Mandarin Cafe Blog

One of the hardest languages to write and read is Chinese. But there are a lot of Chinese translation apps that can help when you are in need. Without a little help from technology, you may feel like you can give up trying to learn Chinese. Everybody needs to use the right tools when they start learning a new language if they want to learn it faster and more efficient.  The Chinese language has thousands of characters and, even if you can manage with just 3000, when you find unknown characters you will need to translate them. That is why many Chinese learners just give up. But even if learning Chinese is a new challenge, with the help of modern technology you can be a master of Chinese.  These magic tools are Translation apps. In this article, you will learn about the best translation apps out there.   The four types of Chinese translation apps You can find four main types of Chinese translation apps. We are going to explain and explore each one of them, and you can decide...

The Chinese language does not have an alphabet. Instead, it has characters. It is important to learn these characters and develop your Chinese writing abilities, be it by computer or by hand. For beginners, a major problem is the character composition and the stroke order. But more advanced learners find it more important to improve their writing accuracy. 

If you want to improve your writing skills and develop beyond speaking Chinese, you have to focus on two things: exposure to the written Chinese and practice, in that order if possible. In addition to this if you want to learn to write and read Chinese, you have to learn the components (parts of characters) and parts of words (characters). If you learn only a few combinations, it will be impossible for you to master Mandarin, because there is a high number of combinations you can make. 

A reasonable question would be: “hard for whom?” because Chinese people seem just fine with learning it. Little Chinese kids start learning Mandarin early, and in just a few years they can use those “impossible” Chinese characters to write down shopping lists and leave notes. So why do people who start learning Chinese find it so hard and complain about it?  1. Because of the writing system  The Chinese language has an entirely different writing system than a Western one. For some, it is beautiful, mysterious and complex while others find it ridiculous. But as soon as you start learning this system and find out more about Chinese characters, you will be more addicted and intrigued. For some, The Chinese writing has become a lifelong obsession, spending their day accumulating Chinese characters. It is almost impossible to learn enough characters to be functionally literate. In comparison to Greek, Russian, Romanian, Spanish and other languages which require only a few symbols to write it, the Chinese language has more than 80,000 characters. This may seem intimidating, but luckily you only have...

There are many reasons why you should start studying Chinese. Some people enjoy learning a new language while some people are just fascinated with the beautiful Chinese handwriting, poetic phrasing, and melodic spoken language. But aside from all this, there are a lot of very pragmatic reasons why you should learn Chinese, especially because it has become a language more relevant in the world of commerce. Nowadays China became a political, economic and social power. And even though people complain about how hard Chinese is, truth be told, Mandarin Chinese is a language you can learn in your spare time. Also learning Mandarin Chinese is the absolute best investment you could make. And here is why. 1. Chinese is not that hard as you may think  Most people, when they hear Chinese, start complaining about how difficult it sounds. It is true that languages easier than Chinese do exist, but it is not that difficult to learn. People think that Chinese is hard especially because of the writing system. Unlike other languages, Chinese is composed of semi-phonetic ideograms and pictograms....

Mandarin Chinese is a complex language. Because of this, the language can be quite hard to learn, especially for westerners and English speakers. But with daily practice and a strong commitment anyone can succeed in mastering it. Use your textbooks, practice alone and with your Mandarin-speaking friends (online or offline), and use the language as many times as possible. But if you want to learn it both fast and efficient, you have to remember what the most important things in Mandarin Chinese language are. 1. Master the basics Mandarin Chinese uses four tones (actually five) because it is a tonal language. This means that different tones change the meaning of the words, even when the spelling and pronunciation are the same. It is crucial for you to learn the difference between the tones if you want to speak Chinese correctly.  The first tone –  is a high and flat tone. The voice stays flat. No rise or dip of the way it sounds. The first tone is indicated by the symbol above the letter a: “ā“. The second tone – is...

People have realized that the future lays in preparing for the future. And since many things in the world are from and made in China, it is a logical step for people to want to learn the Mandarin Chinese language. Learning Mandarin and moving to China is a great step to take for a brighter future. But as you start learning Chinese you will see that is not that easy, especially because is so different from English. 

No language is easy to learn, so you don’t have to be afraid. Westerners find it a little bit more difficult because it’s a tonal language and it is a language without an alphabet, but with characters. Do not fear Chinese and believe in yourself and your powers.

Mandarin learning is not as hard as most people think. The learning process is quite easy if you use the secret advice of individuals who have successfully learned Mandarin Chinese. These secrets will help you learn Mandarin better and help you master it faster.  Secret No.1: Find ways to connect with Mandarin  The top important thing when learning Mandarin is to find the means to connect with it. It will be much harder if you don’t find the inspirational reason to learn it. If you try learning it just to pass your exam, your brain will perceive it as a chore, and it will assimilate harder.  But if you try watching some Mandarin TV movies or shows, listen to the Mando-pop and review your notebook once a day, you will see that learning Mandarin can be fun. You can also try to find a foreign friend or a language partner with whom you can study and practice the spoken language. Hanging out with people that know the language can make the learning process go much faster than learning on your...

Marvel and DC comics have been turning comic book characters into films quite a lot these days. Chinese people have become more and more familiar with American superheroes such as: Iron Man, Superman, Spiderman, X-men, The Avengers, Justice League, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and others. But in Mandarin Chinese, the name of the superheroes is a little bit different than the one you know. In this article you will learn the name of your favorite characters and some words from their story, such as: (超能力 (chāo néng lì) - Super Powers 瞬间移动 (Shùnjiān yídòng) - Teleportation 变形 (biàn xíng) - Shapeshifting 隐形 (yǐn xíng) - Invisibility 超人力量/神力 (chāo rén lì liàng / shén lì) - Superhuman strength 飞行 (fēi xíng) - Flying 超人速度 (chāo rén sù dù) - Superhuman speed The most famous and loved superheroes are Superman and Batman. And although FluentU mistakes them as part of the Marvel family, you probably know they are from DC.  1. Superman: 超人(chāo rén), also known as Man of Steel: 钢铁之躯 (gāng tiě zhī qū), is actually Clark Kent: 克拉克·肯特 (kè lā...

In the English language, there are a lot of slang words. People use them in their everyday life, and it helps them interact better. In addition, new slang words are being constantly created so if you want to stay hip, you have to update your slang words database regularly. When you learn a new language and culture, one of the best things you can do is to learn the slangs of that particular language. You not only acquire new words, but you learn the words and expressions people use on a regular basis. Imagine you being in a group and people starting to talk using slangs that translated make have no meaning. You would be confused, right? Most American and English slang words have found their way in the Mandarin Chinese. The young generation, teens, young professionals, and trendsetters are the ones that use them the most. In this article, you will find the top 10 most used slang words and expressions in Mandarin Chinese. 1. 太棒了! (tài bàng le) - Awesome! This is the literal translation of this popular...

Learning Chinese can prove to be difficult if you do it by yourself. You may think you understand everything, but, most probably, you don’t. That is why it is best to get the help of a Chinese friend or a tutor. But even with all of that, it will still prove to be difficult to set a good foundation for your Chinese learning process. That is why you have to practice. Practice with friends and strangers as much as possible, so you will start to form thoughts directly in Chinese. But to be able to think in a different language than your own, you have to have a good vocabulary and know a lot of frequently used words.  Watch a movie You can read books and magazines, but those take a lot of time, and you can get tired quite fast. A more fun and active way of rehearsing your Chinese and enriching your vocabulary it to watch movies. For many people this is their favorite way of learning because: Movies are fun and entertaining . When you are too...

One of the most important things when learning Chinese are the tones. And although tones have the reputation of being particularly difficult, they are crucial. If a statement is predictable, the tones become less important, as the listener knows what you are going to say. But the moment you talk about things that are not obvious, tones become critical for a successful communication. This means that if you are talking about the weather you will be understood, perhaps. But if you talk business, tones will be crucial to get the message correctly to the other side.  Chinese is not the only language with tones People think that English doesn’t have its specific tones, but this is completely untrue. You do have tones, and you are using them every single day. In fact, the English language has all the tones that you use in the Chinese language. That is why the best way to learn Chinese tones is to be aware of the “when” and “how”. You already use tones; you just have to use them in the correct way. First...

If you want to properly learn Chinese, you have to get out of your comfort zone, start meeting new people and use the Chinese language on a daily basis. It may prove difficult to learn Mandarin, even if you are learning it in China. One of the hardest parts is to assess the quality of your pronunciation. Local people might not understand you sometimes, but you need to deal with it to become proficient and take for passion for Chinese to the next level.  That is why you have to embrace practicing what you have learned with your teacher and correct yourself. This way you will learn the language easier, faster, and most important, in an accurate way. To do so, you have to meet local people and interact with them. In this article, you discover the best way to practice Chinese in Beijing.   Find your Chinese friend  Today, connecting with other people is much easier than it was 20 years ago. That is why learning Chinese is much, much more comfortable now. You can find almost everything you...