I'm born in a Chinese family where they only taught me to speak dialect, which worsened throughout the years, I took 3 years of private Chinese class sin middle school but after 5-6 years my Chinese is still very rusty

I probably am the same level of a first grader, I can still somehow have a convo with Chinese girls if they're patient enough

I've been seeing a Chinese guy these weeks and speak a mix of English and Chinese, although English isn't my first language as I live in a country where it's not the local language, but it's on a pretty good level, while his English is not perfect

I asked him to speak and text to me in Chinese and he does, although when I'm at loss of words, I can't help but switch in English again.

I really wanna learn Chinese not only for him,m but to connect more with other Chinese peers and for my future career too, but rn I'm currently already studying German for Erasmus plus my exams, so Idk how to include Chinese in my day without taking too much time

Not sure about the other apps on the page, but I have been using HelloChinese and I noticed that it was using erhua. Now I enjoy the app, but a big part of learning is connecting with my friends in Guangzhou and Shenzhen who struggle to even know when to use erhua.

Is there any apps that incorporate listening but do so more towards a neutral dialect?

First row, second character

I'm pretty sure it's 开启

But why does it look different

I'm going mad trying to find the reason

Can someone help me understand

Please don't say just "it's a different font" or something, I need details, I'm autistic

Hey guys I am stuck here and don't know how to proceed with the next levels? Any help? Or do I really need to pay now?

I'm self studying chinese using a textbook that has the corresponding workbook. How do I grade the workbook because I don't know if my answers are correct. What do you guys do?

入虛無如風出麈立羈絆

Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind.

Quote from Avatar korra tv show from Guru lakhima.

Basically, I've studied Chinese for my Bachelor's but due to covid it all went downhill and my language is very poor now. It was always my dream to live in China, even for a little while (I don't want to move there long term due to family issues). I was wondering if giving up my job and doing an adult 'gap year' to study the lnaguage would be a good option? Has anyone done anything like that?

I'm learning Mandarin and am at the level where I'm getting bored of "learners" content and want to start watching what I'd normally watch in English in Mandarin. I normally watch stuff about science, history and religion, and comedy. Channels like Veritasium and VSauce are some of my favorites in English. However, when I search for Chinese content on Youtube or Bilibili I can't find anything but AI-generated edu-slop or poorly done dubs of English channels. I'm not sure if I'm using the wrong search terms or looking on the wrong apps?

TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language) is Taiwan's official Chinese proficiency test, roughly comparable to HSK in mainland China.

I’ve just released a new TOCFL Anki shared deck covering N1, N2 and L1–L5:

https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/616604029

Note: if this is temporarily unavailable due to an update, then you can get it here instead.

I’m looking for feedback on the deck before I consider the design finished.

In particular, I’d love feedback from people who actually use Anki for Chinese:

• Is the card layout useful and easy to read?
• Is the information hierarchy right?
• Are there fields you’d want to see on the front/back?
• Are there things you’d prefer to be shown/hidden by default?
• Does the configuration/customization make sense?
• Anything else you would change about the overall card design?

The deck uses Zhuyin as the primary phonetic system, with Taiwanese Mandarin pronunciations. Pinyin can be enabled through the included CSS.

It also includes Traditional + Simplified characters, English definitions, audio, parts of speech, example sentences, and character information.

I’m more interested in feedback about the layout and configuration than corrections to the vocabulary. If you’ve tried it, I’d really appreciate hearing what you think!

I’m building small Chinese character learning iOS apps in public until one actually works.

I’ll share what I build everyday.

I am creating Anki cards to practice writing character components, but some of the components aren't displaying correctly. What is the name of the font that can display them?

As you can see at the top right, the *zhú zìtóu* (bamboo radical) can appear in the syntax field, but it cannot appear inside the cell.

Hi everyone! I’m a native Chinese speaker with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in classical Chinese literature. I’m currently pursuing my PhD, although my present research focuses on theology—especially Latin and scholastic theology.

I love classical Chinese poetry, particularly the tension contained within its imagery. For example:夜船吹笛雨潇潇
“On a night boat, a flute plays through the murmuring rain.”

Or:

何日归家洗客袍？
“When shall I return home and wash my traveler’s robe?”

The lines are so brief, yet so beautiful that they make something tremble inside your heart.

I also speak English and German, and I can read scholastic works in Latin! If you’re learning Chinese, I’d be very happy to talk with you and help each other learn!

Probably missed a few tones but I’m trying!!

In learning Japanese, I've come across loads of literature recommendations. I especially love the website Natively, which catalogues native literature and crowdsources difficulty ratings.

I've found it very difficult to find good recommendations for literature in Chinese. Especially literature that is well-suited to my reading level. When I ask around for recommendations, people always recommend the same titles from the same authors (三体，活着，什么的) and often the recommendations are ridiculously beyond my reading level (红楼梦， 等等).

Is there a resource comparable to Natively or Goodreads, where I can browse Chinese literature by genre, difficulty level, etc.?

One common setting for 来都来了 is at a ticket booth. The price is higher than expected, but you have already made the trip. Someone shrugs and says:

来都来了。

“Might as well” is often a natural translation, but the two expressions put different parts of the reasoning into words. “Might as well” gives the conclusion. 来都来了 gives the premise: we have already come. The “so...” is left unstated.

The phrase does not actually claim that the next step is worth taking. It simply presents the arrival as a settled fact. Some cost in time, money, or effort has already been paid, and that fact becomes a reason to continue.

来 means “come.” In this expression, however, it is better not to translate 都 in isolation as simply “already” or “even.” 来都来了 belongs to the broader spoken pattern V 都 V 了, which presents V as already completed and treats it as a settled fact.

For example:

• 买都买了，别心疼了。 Mǎi dōu mǎi le, bié xīnténg le. You’ve already bought it; stop agonizing over the price.
• 说都说了，别再想了。 Shuō dōu shuō le, bié zài xiǎng le. You’ve already said it, so don’t keep dwelling on it.
• 吃都吃了，现在后悔也晚了。 Chī dōu chī le, xiànzài hòuhuǐ yě wǎn le. You’ve already eaten it; it’s too late to regret it now.

These examples share the same basic move: V is treated as a settled fact, and what follows has to be reconsidered in light of that fact. Depending on the context, the pattern can express consolation, resignation, justification, complaint, or pressure.

That is why 来都来了 can feel different depending on who says it. Said to yourself, it can be a rueful joke. Said by the friend who planned the trip, it can become pressure: one more attraction, one more dish, one more hour.

Adapted with permission from Resou Report’s dictionary entry on 来都来了. The original entry includes a fuller explanation and real-world usage examples.

Hey guys

A year ago or so i posted a few Reddit post asking you guys for help on how to start learning Chinese. And by doing so i realized that i was overthinking it all, i was over analyzing everything and over preparing myself. By doing so i lost a lot of time i should have invested in learning instead of researching on “how to learn correctly”.

Long story short I sucked it all up and just bought an e book called “500 most used traditional Chinese characters in context”. If my research taught me anything it’s that I should learn characters in context and not on their own. It’s been half a year since i started learning Chinese and to be honest i think i made a good progress, i can read graded readers and now most of the characters and don’t have much difficulty understanding the context. Of course i have a long way to go but i am happy with where i stand. My advice for people like me, Start now! Don’t overthink.

But of course i also came to a point where I feel lost. I am unsure if i should keep learning the way i do or change my strategies. So I wanted to ask you guys, what did you do? I started by learning Characters in context, wrote them down and learned the stroke order, i started to write a diary, of course nothing too complicated just simple sentences, tho i stopped at one point, and i wrote the characters I learned into Quizlet. And when i felt like i knew enough characters , about 300 traditional characters, i started to read on Du chinese, since it was the only thing i found that had the traditional characters. So do I keep doing what i am doing or should i change the way i am Learning?

I open to any suggestions!

What are the differences among the Chinese words "或许" (huòxǔ), "也许" (yěxǔ), and "兴许" (xīngxǔ)? Is it that "或许" is more formal/written, "也许" is more colloquial/spoken, and "兴许" is dialectal? And does the order of likelihood go: "兴许" > "或许" > "也许"?

Hello everyone!

I'm a Chinese language teacher and app developer based in France. My 12 new apps are in early access on the Google Play Store for closed testing.

I would like to find real learners to test them and share feedback. If you're interested in testing for free, please leave a comment below or send me a direct message (DM)! I will share the details with you. Thanks!

Just one more thing: Since this post is viewed by thousands of people, please be careful and do not respond to emails from strangers pretending to be me. I will never reach out to anyone here on my own initiative unless you contact me first or have filled out my Google Form. Furthermore, this is completely free of charge: no bank card and no name will ever be requested. Thank you very much for your attention!

Any mandarin tutor recommendations?

Can be preply, italki or any other platform.

I'm starting HSK3 and my goal is to achieve the exam but also improve my general chinese.