Chinese Vocabulary · 中文詞彙中文词汇 Location Words in Chinese I 地點詞彙地点词汇 dìdiǎn cíhuì Before we get into the vocab, a story from my first year of teaching, back when I didn’t know much about how things worked in China. A student asked me, “Tiffany, I’m going to Kenting next month to relax — do you know…
Category: HSK 1
Occupation Words in Chinese
Chinese Vocabulary · 中文詞彙中文词汇 Occupation and Identity Words in Chinese 職業與身份詞彙职业与身份词汇 zhíyè yǔ shēnfèn cíhuì Quick heads-up before we get into the vocab, because this one can actually get you in trouble: in Taiwan, calling a woman you don’t know — or a waitress — “xiǎojiě” is totally normal and polite. Try that in China,…
Chinese Measure Words 1
OneDotDot Chinese Grammar · HSK 1 Grammar Point · HSK 1 9 Measure Words — 本本 běn, 個个 gè, 家家 jiā, 口口 kǒu, 塊块 kuài, 件件 jiàn, 隻只 zhī, 元元 yuán, 杯杯 bēi Every noun in Chinese needs a measure word before it when you count it. These nine are the everyday essentials — the…
Two in Chinese
The difference between 二 èr and 兩/两 liǎng In Chinese, both 二 èr and 兩两 liǎng mean “two.” However, we use them in completely different ways. When using 兩两 liǎng, it is placed in front of measure words to express quantity, whereas 二 èr is only used when counting numbers. The best way to remember…
Hanyu Pinyin Initials Part 2
聲母 声母 · Initials Part 2 — OneDotDot Chinese 聲 OneDotDot Chinese · Pronunciation 聲母声母Initials — Part 2 The ten trickiest initials in Mandarin — where English speakers usually stumble. This is a listening-first guide to j · q · x · zh · ch · sh · r · z · c · s…
Chinese Tone Test
OneDotDot Chinese · Tone Practice Tone Practice, out loud To make the listening experience a bit more interesting, I’ve decided to share some not-so-polite words with you. Hopefully, you’ll never need to hear or use them in real life.
Hanyu Pinyin Initials Part 1
聲母 声母 · Initials Part 1 — OneDotDot Chinese 聲 OneDotDot Chinese · Pronunciation 聲母声母Initials — Part 1 Every Mandarin syllable opens with a consonant, and the trick isn’t voicing — it’s breath. This is a listening-first guide to the first 11 initials: b · p · m · f · d · t ·…
Tongue twisters
OneDotDot Chinese · Pronunciation Training Tongue Twisters, out loud Practicing tongue twisters is one way to train your pronunciation and tones. The speed is not that important while you read it. You should pay more attention to each word. Make sure you have perfect pronunciation and tone before you go to the next sentence. After…
What is Chinese language
A field guide for learners So, which “Chinese” do you mean? English flattens it into a single word. Mandarin speakers reach for five — and each one quietly reveals where the speaker is from, or who they’re speaking to. 中文中文zhōngwén 漢語汉语hànyǔ 普通話普通话pǔtōnghuà 國語国语guóyǔ 華語华语huáyǔ Quick reference Five names, five contexts Term Literally means What it…
Tone Pairs
OneDotDot Chinese · Tone Pairs Tone pairs, out loud This isn’t just two-character words like the last page — some of these combinations stretch to full phrases and even proverbs, six, eight, sometimes eleven syllables long. Real words, real recordings. Tap ▶ next to any word and say it back — tones live in your…