at the translation, and… Jay Chou?

I’m sorry Jay, we love you!

Who is Jay Chou?

What the hell was that? It must be a bug. I was working on the beta version of Ninchanese, so these things happen. So I decided to forget about it. But this spaced repetition system thing can be annoying at times and Jay Jie Lun Chou something watzefuk kept coming back. Google them. Oh my god. Who is this weird guy with the hairdo of a Chinese Beatles? I was not happy. I wanted to learn Chinese, not random names of random singers.

So I googled again, and I found out that this Zhōu Jié lún was famous, if not the most famous pop singer in Taiwan and China! So he was indeed a Beatles. And yes, I know who Paul McCartney is. Or John Lennon. So I understood what it was about.

The idea was to introduce me to some famous names in China. Or Taiwan… well, it is complicated. Anyway… My mood changed immediately, and I was happy. I am one of these persons who never really got interested in Chinese culture before I started learning Chinese (for personal reasons). It took me some time to watch my first movies in Chinese, to read my first book of Chinese History.

And then, my appetite started to grow, and meeting this new character was actually a good thing. OK, so I clicked on Youtube, and my enthusiasm vanished, but there is no accounting for tastes (although I must say that if you like what he sings, you should cut off your ears, OK ?). I was happy again because I was going to learn new names, new things.

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

Start Learning Now

Chinese Culture to westerners

There was still one problem, though. Even before I started to learn English as a second language in school, I knew who Tom Cruise was or Ronald Reagan (god, I am old). Or Martin Scorsese, or Abraham Lincoln (no, I am not that old, please). It was a little more complicated with Spanish, German or Russian (I am French by the way) but not that much. Almodovar, Kant, Pushkin, the list goes on. However, besides Mao, my knowledge of Chinese celebrities was thin. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan… And these names don’t even sound Chinese! I was curious to understand why I did not know more Chinese names.

As a westerner, I was not automatically connected to things Chinese. Spain, Germany or the UK are neighbors, the US conquered the world of culture,  Russia and the Soviet Union have had strong relationships with Western Europe and the world for centuries (about five centuries) so we know about them. Even some Japanese names sound familiar to western ears thanks to the economic power that the country was up until twenty years ago. The deep relationship Japan had with the US after the Second World War when the US military decided to put thousands of GI’s to preserve Japan from a communist invasion made us closer to Japan.

But China is different. Chinese culture seemed incomprehensible to most foreigners for ages, the country was closed to our world for most of its History, we can even say it was culturally self-sufficient, and it was only very recently that China decided to battle with the US to conquer the world in the field of popular culture.

Should we learn about Taiwanese celebrities as well?

But back to Zhou Jie Lun. The guy is not Chinese but Taiwanese. So does it really make sense to memorize his name on Ninchanese? It does. To keep things simple, the History and mindset of Chinese people are different from ours, as Westerners. The Rise of Nationalism during the 19th century was something very European, certainly not Chinese. So yes, we can say that Zhou Jie Lun is Chinese. He is a Han, and that makes him culturally Chinese (I won’t go into politics here, especially not into the extremely complicated relationship between China and Taiwan). Just like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee are culturally Chinese. The former was born in Hong-Kong, which was part of the UK at the time, the latter was born in San Francisco from Hong-Kongese parents. But what about the language?

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter. Han is Han, and Cantonese is no less Han than Mandarin. But it does make things more complicated when you want to learn names. Cantonese is a very different language from Mandarin so the name of Hong-Kong celebrities sound totally different in Mandarin and Cantonese (although the writing is the same). Hong-Kong natives also have an English name (sometimes totally unrelated, phonetically speaking, to their Chinese name) and celebrities have various pseudonyms and nicknames. Not to mention various pseudonyms and nicknames. Sometimes we have the same problem with American Born Chineses’ names.

Should we learn Chinese culture when learning Chinese?

My point is that I think it is essential for any learner of Mandarin Chinese to know things about the Chinese culture. To know names, to know who they are, to know what they do. When most methods of Chinese language put a focus on food (food is essential in the Chinese culture) and names of dishes, I think it is equally necessary to get students to know the most famous individuals in the Chinese world (and yes, some of them can be chefs).

So with my limited knowledge, I drew a list, my Mandarin speaking girlfriend corrected it, and I sent it to Ninchanese’ boss, co-founder, now billionaire socialite [Nincha team note: we wish] (but not Han, so he is not on the list) Jean-Rémi. Jean-Rémi, myself and everyone at Ninchanese will be happy to have you add your two cents (or more) to the list.

We want to hear your voice!

If the list looks good, and you want it, it will make a new world on Ninchanese. So, now’s the moment to be part of this new world (maybe) and know more about the in – famous Chinese celebrities.

Okay, here is the list Possopo put together, and his funny comments. Possopo, the floor’s all yours:

Politics

毛泽东 (毛澤東) – Máo Zé dōng – Former President of the People’s Republic of China 

No intro needed to this man who has his portrait hanging on 天安门 Tian An Men square in 北京 Beijing.

邓小平 (鄧小平) – Dèng Xiǎo píng – Former President of the People’s Republic of China 

One of Mao’s sidekicks who led China to economic reforms that consequently led to what China’s economy now is.

习近平 (習近平) – Xí Jìn píng – Current President of the People’s Republic of China 

Chinese Donald Trump but more powerful.

孙中山 (孫中山) – Sūn Zhōng shān or 孙逸仙 (孫逸仙) Sūn Yì xiān (Sun Yat Sen) – Former President of the Republic of China

He had a key role in the overthrowing of the Qing Dynasty, is both revered in mainland China and Taiwan for reasons that would take hours to explain.

蒋介石 (蔣介石) – Jiǎng Jiè shí (Tchang Kai Tchek) – Former President of the Republic of China

Once the nemesis of Mao, leader of the Republic of China, aka Taiwan and Director-General of the Kuomintang until his death.

Philosophers

孔子 – Kǒng zǐ (Confucius) – Chinese teacher, politician, philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period.

One of the most prominent philosophers in the History of the world.

老子 – Lǎo zǐ – Chinese philosopher

Founder of philosophical Taoism, semi-legendary figure. No one knows if he really existed.

孟子 – Mèng zǐ (Mencius) – Chinese philosopher

Number two in the school of Confucianism, number two in Chinese philosophy. And completely cool with being second.

秦始皇 – Qín Shǐ huáng – First emperor of a unified China

Forever guarded by an army of terracotta warriors.

神农氏 (神農氏) – Shén nóng shì – Mythical figure

Who, legend has it, taught Chinese agriculture and the use of herbal drugs to everyone.

Sports

王建民 – Wáng Jiàn mín – Taiwanese baseball pitcher

who made it to the MLB.

姚明 – Yáo Míng – Basketball Player

Biggest (more like tallest) rival of Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA.

Music

郎朗 – Láng Lǎng – Piano player

Human-robot programmed to play the piano with bravado and a total lack of feeling.

周杰伦 (周杰倫) – Zhōu Jié lún – singer

The J-Lo of Taiwan, except he is a man and I think he has a flat ass. (haha)

马友友 – Mǎ Yǒu yǒu – ABC world-famous cellist.

Listen to his version of Bach’s Cello Suites.

Cinema

张艺谋 (張藝謀) – Zhāng Yì móu – Film Director

The godfather of modern Chinese cinema, known for movies like The Red Lantern.

李安 – Lǐ Ān (Ang Lee)  –  Taiwan-born Film Director

Known for Eat Drink Man Woman (if you’re into arthouse cinema) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (if you’re into commendable entertaining movies).

侯孝贤 (侯孝賢) – Hóu Xiàoxián (Hou Hsiao-Hsien – Taiwanese transliteration) – Taiwanese Film Director

A leading figure in world cinema who won prizes in Venice and Cannes.

王家卫 (王家衛) – Wáng Jiā wèi or Wong Kar-Wai – Hong Kong Director

World Famous for In The Mood For Love, amongst others.

李小龙 (李小龍) – Lǐ Xiǎo lóng (Bruce Lee) – actor, martial art artist, and more

Bim bam yaaaaaa! Nough’ said.

成龙 (成龍) – Chéng Lóng (Jackie Chan) – actor

Popularized the Zui Quan with the movie Drunken Master and then became the most famous Asian actor of all times.

李连杰 (李連杰) – Lǐ Lián jié (Jet Li) – actor

Just like Bruce Lee but born a generation later and still alive today.

吴宇森 (吳宇森) – Wú yǔ sēn (John Woo) – actor

A major figure in action movies, and also a major figure in Hong Kong cinema.

Art

李白 – Lǐ Bái – Poet

The Michael Jordan of classical Chinese poetry.

鲁迅 (魯迅) – Lǔ Xùn – writer

A key figure of modern Chinese literature.

艾未未 – Ài Wèi wèi – contemporary artist

Mainly a sculptor turned activist.

Architecture

贝聿铭 (貝聿銘) – Bèi Yù míng (I. M. Pei) – Architect

World-famous Chinese American architect who designed the pyramid at the Louvre museum in Paris and just died. RIP I.M. Pei.

Business

郭台铭 – Guo Tai Ming – Tawainese tycoon
Founder and chairman of Foxconn.

马云 – Ma Yun (Jack Ma) – Businessman
He has a rather strange looking head. Oh, and a very big group called Ali Baba, where you’ll also find: Aliexpress, Taobao, Alipay… and more!

So, what do you think of the list? Agree, disagree with those who made the list and wish others were on it instead, or also? We should add more women!
Let us know in the comments! Do you want to learn these names in a special event world on Ninchanese? Yes? Then tell us in the comments so we know!

The Nincha Team

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The post The top 30 Chinese celebrities to know! appeared first on Ninchanese.

World 5 (HSK 5) – Part 2 is out of Beta!

Join Lupishu and Nincha through +100 new stages of advanced academic content to learn Chinese! You’ll be delighted to learn Chinese with these new stages full of HSK 5 vocabulary, upper intermediate to advanced Chinese grammar, and dialogues. It’s time to depart from the eternal intermediate level and move to a fluent Chinese speaker level!

Explore this new island of learning on Ninchanese here.

Why most Chinese learners stay at intermediate levels

It’s not their fault. It’s hard to find a teacher that has the experience to drive them well in their learning at this point. There’s also not much interesting content available for Chinese learners once they are at an upper intermediate level and want to brush past it. And, to give a final blow: the books weigh a ton and look impossible to go through.

They could use something to guide them further in their learning and help them take the next step. They’re ready for it.

A new world 5 to help you cross the bridge to HSK 5 advanced Chinese

At Ninchanese, we bite-sized all HSK 5 needs into small, efficient, and well-thought-out stages. You now have access to a complete world that will effectively help you improve each part of the Chinese language you need to be at ease in. That’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

This new advanced HSK 5 Chinese world offers structured learning perfect to support all the learning you’ve been doing up to now and all the freeform learning you’ve done in context.  The best part? Learn however you like, do a session of 5 minutes a day or however much more you want, and feel a recurring sense of achievement and progress.

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

Start Learning Now

What does it mean to have an “advanced level of Chinese”?

Wondering if this new advanced level of Chinese is for you? If you’re ready? We bet you are. If you see yourself in this, you sure are:

You have made great strides in their Chinese learning up to now. You are good at talking about common topics and are learning a lot on your own, by interacting with a Chinese environment. This has helped you realize there’s still a lot you want to learn.

Does it mean you’re looking for a lot of interesting and authentic content to learn?

That’s a good thing, because the new World 5 in Ninchanese is huge and full of cool content.

To give you an idea: Now that it’s complete, the HSK5 world is as BIG as world 1 to 4 reunited! That’s a good chunk of content to work on!

HSK 5 World 5: Advanced content on two islands

The complete World 5 is so big it had to be split into two islands. Once you’ve done both, you’ll have learned 1 300 Chinese words and over 60 of the more difficult and advanced grammar structures. And that’s not it! You’ll also learn by speaking and writing over 70 new dialogues and 1523 new sentences to be able to speak about advanced ideas.

You’ll be able to read newspapers and magazines, enjoy Chinese films and plays and give a full-length speech in Chinese. Discover the curriculum of the HSK world 5 here.

Vocabulary

The amount of HSK 5 vocabulary to learn and familiarize yourself with is much larger than in the previous worlds. Organized by theme, this vocab will give the keys to understand much of any given situation. You’ll be able to understand the words used in any TV show or newspapers for example.

Grammar

The HSK 5 grammar you’ll study in this world goes in depth. All lessons are still simply explained but you’ll be handling more complex structures here. Not to worry, you’ll have plenty of example sentences to rely on. They are relevant, all full of sense. Learn to use the grammar points and example sentences in the grammar stages, and you’ll be able to use very useful ways to express your thoughts in Chinese.

Dialogues

As always, the HSK 5 dialogues all have a very practical focus and day to day related events. The conversations are also much longer than in the previous worlds. You’ll get a sense of immersion through the interactive way of speaking.

Authentic Chinese material that stays interesting

Too often, content at an advanced Chinese level goes abstract and borderline stuffy, when there are loads of interesting topics to talk and learn about! Modern, day-to-day content, to talk about technology, the news, economics, your favorite artist, to debate and share your opinion, to understand the culture and social etiquette, and a lot more. One area this world particularly focuses on is working in a Chinese environment and doing International business. Those are key things to know to pass the HSK 5.

Learn to work in a Chinese environment: a highlight on one key topic in World 5

As you go through the thousands of dialogues in the app, you’ll see Lupishu evolve and learning working skills. Lupishu is going through every stage of the work market and so will you alongside him. From making a Chinese resume, explaining skills in an interview, starting with an internship at a coffee shop at the airport, to become a salesman for a big company,… Yes, our Lupishu has well grown. We are very proud of Lupishu. And of you, now already, and even more so when you’ll reach his level and you’ll be able to work in a Chinese environment at ease!

What’s else is in store for this new HSK 5 world?

What about the pearl?

The story, of course! Lupishu is still doing his best to recover the pearl from the Emperor! IceAly, one of our early users, loves Ninchanese tremendously and asked to help write the story. IceAly is very creative, lives in China and use daily Ninchanese. We gladly accepted her help to write the story. We are impatient to share this new cat-story full of epic Chinese adventures with you!

Final words

Creating this new world based on the Ninchanese method has been a tremendous and fulfilling amount of work. We greatly thank all the Chinese teachers that poured their hearts into it, and the many little Nincha dragons that beta-tested it and sent their corrections (Noornalini, a special mention to you). Thanks also to all the Nincha team for their excellent work. We hope you’ll love it.

True, we are cute, true we are fun, true we have cats. But very true, that you have access to great educational content is our top priority.

We want to thank all that have helped to make Ninchanese so meowsome.

The Nincha Team

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Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
Ninchanese is free to use!

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PS: Help us spread the word about Ninchanese. Share the Ninchanese adventure with your Chinese learner pals and help the Chinese learning community know about us ;)! And if you like Ninchanese, subscribe to support your meowsome Chinese learning app!

The post World HSK 5: An Epic world for Epic Chinese learning appeared first on Ninchanese.

We picked them, and our users like watching them because they are a lot of fun, obviously, and very inspiring. As you may learn Chinese, you’ll love them too.

Why? Because most vloggers (video bloggers) in our selection are actually non-native Chinese speakers who have reached an awe-inspiring Chinese level. They were Chinese learners, then moved to China and started making super good videos in Mandarin.

These videos are usually easier to approach than a full-length feature film or TV show in Chinese, so that’s why we’re starting with these. Plus, there are loads to enjoy in these videos and glean from them in terms of language currently used in China and golden nuggets of Chinese culture to discover. You’ll see! Ready? Let’s dig in.

Fulinfang

Fulinfang is the one dude you want to be friends with. It feels warm to watch his videos. His Chinese is really great too. He has a really understandable way of speaking Chinese. He is quite funny, and I recommend some of his videos where he visits China with his niece. They are so adorable :)!

Here another video from him:

Thomas

Thomas is one of my favorite youtubers. He speaks really great Chinese. I mean, he really adds a lot of energy to his way of speaking Chinese. And Chinese people really do speak with a lot of intonation, and he does it very well. I like to follow his videos since they are really close to real life in Shanghai (his wife is Chinese). So there are a lot of videos about life in China and about what it’s like living with a family in China, and that’s super cool.

Here a présentation of this superstar:

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

Start Learning Now

Kevin in Shanghai

Kevin in Shanghai creates entertaining videos to watch. They speak a lot about the cross-cultural culture and the challenges that go along with them. The videos are really nicely done, with many visual cues and situations to understand what’s going on. There are also often English subtitles in these videos, so it’s great to make sure you’re following okay if you’re not sure.

Collin Abroadcast

Collin likes to visit parts of the world, but I suspect his preference is for China. This vlogger has made really, really great videos about life in China and what situations you could expect when you’re facing Chinese citizens. His videos are fascinating and worth a look.

This particular video is about a guy showing how he bargains to get what he wants. The last seller is quite aggressive, but all in all, that’s only a negotiation style. From my experience, it’s always really fun to haggle over what you’re buying in China, and it makes buying an interesting experience. It’s even more fun if you speak Chinese with them (plus you negotiate better).

Mamahuhu

The Mamahuhu gang is one of the funniest you can find on youtube. They don’t care to mock Chinese culture and the Laowei’s culture (though they often compare American and Chinese culture). What can I say? Their videos are hilarious, and if you don’t know them yet, you have only one choice now, it’s to go there, watch these videos and share this article with your friends :D.

The China Traveller 司徒建国

Stu has been living for many years in China, and he makes a lot of videos about China and the Chinese culture. All his videos are quite funny. He actually has two channels. One called the China Traveller or 司徒建国. He’s funny and says his videos have two goals: help foreigners discover the Chinese culture more and make Chinese people laugh. The truth is, he manages to make us laugh too :).

Stu has also done many videos for a Chinese TV channel, so if you needed proof his Chinese was good, there you go!

His other channel is called STUpid in China; It’s great too!

This rounds up our selection of fun vlogs and vloggers to watch in Chinese! This selection was hand-picked by the Ninchanese community on Slack. Did we miss your favorite vlogger? Let us know in the comments or on Slack! And don’t forget, learn Chinese with us 🙂

New entries: User recommendations

Laowhy86 and Serpentza

C-milk channel or Laowhy86 has made lots of videos about China. He likes really doing deep-dives in the Chinese culture, especially what stands out. If there is a weird aspect of China, you bet it, and he’s made a video about it. It’s great if you are an ex-pat in China since these videos are really like speaking about China. And he always has a little pun that will make you laugh. Keep up the good work, C-Milk!

Another great vlogger is Serpentza, who does videos about China. He likes asking the “real” questions like, are Chinese girls easy? Don’t take me wrong, the titles are always a bit catchy, if not even a little clickbaity, but he has a lot of respect for China, and you really can feel his love for the country.

C-Milk and Serpentza have teamed up to make another great Channel: ADVChina. They visit a lot of places in China and make their videos really interesting. Worth a look! And if you really like their videos, check out the complete documentary on their website https://t.co/CvB2hZxg3R

xxxoooo

The Nincha Team

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The post Top 8 Vloggers and their videos about China, Chinese culture and Mandarin appeared first on Ninchanese.

Are your thumbs ready for action anytime, anywhere?

We know your need to learn Chinese can pop up anytime, anywhere, so we’ve been working hard on making that possible. Now, if you have an Android Phone, you can take your Chinese teaching cats wherever you go with you!

The app has been designed to work well on your phone. Everything is super handy and accessible. With the Android App, learning Chinese is simple to do at any time and efficient. I hope you enjoy it!

Head here to download the Ninchanese app and have lots of fun learning Mandarin Chinese!

Screenshots of the Android App: Easy, peasy learning, straight on your phone

What’s in the Android App

Everything you love about Ninchanese, packaged for handy on the go learning:

• Content for beginners to advanced learners
• A built-in dictionary, where you can search in pinyin, Chinese characters, and English, to look up all the words you run into
• 8000 + Chinese words to learn for free
• Fun and intuitive Sentence building to work on your grammar skills
• An even better Speaking experience. Give it a try, seriously: Tablet and phone microphones are excellent at understanding you with their built-in microphones. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Welcome to the Family

First came the web, then came the Chrome Store, and now we’re happy to welcome the Android App as our newest addition to the Ninchanese family. So now, you have plenty of options to learn on whichever device you want: your computer, tablet, or phone!

Happy Chinese learning!

Update: The launch has been tremendously fun with all your support! Thank you all!

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
Ninchanese is free to use!

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The post Learn Chinese Everywhere with Ninchanese’s Android App! appeared first on Ninchanese.